Oecolampadius secured him a friendly reception by Zwingli,
who procured him employment. After Zwingli's death he remained in close
intercourse with the Zurich preachers, who defended him against renewed
attacks on Luther's part; and finally, in 1534, on Bullinger's
recommendation, he was called to Basel as preacher at the church of St
Peter and professor at the university. Here he remained till his death
on the 24th of December 1541.

During these latter years Carlstadt's attitude became more moderate. His
championship of the town council against the theocratic claims of
Antistes Myconius and the ecclesiastical council, in the matter of the
control of the university, was perhaps in consonance with his earlier
views on the relations of clergy and laity. He was, however, also
instrumental in restoring the abolished doctorate of theology and other
degrees; and, despatched on a mission to Strassburg in 1536, to take
part in a discussion on a proposed compromise in the matter of the
Lord's Supper between the theologians of Strassburg and Wittenberg, he
displayed a conciliatory attitude which earned him the praise of Bucer.
Carlstadt's historical significance lies in the fact that he was one of
the pioneers of the Reformation. But he was a thinker and dreamer rather
than a man of affairs, and though he had the moral and physical courage
to carry his principles to their logical conclusions (he was the first
priest to write against celibacy, and the first to take a wife), he
lacked the balance of mind and sturdy common sense that inspired
Luther's policy of consideration for "the weaker brethren" and built up
the Evangelical Church on a conservative basis. But though Carlstadt was
on friendly terms, and corresponded with Munzer and other Anabaptists,
he did not share their antinomian views, nor was he responsible for
their excesses. His opinion as to the relation of faith and "good works"
was practically that expressed in articles XI. and XII. of the Church of
England. In reply to Luther's violent onslaught on him in his _Wider die
himmlischen Propheten_ he issued from Rothenburg his _Anzeig etlicher
Hauptartikel christlicher Lehre_, a compendious exposition of his views,
in which he says: "Those who urge to good works do so, not that the
conscience may be justified by works, but that their freedom may redound
to God's glory and that their neighbours may be fired to praise God."

See C.F. Jaeger, _Andreas Bodenstein von Karls