Johannes Zwick

ZWICK, Johannes. b. Konstanz, ca. 1496; d. Bischofszell in Thurgau, 23 October 1542. He was the cousin of Ambrosius* and Thomas Blarer*. Little is known of his early life: his year of birth is deduced from his matriculation at the University of Freiburg-im-Breisgau in 1509; in 1518 he was ordained to the priesthood, and in the same year he travelled to Italy for further study at Bologna and Padua. He was awarded a doctorate at Siena in 1520. For a short time he was a professor at Basel, but in 1522 he became parish priest at Riedlingen in Swabia. He had studied the writings of Luther while in Basel, and he began to preach Reformed theology, which led to his dismissal in 1525. He returned to...