Zwilling was educated in
Wittenberg and
Erfurt. He, like
Martin Luther, was a member of the
Augustinian order, which he left in 1521. Zwilling became prominent in the Wittenberg Movement in mid-1521, when Luther was secured in the
Wartburg after the
Diet of Worms. Along with
Andreas Karlstadt, Zwilling guided the Wittenberg movement in a more radical direction. In following the teachings of Luther and Karlstadt, he stopped holding private masses, and ordered other Augustinian monks to do the same. In January 1522 Zwilling participated in
iconoclasm in Wittenberg. He led monks of the Augustinian order in a mass exodus from the monastery, removing and destroying any pictures and statues as they left. He taught that it was wrong to withhold the full eucharist from the common people and that they did not have to go to confession to participate in mass. When Luther returned to Wittenberg and regained control in March 1522, Zwilling publicly admitted his errors, and gave his support to Luther's more conservative vision of reform. He became a
prediger (“preacher”) in
Altenburg in 1522, and moved to
Torgau in 1523 where he became successively
prediger, pastor (1525), and superintendent (1529). ==Personal life==