Persecuted Protestants
In France, the first Protestants were persecuted on the orders of François the First, Catholic King. He stabs them, beheads them, hangs them, or burns them alive just because they practice Christianity differently. Calvin must flee France and takes refuge in Basel, a Swiss city that has become Protestant.
In 1536, Calvin wrote a book entitled "The Christian Institution" which he addressed particularly to the King of France in order to show that the Protestants did not seek to annihilate Catholicism and its medieval ideas, but simply want to reform it in a fairer way. This book also asks to stop the persecutions. Thanks to the recent invention of the printing press, this book could be published in numerous copies in several countries; this particular book will make Calvin famous.
Calvin will spend his life rewriting and completing this book. He explains his Protestant convictions:God is in each of us and He wants humans to act in a just way
Geneva:Protestant Rome
While Calvin wishes to go to Strasbourg (a Protestant city not yet French), he is prevented from crossing France because of the wars of religion; he therefore stopped in Geneva thinking of staying there only one night, but he was retained by Guillaume Farel, another French reformer who lived in Geneva. This one seeks that Geneva, mixed city on the subject of the religions, becomes entirely Protestant and Farel wishes that Calvin convinces the Genevans, who admire this scholar, to all convert to Protestantism. The Genevans accepted the Reformation on May 21, 1536, but they lacked a spiritual guide. Calvin does not want this role, but he ends up accepting and staying in Geneva, under threats from Guillaume Farel. He therefore began to teach his interpretation of the Bible and to impose charity and poverty in order to live justly.
Although he did not wish to remain in Geneva, Calvin was confronted with opponents who find them too harsh, he and Farel. They want the inhabitants to live according to the commandments of the Bible and they monitor them, which quickly annoys the Genevans. Calvin refuses even to give communion to those who disobey him; he therefore becomes an enemy in addition to being a foreigner
Less than two years after his arrival, Calvin is forced to leave Geneva along with his friend Guillaume Farel, driven out by the wealthy bourgeois and notables. Calvin therefore went to Strasbourg in 1538 where he became the pastor of the community of French refugees. There he met Martin Bucer, the town reformer. Calvin marries Idelette de Bure, a young widow and mother of two children whom Calvin takes in. They will have a son, Jacques, who will die prematurely.
Three years later, Calvin is again claimed in Geneva for the same reason as his first visit. Out of a sense of duty, he returns there. He manages to share his Protestant ideas with the locals, although he has no desire to return to the city that drove him out. However, he will remain there until the end of his life.
On March 29, 1549, already ill, Idelette died. Calvin is very sad:he will never remarry. He finds comfort in writing a lot and trusting in God. Calvin lived with his brother and sister, Antoine and Marie, his only family. But he considers all Protestants as brothers.
Calvin is very restless:he takes in orphans and welcomes friends. With all this turmoil, Calvin no longer has time to think about himself and he is often ill. On May 27, 1564, he died without returning to France despite having many friends and being famous for his writings.