Protestants Gone Wild in Geneva
Tucked into the southwest corner of modern day Switzerland is the small city of Geneva. In the 1530s Geneva had a reputation as a place one could let ones' hair down. The people of Geneva had traditionally been ruled by the Duc de Savoy- a French noble. (It wouldn’t join the Swiss Confederation until 1815). However, in 1530 Geneva enlisted the help of the Swiss Confederation to oust the Duc de Savoy and the local Catholic bishop. As part of their agreement with Bern, their principle Swiss ally, Geneva would convert to the newly forming branch of Christianity- Protestantism. The moral attitude in Geneva up until that point had been somewhat lax. The Genovese were a freewheeling, drinking, card playing group, with no real religious convictions. All this was about to change with the arrival of a French Huguenot, John (Jean) Calvin.
John Calvin Arrives in Geneva
John Calvin was a protestant (called Huguenot in France) lawyer who had been forced into exile by King Francis I. He had been traveling around Western Europe, ending up in Basel. There he wrote his “Institutes of the Christian Religion” which outlined his beliefs, the most influential of which was the idea of predestination. God already knows who is saved and who isn’t. On his way to Strasburg in 1536, Calvin was asked by a protestant preacher, Guillaume Farel to stop by Geneva for a little religious inspiration. It seems that Farel was having a very hard time spreading the word of God to the newly liberated people of Geneva. John Calvin accepted the invitation and detoured through Geneva. There he proposed new moral guidelines that would be the basis of the cities laws. People would learn to behave themselves or go to jail. The city council said “Thanks, but no thanks,” and tossed Calvin out Geneva.
Geneva Becomes a Model Theocracy
Within two years Calvin was asked back. Several of his supporters were now on the city council and decided that it was time to remake Geneva and make into a City of God. John Calvin agreed to return, but this time he was in charge. He instituted several new laws including:
- Punishments for adulterers (men were beheaded, while women were sewn into a sack and drowned in the river). Fines or imprisonment for gambling or drunkenness
- No eating rich foods
- No wearing bright colors or jewelry
- Church on Sunday
- No playing cards
- Everyone should be home by 9 pm each evening
All these rules were governed by Calvin and a group of town elders, long beards, who governed both the church and the city. This theocracy was very similar to what Ulrich Zwingli attempted in Zurich in the 1520s.
Calvin had no toleration for Catholics or even for Protestants who disagreed with his ideas. In 1555 he drove out the libertines, people who oppose him, from Geneva. Even though Calvin railed against the false authority of the Pope, he ruled with just as much power and influence in Geneva. Calvin died in 1564, but his religious ideas, coined Calvinism, lived on.
Geneva’s Lasting Influence
Geneva became a haven for exiled Protestants from all over Western Europe. An exiled Scotsman by the name of John Knox came to Geneva and studied under Calvin. He returned to Scotland and helped establish the Presbyterian Church as well as oust Mary, Queen of Scots from her throne. Calvinism spread to Hungary, the Netherlands, and North America. The moral character of the pilgrims- hard working, pious, simple- are all traits that were shaped John Calvin in Geneva. Calvin’s teaching also helped establish a thriving industrial city state that remained prosperous for the next three hundred years, until the French Revolution.
Sources:
Lang, Sean. European History for Dummies. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
Life World Library. Switzerland. New York: Time Incorporated, 1964.
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