»Wider die unsinnigen Wiedertäufer«

Abstract

The Johann Jakob Simler collection at the Zurich Zentralbibliothek contains a document against Anabaptism that is virtually unknown to modern Reformation history research. The undated poem was by Jörg Syz, who was a former chaplain at the Zurich Fraumunster. The poem provides moral endorsement to its recipient, the pastor Hans Brennwald, who debated with the Anabaptists in Hinwil 1525. The present article addresses the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement in the region of Gruningen on the basis of primary sources and provides an edition of the rediscovered poem.