Ludwig Lavater

author

Ludwig Lavater

1527–1586

A Swiss Reformed theologian from Zurich, he became widely known for a vivid 1569 book on ghosts and apparitions that turned a thorny religious question into a bestseller of its time. His work helped show how the Reformation shaped everyday beliefs as well as church life.

1 Audiobook

Of Ghostes and Spirites, Walking by Night And of Straunge Noyses, Crackes, and Sundrie Forewarnings, Which Commonly Happen Before the Death of Men: Great Slaughters, and Alterations of Kingdoms

Of Ghostes and Spirites, Walking by Night And of Straunge Noyses, Crackes, and Sundrie Forewarnings, Which Commonly Happen Before the Death of Men: Great Slaughters, and Alterations of Kingdoms

by Ludwig Lavater

About the author

Born in 1527 at Kyburg and later active in Zurich, Ludwig Lavater studied in places including Strasbourg, Paris, and Lausanne before becoming archdeacon at the Grossmünster in 1550. He also married Margaretha, a daughter of the leading reformer Heinrich Bullinger, which placed him close to the heart of Zurich's Reformed world.

Lavater wrote and translated a range of theological works, but he is especially remembered for Von Gespänsten, Unghüren und anderen wunderbaren Dingen from 1569, often called his "ghost book." In it, he argued from a Reformed Protestant perspective that apparitions were not the spirits of the dead, but deceptive or troubling manifestations tied to demonic activity. The book was reprinted many times and translated into several languages, giving it an influence far beyond Zurich.

Near the end of his life, Lavater briefly served as pastor at the Grossmünster and as head of the Zurich church. He died in 1586, leaving behind a body of writing that connected learned theology with fears, wonders, and questions ordinary people wrestled with every day.