This week in Christian history: Wild Goose Festival, black bishop consecrated, First Peace of Kappel

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, June 23, 2024

First Peace of Kappel reached – June 26, 1529

A 17th century depiction of Catholic and Protestant soldiers in Switzerland sharing a soup meal during the negotiations that ended the First War of Kappel in 1529. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when Catholics and Protestants in the Swiss Confederacy agreed to a peace agreement that allowed cantons to choose which church to support.

Earlier that year, a conflict known as the First War of Kappel began, with Reformation leader Urlich Zwingli rallying Protestant forces to try and curb Catholic influence in the region.

Negotiations between the two sides began earlier in June, with the two armies symbolically sharing a meal of soup made from milk and bread to showcase their good intentions.

“The treaty prevented bloodshed. The agreement was largely in favor of the Protestants, because the Reformation was now able to spread further in the jointly ruled territories,” wrote historian Andrej Abplanalp of the Swiss National Museum in 2019.

“However, the peace treaty did not eliminate the differences within the Confederation. Just two years later, the two camps clashed yet again. In the Second War of Kappel of 1531, the Catholic cities triumphed and reversed some aspects of the peace treaty of 1529.”