ABSTRACT
Basel and Zurich were two centers of the Swiss Reformation. Zurich had introduced its version of the Protestant Reformation in 1525, led by Huldrych Zwingli, who had once studied in Basel. At the heart of the new Zurich church was the study of the Bible. Each morning in the Grossmuenster, the main church of Zurich, the Old Testament was interpreted in Latin, Hebrew, Greek, and finally German. This endeavor, often called 'prophesyings,' was possible because of an extraordinary collection of scholars in Zurich trained in the biblical languages. Pellikan describes his journey to Zurich, which he undertook with some hesitation, and the new life that awaited him there. In the passage taken from the autobiography of Conrad Pellikan, Zwingli has attracted Pellikan to leave Basel and come to Zurich. As a teacher in Zurich, Pellikan received income from the secularized chapter house that brought with it a home and sufficient funds to support a small household.
