Felix Manz was born in Zurich around this time. (The exact year is unknown.) He was the illegitimate son of a priest who served at the Grossmunster, the principal church of the city. Felix and his mother lived on Neustadt Street which ran southward from the Grossmunster. Many of the priests' concubines lived in this neighborhood. [Moore, Portraits, p.51]
(Go to October 1521 below.)
Conrad Grebel arrived in Zurich from Paris, his student days behind him. But in the following year he found a way to resume his language studies.
(Go to October 1521 below.)
Conrad Grebel joined Felix Manz and a group of young scholars who were studying Greek and Hebrew under the leadership of Ulrich Zwingli.
(Go to February 1522 below.)
Conrad Grebel married a women named Barbara who came from a lower social class. This event resulted in a permanent break between Conrad and his parents. Conrad was still a humanist at this stage of his life. But over the next few months, after intensive Bible study, he experienced a religious conversion.
(Go to 7 July 1522 below.)
March 1522
Christopher Froschauer, printer, violated church law by serving sausages instead of fish during Lent in his house. Present were three priests, including Zwingli.
29 March 1522
Zwingli preached a sermon on freedom of choice of food and drink.
16 April 1522
Zwingli had his sermon on freedom of choice of food and drink published as a pamphlet.
Conrad Grebel, Heinrich Aberli, Bartlime Pur & Klaus Hottinger were hauled before the Zurch City Council. They were accused of taking over the pulpit of the Dominican monastery and denouncing their teachings.
12 July 1522
Zwingli twice interrupted the sermon of Francis Lambert, a Franciscan monk from Avignon, in the Fraumunster.
1523
29 January 1523
The First Disputation was held after which the Large Council directed that pastors preach only those things that could be proved from the Bible.
May 1523
Balthasar Hubmaier arrived in Zurich from his brief stay in St. Gall. It was here that he met with Zwingli for the first time. They encountered each other on the street and had a conversation about infant baptism, in which Zwingli admitted that children should not be baptized until they had received instruction.
June 1523
Wilhelm Reublin, with Conrad Grebel's support, led 6 nearby villages in refusing to pay tithes to the Grossmunster Chapter.
September 1523
Klaus Hottinger & Lawrence Hochrutiner, in a fit of iconoclasm, destroyed a crucifix which stood over the Niederdorf Gate. Hottinger was banished from the city and Hochrutiner was thrown in prison.
26-28 October 1523
The Second Disputation was held in the Council Hall. The topic was the teaching of the Bible on images and the mass.
19 December 1523
By this time it became clear that Zwingli was unwilling to initiate any change in the mass, owing to the opposition of the Small and Large Councils. This lack of courage on Zwingli's part was a disappointment to young radicals like Conrad Grebel.
1524
20 June-2 July 1524
With the approval of city authorities, all images and decorations were removed from Zurich churches.
5 September 1524
Conrad Grebel wrote a letter to Thomas Muntzer, urging him to abandon the use of violence.
The First Baptismal Disputation was held in the council chamber of City Hall. Representing the radical Swiss Brethren side were Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, Wilhelm Reublin & George Blaurock. On the other side were Zwingli & Bullinger.
(Go to 21 January 1525 below.)
Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock and others met in the house of Felix Manz's mother on Neustadt Street, near the Grossmunster, where they re-baptized each other. Grebel, Manz & Blaurock immediately embarked on a proselytizing trip to nearby Zollikon.
Reublin, Haetzer & Brotli were expelled from the city as foreigners.
George Blaurock, Felix Manz & a couple dozen colleagues were brought to Zurich from Zollikon and imprisoned in the old Augustine cloister.
(Go to 7 February 1525 below.)
The Anabaptists being held in the Augustine cloister were sentenced by the Zurich Council to pay costs for their incarceration, post bond of 1,000 guilders, and take an oath that they would refrain from further rebaptizing activities.
(Go to 8 February 1525 below.)
Despite his defiant attitude, George Blaurock was released from the Augustine cloister. George walked a few blocks to Rennweg Street, where he had supper at the home of baker Heinrich Aberli. Another friend, furrier Anton Roggenacher, invited George to spend the night at his house.
(Go to 19 February 1525 below.)
Early this Sunday morning, George Blaurock baptized his host Anton Roggenacher. George then met up with Heinrich Aberli and 2 other friends, and the 4 men traveled to Zollikon.
Late February 1525
Conrad Grebel & Felix Manz conducted a door-to-door witnessing and baptizing campaign in Zurich. Among those baptized by Conrad, at the home of Felix, was Gabriel Giger of St. Gall. Conrad next traveled to Schaffhausen, about 20 miles north of Zurich.
Conrad Grebel was forced into hiding here in Zurich, owing to his preaching and baptizing activities. In late June he headed east to his boyhood home of Gruningen.
7 October 1525
Felix Manz was released from prison. The following day he joined Conrad Grebel in the village of Betzholtz, south-east of Zurich, where he narrowly escaped arrest again. [Moore, Portraits, p.83]
6-8 November 1525
The Third Disputation on Baptism was held from Monday through Wednesday in the Grossmünster, with 900 people in attendance. Speaking for the Anabaptists: Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock & Felix Manz. Representing the state church: Ulrich Zwingli, Leo Jud & Kaspar Grossmann. The City Council awarded the victory to Zwingli's party, and the Anabaptists were returned to prison in Grüningen.
18 November 1525
Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock & Felix Manz were brought to Zurich from Grüningen to stand trial. The City Council decreed that the 3 Anbaptist leaders were to remain imprisoned indefinitely on a diet of bread and water. They were placed together in the Ketzerturm (Heretics Tower). Grebel occupied himself by writing a treatise on baptism. [Moore, Portraits, p.84]
(Go to 5-6 March 1526.)
5 December 1525
Balthasar Hubmaier arrived in Zurich on or shortly after this date. As he was ill, he decided to stay for a few days before resuming his journey. At first he found refuge in the home of Heinrich Aberli, and later with an Anabaptist widow.
11 December 1525
Balthasar Hubmaier was apprehended and arrested by officers of the City Council. Initially they placed him in prison, but later confined him to the Council Hall.
Grebel, Blaurock & Manz were given a second trial, after which they were sentenced to life in prison.
7 March 1526
The Zurich City Council declared adult baptism an act punishable by drowning.
21 March 1526
Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock, Felix Manz & the 15 other Anabaptists imprisoned in the Heretics Tower (a.k.a. New Tower) escaped through a window that had been left open by unknown persons. Grebel resumed his itinerant ministry, ending up finally in Maienfeld. Manz began a period of "underground" work, holding secret services, moving frequently from place to place. He next appeared in Basel.
30 October 1526
Jacob Grebel, Conrad's father, was beheaded at the fish market near City Hall. He was not an Anabaptist, but rather a political opponent of Zwingli.
19 November 1526
The Zurich City Council passed a law declaring the death penalty not just for acts of rebaptism but also for the attendance of Anabaptist meetings.
1527
5 (or 7) January 1527
Felix Manz was taken from the Wellenberg Tower and rowed in a small boat to the Fishmarket area near city hall. He was led along the street on the east side of the Limmat River to the slaughterhouse building. He was again put in a boat, near the present-day Rathaus Bridge, and taken to a fisherman's hut in the middle of the river. He was then thrown over the side of the fisherman's platform and drowned to death. His execution was carried out, not by the Catholic authorities, but by the Protestant government of the City of Zurich. Shortly thereafter, Manz's body was recovered and buried in the cemetery of St. Jacob's (or St. James) Church. [Moore, Portraits, p.66]
On the same day, George Blaurock was taken to the Fishmarket where he was stripped to the waist and beaten with rods until he bled. He was led to the Niederdorf (Lower) Gate and told to leave and never return or he would be drowned like his friend, Manz. Blaurock showed up a few months later in Appenzell.
