... on Protestant Crusaders (quora)

Q

What was [the] Protestant Christians' view of [the] Crusades?
https://www.quora.com/What-was-protestant-Christians-view-of-crusades/answer/Hans-Georg-Lundahl#

Hans-Georg Lundahl

Studied religions as curious parallels and contrasts to Xtian faith since 9, 10?

Answered 22m ago

If we take older mainstream Protestant, it varied.

Erasmus and Luther had at a time been pacifist, Luther taking over pacifism from Erasmus who himself remained a Catholic.

However, when Turks invaded Holy Roman Empire, Luther actually supported the Crusading effort to push off the Turks, and his famous “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” (probably not good to sing if you come from Catholicism, it is calling God a fortress, confer Daniel) is from this period.

The Danish and Swedish Lutherans thought of themselves as Crusaders against Catholic tyranny in the Thirty Years’ War.

The Calvinist Covenanters in England thought of themselves basically as Crusaders in an even darker sense, as “cleaning up” Pagan dirt, they shared the Crusaders’ sense of “literal reenactment” of Joshua.

Since Calvin, from Bucer, is a crossover between Luther and Zwingli (basically predestination by exaggerating Luther and view of sacraments from Zwingli somewhat modified by Luther), one can mention that Zwingli, while a man of the cloth, actually died as a “Crusader” against Catholicism.

“1531 kam es zu einem Religionskrieg in der Eidgenossenschaft, dem Zweiten Kappelerkrieg zwischen Zürich und den katholischen Kantonen Luzern, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden und Zug. Bereits vorher waren Altgläubige wie beispielsweise die Mönche vor allem der Bettelorden aus den Klöstern vertrieben worden. Zwingli war es auch, der den Rat von Zürich zum Zweiten Kappelerkrieg gegen die Waldstätte drängte, um die Reformation, wenn nicht mit Überzeugung möglich, dann mit Feuer und Schwert auch in der Innerschweiz zu verbreiten. Am 11. Oktober 1531 unterlagen die Zürcher, und Zwingli selbst geriet während der Schlacht bei Kappel, an der er als Soldat teilgenommen hatte, [12] am Albis in die Hände der katholischen Innerschweizer. Er wurde verhöhnt, indem man ihm anbot, noch einmal die Beichte abzulegen, und anschliessend getötet. Sein Leichnam wurde gevierteilt, anschliessend verbrannt und die Asche in den Wind gestreut. Erst 1838 wurde ihm in Kappel und 1885 in Zürich ein Denkmal errichtet. Heinrich Bullinger wurde Zwinglis Nachfolger in Zürich. Er konsolidierte den reformierten Glauben und gilt als eigentlicher Begründer der reformierten Kirche.”

Huldrych Zwingli – Wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldrych_Zwingli#Tod_im_Zweiten_Kappelerkrieg

1531, a new religious war in the Swiss Confederation, the second Kappel war, between Zurich and the Catholic Cantons Lucern, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden and Zug. Even earlier those adhering to older faith, like monks and especially friars, had been chased from monasteries. It was Zwingli who promoted the second war of Kappel against the Forest Cantons, in order to promote the Reformation, if no longer possible by persuasion, at least with fire and sword into Inner Switzerland. On October 11th 1531, the Zurichers were defeated, and Zwingli who had partaken in battle as a soldier was in the battle of Kappel on the Albis range taken captive by the Catholic Inner Swiss. “He was lampooned by the fact he was offered opportunity to once again go to confession” - I don’t think it was lampooning, but a generous offer to save his soul, despite all the evil he had done - “and then killed”. His corpse was quartered (a common punishment for traitors, sometimes applied even before killing, but not in his case) and burnt on the stake (the punishment for heresy, in his case also applied after death) and his ashes were thrown into the wind. He had no monument in Kappel until 1838 and none in Zurich until 1885. In Zurich, he was followed by Henry Bullinger who counts as the real founder of the Reformed Church.

So, the Reformers were fairly pro-Crusades, on the whole. More so than Catholics, even.

Hans-Georg Lundahl

Just now

I checked, in the Bible God is not called “fortress” and the psalm Luther Bibles mark as having inspired Luther’s Song - 46 in Protestant and 45 in Catholic Bibles - uses the word “refuge”, in German “Zuflucht”, in his German “Zuversicht”, but not “Burg” which would be “fortress” or “castle.”

First mentions of “castle” in the Bible, King David besieges one and then dwells in it, but he had not built it, it had been built by Gentile, perhaps even Pagan Jebusites, it is the castle of Zion. Last mention, Roman cavalry come to a castle, holding St Paul as prisoner.