BernReform1528

General Reform of the Church in Bern, 1528 [Excerpts]

[Introductory note: The following decree of the government of the city of Bern in Switzerland typefies many aspects of urban Reformation during the 1520s. Note that the government requires all church officers -- deacons, chaplains, and the bishop -- to abrogate their obedience to the institutional church and instead swear an oath of loyalty to the city authorities. Also included among the government's interventions are a series of liturgical reforms, an open-ended declaration that reforms of the Christian sacraments will be undertaken in a manner consistent with "divine will," and the introduction of clerical marriage. But note also the caution with which the magistrates proceed: reform of lay brotherhoods, for example, will await a future accounting; furthermore, the trappings of traditional religious practice will remain unchanged, "to avoid aggravation." This reflects, first, the ongoing influence of councilors hostile to the Reformation; the reform party only got a majority on the council at the Easter elections of 1527, and only then did Bern proceed to a disputation -- the usual, initiating act of reform. The Disputation of Bern (6-26 January 1528) proved a crucial event in the Swiss Reformation: by throwing its weight behind the Reformation, Bern assured the permanence of evangelical reforms within the Confederation. Zürich -- until then the only reformed canton thus far -- would no longer stand alone against the Catholic cantons. The canton of Basel would follow soon after, in February 1529; St. Gallen and Schaffhausen would follow suit in 1529 and 1530, respectively. A second reason for Bern's hesitance had to do with the large territories under its control. Bern's canton was largest in the Swiss Confederation, and its main area of influence was to the French-speaking and overwhelmingly Catholic west; the Bernese hinterland, also, was full of peasant communes that proved highly resistant to Reformation. Thus the Bernese council tried to stear a middle course between full-bore reform and toleration of Catholic subjects.]

Image: Civitas Ursina [Bern], from Braun and Hogenberg, Civitates Orbis Terrarum I 32, 1st Latin edition (1572). After a woodcut in Johann Stumpf, Scwyzer Chronik (1548). Image source: "Historic Cities," Department of Geography, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Jewish National and University Library.

Contents:
Preamble
Abrogation of Ecclesiastical Oaths
Abolition of the Catholic Mass
Reform of the Sacraments
Reform of Pious Brotherhoods
Reform of Vestments, Ornaments and the Like
Introduction of Clerical Marriage
Reform of Monasteries, Male and Female
Reform of the Rural Priesthood

[A Chronology of the Reformation in Bern]
[Reference Map of Bern Canton in the Sixteenth Century]

[Preamble]
Grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
We the chief administrative officer (Schultheiß), the Council and the two hundred citizens, called the Greater Council, proclaim and make known to all and sundry, our dear and loyal citizens, subjects of our administration, and dependents one and all and especially to those are living and resident in our localities, villages, lands and districts, of both ecclesiastical and secular estate, excluding no one, as well as to all their descendants. Whereas it is fitting that We as a constituted authority (Oberkeit) should fashion equitable laws for you our charges in secular matters, as God commands us, but also (with the grace of God) should provide for the introduction of a well ordered Christian faith and also to provide you with an honorable example, it is beyond doubt and well known to you how often We have labored in such matters with multiple ordinances and mandates. We, for the purposes of your good instruction, and hoping that all things should be well constituted, have however seen and established that until now all efforts had been fruitless and much more. At length We withdrew upon ourselves and recalled the justification, path, and manner We should take to arrive at the firm foundation of divine truth and Christian love, upon which We might endeavor to erect a properly ordered divine service. No other means [to this end] was possible than the holding of a disputation, which with the help of God the Almighty was concluded the day before last (God be praised) [...].

[Abrogation of Ecclesiastical Oaths]
3. All deacons and chaplains who are sworn [to obey] the bishop shall be relieved of their oaths and swear to Us alone. And all deacons in the ecclesiastical assembly who are averse to the Evangelical teaching shall be changed, and in their place God-fearing believing men shall be elected, who will oversee the priests and preachers and take knowing care that they faithfully teach the Word of God and also live according to it, that they present a good example to the common people. And should they, the priests and preachers, live in error and vexation and fail to preach the Word of God, then [the deacons] shall report their error and punish them in ecclesiastical assembly, and insofar as such [priests and pastors] should not wish to better themselves, then [the deacons] shall accuse them to Us, so that We may provide you with other, virtuous priests [...].

[Abolition of the Catholic Mass]
5. Therefore, on the report of God's Word, We have abolished and taken down the [Catholic] Mass and images in our city of Bern [and are] nevermore willing to retract, unless it should be shown and proven to Us that We have erred with Holy Scripture, such that We are not troubled because it has already been shown that the Mass demolishes the honor of God and is injurious to the eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ, because idols bring [one] into danger of blasphemy against all Scripture, both old and new Testaments, and leads the simple Christian astray and from knowledge God the creator and preserver of all the world. However We have it on good authority that many of our charges, be they particular churches or individual persons, either for lack of evangelical teaching or out of malice or weakness, therefore wonder and are averse toward such innovations. In order to provide them succor and instruction We do not wish to clash with them, but [wish] rather to have compassion for them, and should [therefore] pray together to God to give them understanding of his Holy Word. Such churches We do not wish to attack or sue, but instead for the time being to leave each to his own free will, with word and deed to assist in taking down pictures and the Mass. In addition We enjoin you one and all, under [threat of] severe penalty, that no party should defame, ridicule, injure, or insult [the other] either with word or with deed, but rather to show Christian toleration one toward another. Then in due course We will provide and endow you, and particularly the weak of faith [among you], with priests who can uplift and nurture you with God's Word and thereafter give you instruction [that you might] all live according to God's will.

[Reform of the Sacraments]
6. From this it follows that the sacraments and other functions of the congregations and parishes must hereafter be conducted differently than before. With respect to the Holy Supper of Jesus Christ, baptism, Holy Matrimony, excommunication, care of the sick, etc. We will send a written report to your priests. By and by will [We] take pains with God's help to abolish all that which may be contrary to his divine will and command and is disadvantageous to Christian love and thereupon establish all things with God's help so that an honorable regime and worthy Christian people [of Bern] may stand right and well before God and man [...].

[Reform of Pious Brotherhoods]
8. With respect to the lay brotherhoods and [their] annual accounts-rendered, both in the city and the countryside, We have determined that the brothers should gather together and draw up accounts, each with the other, and present them to Us, above all the brothers here in the city of Bern. The same should happen in the countryside, and what customarily been given [to the brotherhoods] should remain where it is and not go somewhere else. In time we will confer with the brothers and conclude with them what is just and appropriate for promoting the common good and for the nourishment of the poor. But among the other brotherhoods and societies and associations, the brothers should act as they see fit [...].

[Reform of Vestments, Ornaments and the Like]
9. In order to avoid aggravation, we have decided that all vestments, ornaments, chalices, clothing and the like shall for the time being remain unchanged until Our further notice. But the societies and associations as well as individual persons who have special altars and chapels may do with the vestments, ornaments, chalices, clothing, etc. which they or their forbears have place there as they please, but should not touch that which others have donated etc. [...].

[Introduction of Clerical Marriage]
10. Concerning marriage among priests, it has for a long time has been forbidden. But because God established the marital estate and forbade it to no one, therefore We require all aforementioned ecclesiastics to cease [their] whoring or lose their stipends and prebends. We also wish that priests and preachers once they have married to live so honorably and virtuously with their wife and children as befits a shepherd and father of the people, as Saint Paul prescribed in this matter, for whosoever acts contrarily and with good information is found out, the same [priest] We will depose or punish according to his guilt or circumstances. Also We will not permit those [priests] who now marry to serve up opulent food and dance at their weddings [...].

[Reform of Monasteries, Male and Female]
12. With regard to the native monks and nuns We have arranged and decreed that those who wish to remain in the monasteries and cloisters may do so, but that no more young monks or nuns may be taken into the monasteries and cloisters, also no more foreigners may be admitted. However those who wish to marry or for some other reason [wish to] leave, We would prefer to return their endowments to them, were it not so much [money]. In order to help those who marry that they might start a household We will assist according to the nature of the case and circumstances of the person and the properties and goods of ecclesiastical establishment from which they came. And all those who leave the monasteries and cloister, whether they marry or not, should discard their habits and don respectable [civilian] clothing [...].

[Reform of the Rural Priesthood]
13. Concerning choristers and chaplains in city and the countryside to whom we have lent prebends, We will in due course or at their request consider and deliberate with them the justice [of their donations]. We also wish that each and every priest in Our lands and districts should instead of the Mass, preach the Word of God every week throughout the year on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, or else forfeit their prebends. But if for reason of idleness, especially in summertime, the parishioners do not wish to attend the sermon, then it will be the priest's charge to tell them to remain in attendance.
In conclusion, We have often announced and do now proclaim that if in these matters a contrary report of God's word and an error can be proven, then We, with favorably-disposed mind and desire, will accept such a divine report and herewith reserve [the right] with the help and grace of God and the instruction of His Holy Word to change or augment this our ordinance etc.
Given Friday 7 February 1528.

Chronology of the Bernese Reformation:
June 15, 1523: Edict on Scriptural Teaching (repeated in November 1524, May 1526, and May 1527).
Easter 1527: A pro-Reformation majority is elected to the Bern Council.
January 6-26, 1528: The Bern Disputation, attended by leading Swiss and south German reformers, including Zwingli, Martin Bucer (1491-1551), Bernhard Haller (1492-1536), Johannes Oecolampadius (1482-1531), and Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575).
February 7, 1528: The city council promulgates a general reform of the church, including the abolition of Catholic mass and the introduction of clerical marriage (see above).
Jaunary 9-14, 1532: A new ecclesiastical government is formally introduced.

Reference Map:

Source: Aemilius Ludwig Richter, ed., Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des sechszehnten Jahrhunderts: Urkunden und Regesten zur Geschichte des Rechts und der Verfassung der evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, vol. 1 (Weimar: Landes-Industriecomtoir, 1846; reprint Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1967), 104-106. Translation © 1998 David M. Luebke.

Return to 441/541 Homepage