Affair of the Sausages

Relief above the Grossmünster in Zurich, reading: "In this House of God, Huldrych Zwingli's Reformation took its start."

The Affair of the Sausages (1522) was the event that sparked the Reformation in Zürich. Huldrych Zwingli, pastor of Grossmünster in Zurich, Switzerland, spearheaded the event by publicly speaking in favor of eating sausage during the Lenten fast. Zwingli defended this action in a sermon called Von Erkiesen und Freiheit der Speisen (Regarding the Choice and Freedom of Foods), in which he argued, from the basis of Martin Luther's doctrine of sola scriptura, that "Christians are free to fast or not to fast because the Bible does not prohibit the eating of meat during Lent."[1]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lindberg 2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).