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| John Oecolampadius is most associated with the Reformation in Basle, Switzerland. Oecolampadius was a follower of Ulrich Zwingli though he was also in Augsburg when Martin Luther was making his mark.
John Oecolampadius was born in 1482 and was educated in Bologna and Heidelburg – both known centres of Humanism. He had a great respect for Erasmus and in 1515 Oecolampadius collaborated with Erasmus on his edition of the New Testament. In 1520, Oecolampadius became a preacher in Augsburg at a time when the protests of Martin Luther were starting to take root. He found himself questioning his own role and to find peace of mind, he entered a monastery. Oecolampadius left this monastery in 1522 having found no answers to his spiritual problems and he broke with the Catholic Church in that year.
In 1523, Oecolampadius started to teach Theology at the University of Basle and in public debates, he urged the city authorities to follow the example of Zurich and Zwingli. The city authorities were concerned that things might go too far too quickly and there was a general fear about social disruption as the 1525 Peasants’ Revolt was fresh in many minds. The authorities in Basle contacted Erasmus who was living in Basle at the time. Erasmus urged moderation and he opposed to break with the Catholic Church. However, the influence of Erasmus was on the decline especially after he criticised Martin Luther in 1524. “In the noise of battle, Erasmus’s voice was drowned.” (Lockyer)
The city leaders in Basle moved over to the side of Oecolampadius and decided to completely reform the church in Basle.
In 1529, Mass was abolished and all images were removed from churches. In Basle, church and civic life became practically one. Oecolampadius wanted the power of excommunication to purify the church and he believed that this power should be the responsibility of the city elders elected by the congregation. Magistrates would have no power over the elders – a loss of authority that the magistrates were not willing to agree to. Magistrates argued that the power of excommunication should rest with them alone. This would have given them the power of government over the church. This became the system for Basle – the magistrates controlled both the city and the church.
How influential was Oecolampadius? Basle was a small Swiss city which controlled itself but nowhere else. The influence of the city was small at a general level so the influence of Oecolampadius was minimal. John Calvin and Martin Luther were much more influential if only in terms of the geographic spread of their beliefs. Also the guiding lights in Basle were the magistrates and not Oecolampadius as they held power. In Geneva, though magistrates held some power, it was Calvin and his air of authority that most influenced how the city was run.
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