Calvinism
Calvin and the Reformed tradition: Geneva, the Huguenots, the Dutch Reformed, Scottish Presbyterians and Puritans.
Category: Culture
- July 10, 1509Birth of John Calvin at Noyon
Jean Cauvin is born at Noyon, France. Trained first for the priesthood and then for law, he becomes the reformer of Geneva and a founding figure of the Reformed tradition. He dies in Geneva in 1564.
- 1536Guillaume Farel persuades John Calvin to stay in Geneva
In summer 1536 Calvin, passing through Geneva on his way to Strasbourg, is persuaded by Guillaume Farel to stay and help organise the city's new Reformed church.
- March 1536Calvin publishes the first Institutes of the Christian Religion in Basel
The first, Latin edition of Calvin's Institutes appears at Basel in March 1536. He expands it repeatedly, with a French edition in 1541 and a fifth, final Latin edition at Geneva in 1559.
- May 21, 1536Geneva swears to live by the Protestant faith and becomes a republic
On 21 May 1536 Geneva's General Council takes a public oath to the Protestant faith and confiscates Church property. The city, now free of its bishop and Savoy, is proclaimed a Protestant republic.
- 1538Calvin and Farel are banished from Geneva
At Easter 1538 Geneva's council banishes Guillaume Farel and John Calvin after a dispute over church discipline. Farel settles in Neuchâtel, and Calvin lives in exile until he is recalled in 1541.
- September 1541Calvin returns to Geneva and its church order is set
Expelled in 1538, Calvin returns to Geneva in September 1541 at the city's request. The Ecclesiastical Ordinances of 20 November create its ministerial orders and the Consistory, a church disciplinary court.
- October 27, 1553Michael Servetus is burned for heresy at Geneva
Geneva's council burns Michael Servetus for anti-Trinitarian views on 27 October 1553, after Calvin denounced him. Catholic authorities at Vienne had already condemned him in absentia in June.
- 1555Calvin's opponents fail in an attempted coup in Geneva
In 1555 the Libertines led by Ami Perrin, who resisted Calvin's church discipline, attempt a coup in Geneva and call for the massacre of the French. It fails, and Perrin is sentenced in absentia.
- 1559Calvin founds the Academy of Geneva
In 1559 John Calvin founds the Academy of Geneva to train pastors for Reformed churches. It later becomes the University of Geneva and draws students from across Protestant Europe.
- 1560English exiles publish the Geneva Bible
In 1560 English Protestant exiles in Geneva, led by William Whittingham, publish the first complete English Bible translated from the original languages, with Calvinist notes. The Pilgrims later carry it on the Mayflower.
- August 1560The Scottish Parliament abolishes papal authority and bans the Mass
In August 1560, after English help ends the fighting with the Treaty of Edinburgh, Scotland's Parliament approves the Scots Confession, abolishes papal jurisdiction and bans the Mass. Mary Queen of Scots does not endorse the acts.
- 1562 – 1598The French Wars of Religion begin between Catholics and Huguenots
Conflict between Catholic and Protestant (Huguenot) factions, entangled with noble rivalries and a weakened Valois crown, broke into open civil war in 1562 and continued intermittently until 1598.
- 1563The Heidelberg Catechism is published in the Calvinist-leaning Palatinate
In 1563 Elector Frederick III of the Palatinate has the Heidelberg Catechism, mainly by Zacharias Ursinus, approved by a synod. Calvinism is not covered by the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, which tolerates only Lutherans.
- May 27, 1564Death of John Calvin in Geneva
John Calvin dies in Geneva on 27 May 1564, aged 54. The school he founded there in 1559 later becomes the University of Geneva, and Geneva remains a centre of the Reformed tradition.
- August 10, 1566The Beeldenstorm: Calvinist crowds strip Catholic churches in the Netherlands
From 10 August 1566, starting at Steenvoorde, Calvinist crowds destroy images in Catholic churches across the Netherlands, reaching Antwerp on 20 August. Philip II sends the Duke of Alba with an army in 1567, which leads to the Dutch Revolt.
- August 24, 1572St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Huguenots in Paris
During the wedding celebrations of Henry of Navarre, King Charles IX ordered the killing of Huguenot leaders, and mobs in Paris and other cities then massacred thousands of Protestants. It began the night of 23-24 August 1572.
- April 13, 1598Edict of Nantes grants Huguenots religious rights
Henry IV granted French Protestants freedom of conscience, limited public worship and legal protections, largely ending the Wars of Religion and restoring royal authority.
- December 12, 1602Geneva repels Savoy's surprise attack in the Escalade
In the night of 11–12 December 1602 (Old Style), troops of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy try to take Geneva by scaling its walls. The defenders repel them, and Savoy's last attempt to take the city by force fails.
- September 19, 1610Frederick V becomes Elector Palatine at fourteen
On 19 September 1610 the Calvinist Frederick V, aged 14, becomes Elector Palatine on his father's death and head of the Protestant Union. He later accepts the Bohemian crown in 1619 and loses it at White Mountain in 1620.
- February 14, 1613Frederick V of the Palatinate marries Elizabeth Stuart in London
On 14 February 1613 the Calvinist Elector Palatine marries Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England, at Whitehall. The match ties the Protestant Union's leader to England's royal house.
- August 29, 1618 – May 13, 1619Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is arrested and later beheaded in the Dutch Republic
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, chief architect of the Twelve Years' Truce and protector of the Remonstrants, is imprisoned on 29 August 1618 and beheaded on 13 May 1619, four days after the Synod of Dort closes. Hugo Grotius gets a life sentence.
- November 13, 1618 – May 9, 1619The Synod of Dort condemns Arminianism and sets out Reformed doctrine
From 13 November 1618 to 9 May 1619 the Dutch Reformed Church meets at Dordrecht, expels the Remonstrants (Arminians) on 14 January 1619 and issues the Canons of Dort, often summed up as the "Five Points of Calvinism".
- August 1619 – September 1619Gábor Bethlen of Transylvania invades Royal Hungary and joins the revolt
In August 1619 the Calvinist Prince of Transylvania, Gábor Bethlen, invades Habsburg-ruled Royal Hungary and in September takes Košice, where Protestant supporters proclaim him leader of Hungary and protector of Protestants.
- August 26, 1619Bohemian estates depose Ferdinand II and elect Frederick V as king
In August 1619 the Bohemian estates depose Ferdinand II and on 26 August elect the Calvinist Frederick V of the Palatinate as king. Sources date the deposition 19 or 26 August. Frederick accepts on 28 September.
- November 4, 1619Frederick V is crowned King of Bohemia in Prague
On 4 November 1619 the Calvinist Elector Palatine is crowned Frederick I of Bohemia. His reign ends a year later at White Mountain, which earns him the nickname "Winter King".
- August 1620Gábor Bethlen is elected King of Hungary at Banská Bystrica
In August 1620 the Diet at Banská Bystrica elects the Calvinist Gábor Bethlen King of Hungary, in defiance of Ferdinand II. Sources give 20 or 25 August. He never has himself crowned and renounces the title in 1621.
- December 31, 1621Peace of Nikolsburg: Bethlen renounces the Hungarian crown for religious guarantees
On 31 December 1621 Gábor Bethlen gives up the title of King of Hungary. He gets religious freedom for Hungarian Protestants, the title of Imperial Prince, seven counties, three fortresses and a Silesian duchy.
- September 19, 1622Heidelberg falls to Tilly after an eleven-week siege
On 19 September 1622 Tilly takes Heidelberg, capital of the Electoral Palatinate, after eleven weeks. Mannheim falls soon after, and Frederick V, already in exile, flees to the United Provinces.
- September 10, 1627 – October 28, 1628Richelieu besieges La Rochelle and crushes the Huguenots' military power
Royal forces besiege the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle from August 1627 until it surrenders on 28 October 1628, despite three failed English relief expeditions. Its population falls from about 27,000 to 5,000.
- 1637The Dutch Statenvertaling is published
Ordered by the Synod of Dort in 1618 and paid for by the Dutch Republic, the Statenvertaling appears in 1637. It is the first Dutch Bible made directly from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, and the Reformed Church's standard text.
- October 24, 1648Westphalia recognises Calvinism and fixes 1624 as the religious norm
The treaties give Calvinism legal standing beside Catholicism and Lutheranism, take 1 January 1624 as the normative year for each state's religion, and end rulers' power to impose their faith on subjects. Half of the imperial court's judges must be Protestant.
- October 18, 1685Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes (Edict of Fontainebleau)
Louis XIV ended legal toleration of Protestants, ordering their churches destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled France over the following years, taking skills and capital abroad.