Ursula (1978)

Switzerland in 1523: The mercenary Hansli Gyr returns to the Swiss Oberland with other soldiers from Italy. He fought alongside the Pope, and now has to realize that a religious upheaval has taken place in his homeland. Huldrych Zwingli’s teachings are spreading, and Anabaptism holds sway in the Oberland. At his farm, Hansli Gyr finds his fiancée Ursula and gives her a ring he brought back from Italy, putting it on her finger. Ursula offers herself to him, but he refuses her: first they must marry and obtain her parents’ blessing. Confused by the new developments, Hansli Gyr decides to go to Zurich himself and learn about the new state of affairs firsthand. At an inn in Zurich, Hansli meets Zwingli, who shortly afterward preaches against the papists from the pulpit of the Grossmünster. Soon afterward, a mob loots the Zurich Grossmünster and smashes the pulpit. Hansli joins Zwingli’s men. In the Oberland, Ursula’s father, Enoch Schnurrenberger, preaches that everything belongs to everyone. Orgies begin, until soldiers arrive and drive the Anabaptists away. Ursula had watched the proceedings, which took place in Hansli’s meadows while she was gathering hay. A little later, Hansli appears, but Ursula calls him the Angel Gabriel. Hansli is horrified by what her parents have made of Ursula. He leaves his fiancée. The family is captured a little later along with other Anabaptists. Zwingli issues an order to leave the group to God: either they renounce their faith, or they will starve. Hansli secretly frees Ursula and the other prisoners. Zwingli sees war looming, and indeed Hansli soon reports to him that five Catholic cantons have burned the priest Jakob Kaiser, known as “the Locksmith,” as a heretic, despite Zwingli’s intervention. In June 1529, Hansli takes the field with Zwingli and his men against the five Catholic cantons, but the war is averted by arbitrators and a shared meal of bread and milk. Hansli continues on as a soldier and takes part in the bombardment of Musso Castle, whose lord, Gian Giacomo Medici, flees in haste. At an inn, a beautiful woman nearly seduces Hansli. He tries to lead her to the true faith, but notices a ring on her finger that reminds him of Ursula. He leaves the woman alone. A little later, the Anabaptists in the Oberland learn that Hansli Gyr has returned. Another war with the five Catholic villages is about to begin, and Ursula, who has just tended to a figure of Christ, drops the crucifix and sets off for Zurich. She follows the soldiers and eventually witnesses the horrors of war on the battlefield. Zwingli falls and is brutally dismembered and burned by his enemies. Ursula searches among the dead for Hansli Gyr and eventually finds him injured beside a stream. She disinfects his leg wound by urinating on it, then carries Hansli back to the Oberland on her back. Hansli’s farm has fallen into ruin, but the two intend to settle in. When soldiers pass by the farm again, Ursula begs them to show mercy and leave her Hansli alone. When the soldiers do not move on, Ursula curses them crudely. In the end, the couple is left alone.