Ozment, Steven E. The Age of Reform: 1250-1550 : An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe. New Haven, Conn. ; London: Yale University Press, 1980. Kindle Electronic Edition.
Chapter 9, “The Swiss Reformation” pp. 318-339. Part 1, “Zwingli and Zurich” pp. 318-328.
Zwingli, when being educated in Vienna, Basel, and Bern, was well acquainted with the humanist leaders of his day. Among them, especially in Basel, Zwingli met with many who would later engage in work aimed at reformation. Rather than pursuing academia or a monastic life like Luther, Zwingli completed a master’s degree in 1506 and served a parish in Garus (Ozment 1980, 318). In this setting Zwingli had significant exposure to the military, including the trade in Swiss mercenaries (Ozment 1980, 320). Even as Zwingli grew in influence theologically, rejecting indulgences independently of Luther and engaging in a great deal of preaching and teaching, he was accused of moral lapses of a nature similar to those of other non-celibate priests. By 1519 Zwingli was emerging as a more radical reformer than Luther, with preaching directly from the Bible. In March of 1522 Zwingli was involved with some people who broke the Lenten fast before Easter. He and Luther were both aware that they could not move quickly in their reforms.