HST3034: Geneva and the French Reformation

Presentation 3

Geneva’s role in the French Reformation

• The Genevan model of reformation• The role of Jean Calvin• Geneva’s significance in the French

Reformation:-- as a printing centre- as a missionary centre

• Jean Crespin: France’s martyrologist• The limitations to Geneva’s role

Why Geneva?• Other places might have offered a pattern of reformation…

- as an ‘act of state’ (England, 1547-1553); German principalities (Saxony; Brandenbourg; Hesse-Cassel, Montbéliard…). But the French reformation was not an ‘act of state’

- as a ‘radical reformation’. But the French reformation coalesced later than in Germany or the Low Countries, and the influence of anabaptism was minimal

- as a ‘city reformation’. But various civic ‘models’ existed on France’s frontiers (Strasbourg; Basel; Antwerp) and only towards the later 1540s did Geneva emerge as preeminent, because…

- as a ‘refugee reformation’. Geneva was (unlike the German cities) more welcoming of refugees after the Schmalkaldic War (1547-8) and its consequences in Germany; and the rise of the prosecution of heresy in the Low Countries (late 1540s)

- as a ‘magisterial reformation’. Geneva’s emergence was the result of the impact of Calvin’s writings and reputation; and an emerging ‘myth’ of Geneva

Number of Refugees to Geneva from France (per annum)

1549 93 (3)

1550 126

1551 295 (2)

1552 56

1553 80 (3)

1554 368 (1)

1555 374 (1)

1556 329

1557 896 (2)

1558 732

1559 1695 (1)

1560 54

From the Livre des Habitants

Note:

1. The record for 1560 is incomplete.

2. If an individual has arrived in late December, but was not formally accepted until January, he has been counted in the year of arrival.

3. The figures in brackets refer to women, children, servants and dependants occasionally referred to in the record. Otherwise, the listing only gives heads of household.

The Genevan Model of Reform

Established by the Genevan Ecclesiastical Ordinances (November 1541)

- A ‘non-clerical’ model of reformation in which ‘pastors’ are the only clerical element in the church, but a much larger dimension is given to ‘lay’ elements within the church – ‘deacons’, ‘elders’ and ‘doctors’ with procedures for their election and accountability

- An ‘ordered’ and ‘structured’ reformation, in which the role for ‘popular’ and ‘individual’ intervention is formally and informally absent

- A reformation that involves moral change in society as well as ecclesiastical change (the ‘consistory’)

- A reformation that lays great emphasis on the significance of teaching and preaching as means of change

Key Institutional Elements of the Genevan Reformation

• The consistory court – met once a week (initially) with elders representing each part of the city, and pastors in attendance. Enforced the ‘confession’ and ‘discipline’ of the church, using ‘excommunication’ as its authority

• The ‘Congregation of Pastors’ – a body which met once a week, determining the preaching responsibilities in and around the city, answering correspondence from outside the city, and mutually ‘criticising’ one another’s ministry

• The college – elementary teaching available from 1542, supplementing catechismal classes given in church

• The academy – established eventually in 1559, and attracting large numbers of foreign students, especially from France

• The ‘bourse française’ – part of a developed system of social welfare provision that supported foreign newcomers to the city

The role of Jean Calvin• Calvin became the predominant figure in the French Reformation

in an extraordinary way. How? - by remarkable energy - by the impact of his preaching ministry (often neglected in the

historical literature, but of enormous importance to himself – the Pauline example – and his contemporaries)

- by his dominance of the Genevan ‘congregation of pastors’ - by his published writings, viz:-

+ The Institutes of the Christian Religion (major editions - 1536; 1543; 1559) – in Latin and French; a large work and not for a popular audience

+ Commentaries on Books of the Bible – mostly in Latin, though often translated in French

+ Works of polemic (e.g. Treatise on Relics (1543); Against the Nicodemites (1544); Against the Libertines (1545); Against Scandals (1550) – nearly all in French, and devoted to attacking a particular proposition

- by his systematic exclusion of opponents from Geneva, culminating in 1555

- by his leadership role (reluctantly adopted) of other churches

Dominant Motifs in Calvin’s Thought

• That a reformation (‘instauration’) was profoundly necessary, but that it could not be simply undertaken in the church. It had to be a reformation that began in our hearts and minds, and continued in our lives. He believed that he was following in Luther’s footsteps, and simply carrying out more fully what he had begun

• That this reformation would not happen by making people convinced of its necessity. God did the convincing. He appealed to our hearts and our minds. Old scholasticism only appealed to the mind, which is why it failed. Faith in God works through both. It ‘revivifies’ us from our ‘lethargy’ and ‘abyss’ of ‘sin’ and educates us

• Human beings are all too ready to mix things up (‘pollution’). Pollution created ‘superstition’, by mixing up the ‘holy’ and the profane. His objective was to establish the ‘godly’ boundaries (the ‘institution’ of the Christian religion lay in those boundaries). ‘Idolatry’ was an example of such superstition

• The Church was both ‘invisible’ (those ‘saints’ known only to God, and operating throughout the world) and ‘visible’ church, which existed wherever God’s word was purely preached and his sacraments properly administered. But the visible church was made up both of ‘saints’ and ‘sinners’. That was why it was essential for it to have a ‘confession’ and a ‘discipline’

• God’s ‘providence’ explained why the world was the way it was. We should accept it, and not question it. It meant that there were ‘saints’ and ‘sinners’. Both were ‘predestined’. That was an ‘awful’ decree but, properly understood a release from our ‘fears’.

Calvin: a controversial figure

• Internal opposition to Calvin within Geneva created enemies – Jérôme Bolsec, whose Life of Calvin became widely distributed in France in the wars of religion

• Intellectual opposition to Calvin focused on the question of free will and conscience – opponents congregated in Basel and elsewhere - Castellio

• The Servetus Affair (the execution of Michel Servet in 1553 for blasphemy)

• Increasing opposition from orthodox German Lutherans in the later 1550s

• Attacked personally by French catholic controversialists from mid 1550s onwards

1536 31537 31538 51539 71540 51541 61542 41543 151544 171545 201546 31547 61548 121549 11 1550 18

1557 411558 281559 411560 381561 481562 351563 281564 281565 261566 341567 191568 201569 211570 191571 111572 12

1551 221552 211553 201554 281555 201556 19

Genevan Imprints by Year, 1536-1572

Figures from R. Kingdon, Geneva and the Coming of the Wars of Religion in France (1555-1563) (Geneva: Droz, 1956), pp. 98-9)

Significance of the Genevan Psalter

The Genevan Bible

French vernacular Bibles – the first protestant translation completed in 1535 by Calvin’s cousin, Pierre-Robert Olivétan (d.1535)

1555: 5 (4 to Piedmont)1556: 5 (2 to Piedmont, 2 to Brazil)1557: 16 (4 to Piedmont, 1 to Antwerp)1558: 23 (1 to Turin)1559: 321560: 13 (1 to London)1561: 121562: 12

[those in brackets to places outside France]

The Despatch of Genevan Missions – 1555-1562

Figures from E. William Monter, Calvin's Geneva (New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1967), p. 135.

Correspondence between Calvinist Congregations and Geneva - I

• Initial reluctance to encourage the creation of ‘churches’ (distinction between ‘congregations’ and ‘churches’)

• Believed that the French reformation would be achieved from the top down (involvement with conversions of aristocratic figures of influence)

• Willingly accepted the role of ‘mentor’ of those suffering persecution, though aware that it opened him to the accusation that it was easier to give advice than to adopt it

• Accepted that the pressure to provide a learned ministry in France was greater than Geneva could satisfy

• Faced with increasingly critical questions about whether patient suffering of prosecution was what God wanted, and whether Biblical teaching was not about the people’s duty to resist ‘tyrants’ and protect the ‘true church’

French protestant communities to the Congregation of Pastors and Calvin:-

‘We Need a Pastor!’‘of good conversation’; i.e. well-trained; able to preach; capable of writing good letters; someone able to get on with the elders and enforce ‘good order’ in the church; someone who could speak their language‘The Flock’; ‘The Vineyard’; the ‘Ship’ – Images of CommunityProtestant communities perceived of themselves as ‘a small flock’, surrounded by ‘wolves’ and needing defence. Use of terms of ‘fraternity’ and particular salutations ‘Labour in the Vineyard’Great opportunities perceived: few workers but a great harvest.Victory just around the CornerSense that God was on their side; and that the victory would soon happen because of God’s providence; but that the ‘wiles of Satan’ were capable of frustrating the victory

Correspondence between Calvinist Congregations and Geneva - II

From W. Monter, Judging the French Reformation (Harvard; Harvard U.P., 1999)

From: D. El-Kenz, Les Bûchers du roi; la culture protestante des martyrs (1525-1572) (Paris: Champ Vallon, 1997).

Limitations to Calvin and Genevan Influence

• Calvin became a ‘hate-figure’ for catholics in France – provided a target for violent opposition to French protestantism

• Calvin excluded other figures from being influential in the movement

• Geneva not able to satisfy the demand for ministers or sponsor the movement

• Geneva anxious not to overplay its hand or become politically involved

• Geneva not interested in controlling the French protestant movement, but aware of the potential problems of not steering it – e.g. the ‘synode’ of Poitiers, 1557 and the National Synod of 1559

Final Question

What was the extent of Geneva’s influence over the emerging French churches?