Table Of ContentDealings with God
From Blasphemers in Early Modern Zurich to a
Cultural History of Religiousness
Francisca Loetz
Translated by
Rosemary Selle
Dealings with God
To those who, as translators, deal with words – with or without
cursing – when they do the highly demanding but too often
underestimated work of betraying authors upward
Dealings with God
From Blasphemers in Early Modern Zurich to a
Cultural History of Religiousness
FRanCisCa LoEtZ
University of Zurich, Switzerland
Translated by
RosEMaRy sELLE
© Francisca Loetz 2009
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Francisca Loetz has asserted her moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Abridged and updated version of the author’s book originally published in German as Mit
Gott handeln: Von den Zürcher Gotteslästerern der Frühen Neuzeit zu einer Kulturgeschichte
des Religiösen (Göttingen, 2002). this version was translated by Rosemary selle.
Published by
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Loetz, Francisca.
Dealings with God : from blasphemers in early modern Zurich to a cultural history
of religiousness.–(st andrews studies in Reformation history) 1. Blasphemy–History.
2. Blasphemy–social aspects. 3. trials (Blasphemy)–switzerland–Zurich. 4. Zwingli,
Ulrich, 1484–1531–Influence. 5. Bullinger, Heinrich, 1504–1575–Influence. 6. Zurich
(Switzerland)–Church history–16th century. 7. Reformation–Europe.
i. title ii. series
205.6’95–dc22
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Loetz, Francisca.
Dealings with God : from blasphemers in early modern Zurich to a cultural history of
religiousness / Francisca Loetz.
p. cm. – (st. andrews studies in Reformation history)
includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-6883-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Blasphemy–switzerland–Zurich–History. 2. Blasphemy–History. 3. Zurich
(switzerland)–Church history. 4. offenses against religion–switzerland–Zurich–History. 5.
offenses against religion–History. i. title.
BV4627.B6L64 2009
241’.6950949457–dc22
2009010009
ISBN 9780754668831 (hbk)
ISBN 9780754695745 (ebk.V)
Contents
Foreword vii
Part I Religion in Early Modern History: An Approach by way of
Blasphemers in Zurich 1
1. Formulating the Question 1
2. Research situation 5
3. interpretative and Methodological approaches 23
4. the Example of Zurich 43
Part II The Offence of Blasphemy in Early Modern Zurich 57
1. the sanctioning of Blasphemy 57
2. Blasphemy in the Context of social action 134
3. Blasphemy as an Expression of (Un)Belief 188
Part III Blasphemy in Zurich: Historical Change and
Confessional Comparison 245
1. Blasphemy in Zurich: Historical Change 245
2. the offence of Blasphemy in Confessional Comparison:
A Perspective on Lucerne 261
Part IV Outcomes and Outlook: From the Blasphemers of
Zurich to a Cultural History of Religiousness 271
Glossary 291
Bibliography 293
Index 319
ThIS paGe haS BeeN leFT BlaNK INTeNTIoNally
Foreword
those who deal with blasphemy will occasionally have an experience
similar to that of doctors or lawyers. they are presented with a story and
asked to give judgement in the matter. I was once asked by a concerned
but not overly anxious mother whether her children, baptised as Roman
Catholics, had committed blasphemy on a recent train journey when, within
hearing of a priest, they had played a game of ‘Holy Mass’ with slices of
salami. no answer to the question will be offered here. this study does not
seek to take up theological positions, but to offer historical orientation.
it enquires empirically into the meaning of religion in the Early Modern
era and opens up a conceptual discussion of what a current history of
religiousness could look like.
Just as looks can kill, our words can hurt. The history of blasphemy
presented here is not a history of intellectual systems but one of verbal
action. it does not treat physical acts of blasphemy such as ‘bestiality’
(sexual intercourse with animals), iconoclasm or desecration of the host.
its starting point is the realisation that early modern blasphemy is an alien
phenomenon for modern western society. Who is really aware of cursing
and swearing as a Christian when they let loose a ‘go to hell!’ or ‘Jesus
Christ!’? it seems that reverence towards God has made its exit from
western industrialised countries. Why, then, should we bother to study the
problem of blasphemy in historical perspective?
A first answer: certainly not because an early modern blasphemer could
be sentenced to death, making the history of blasphemy a life-or-death
topic. a second answer: not because early modern fear of the God of
Christianity puzzles us today and thus needs explaining. and now a third,
positive answer: because religiously founded norms continue to shape
our western industrialised societies. Even if there is much that separates
the European, ostensibly secularised Modern era from Christian Early
Modernism, the epochs are connected by the question of the meaning of
religion. Dealing with blasphemy in an early modern society is not a mere
digging around in the past that turns up some entertaining anecdotes.
Enquiring into the scope and implications of religious utterances means
examining how religious norms regulate everyday life. this in turn means
opting for a fundamental access to understanding a society. Blasphemy
was the object both of authoritarian and of mutual social sanctioning; it
was an everyday phenomenon of social and potentially of political action;
viii DEaLinGs WitH GoD
it expressed various forms of individual belief and unbelief. the present
study falls accordingly into three parts, opening with discussion of the
research. Each section of Parts ii and iii ends with a headed summary.
A Glossary provides definitions of distinctive terms from the Swiss early
modern context that do not have ready equivalents in modern English.
although no attempt can be made here to study the approximately nine
hundred recorded blasphemers in microhistorical detail, the aggregate data
do provide highly diverse insights into the religious life of early modern
Zurich.
This book is based on a habilitationsschrift (professorial treatise)
submitted in Germany and bearing all the hallmarks of Teutonic
scholarship. in the interests of anglo-american readers i have radically
shortened the text, and revised and updated it where necessary. in doing
so, I have taken note of the work of my reviewers, and thank them for
their comments. Whereas in the German version a case of each type of
blasphemy is presented for each century in order to document the continuity
of the phenomenon, in this English version only one case of each type is
presented for the whole period. Most of the quantitative data have been
integrated in the text so that the tables and graphics of the German version
could be dispensed with. those interested in further detail may consult
that version. For the benefit of the reader, most quotes are provided in
modern English. a number of original quotes have been retained so as not
to silence completely the early modern soundtrack. It is thanks to Kaspar
von Greyerz that the book is being published in the St Andrews Studies in
Reformation History series.
Book translations are a costly business. The financial costs were covered
by swiss Funding for Gender Equality at the University of Zurich. Formal
and technical assistance with the typescript was given by Milica Pavlovič,
Norbert Wernicke and Olivia Travé. Rosemary Selle’s love of the German
language and of theology as well as her curiosity about history led her
to comment humorously on my idiosyncrasies – and give them English
expression.
PaRt i
Religion in Early Modern History:
an approach by way of
Blasphemers in Zurich
1. Formulating the Question
On January 6, 1658, the nailer’s apprentice Johannes Zyder from
Ravensburg in Swabia was taken to court. The prosecution alleged that
at the saffran inn in Zurich he had replied to the provocative question of
why Swabians were ‘liver-eaters’ by telling a blasphemous joke. It went
as follows: God was travelling with a swabian, bought some liver and
asked his fellow traveller to cook it. But before they could eat it, God
was called away to a deceased person wishing to be raised from the dead.
God fulfilled the wish and received money in return. Going back to his
Swabian fellow traveller, he was looking forward to finally enjoying the
meal. But the liver was gone. the swabian vehemently denied eating it. so
God divided the money he had received into three parts and said that each
should take his due: the Swabian, God himself, and the one who had eaten
the liver. Whereupon the Swabian took two parts.
This joke, which was very successful in its time, may not appear
blasphemous from today’s perspective. Even if practising Christians might
find the depiction of God as a lord who takes money for his services
offensive, for most of us the point of the joke with its self-deprecating
narrator is that it pokes fun at the Swabians. In our secularised society, the
idea that God’s honour could be seriously insulted by such a joke seems
irrelevant. Historically, however, it is certainly worth examining verbal
forms of blasphemy such as swearing, cursing and abusing or denying
God. Banal and anecdotal as it may seem, Johannes Zyder’s case offers
opportunities to explore the implications of religious norms in the everyday
life of an early modern society. the very fact that our modern society
has difficulty in understanding this joke as blasphemous gives rise to the
essential question of difference, the question of the ‘meaning’ of religion in
an early modern society. What is blasphemy, and what makes it a problem
for early modern people?
