Western Civilization

court to oversee the moral life and doctrinal purity of

Genevans. The Consistory had the right to punish peo-

ple who deviated from the church’s teachings and

moral principles.

Calvin’s success in Geneva enabled the city to

become a vibrant center of Protestantism. John Knox,

the Calvinist reformer of Scotland, called Geneva “the

most perfect school of Christ on earth.” Following Cal-

vin’s lead, missionaries trained in Geneva were sent to

all parts of Europe. Calvinism became established in

France, the Netherlands, Scotland, and central and

eastern Europe. By the mid-sixteenth century, Calvin-

ism had replaced Lutheranism as the militant interna-

tional form of Protestantism, and Calvin’s Geneva

stood as the fortress of the Reformation.

The Social Impact of the

Protestant Reformation

Q FOCUSQUESTION:WhatimpactdidtheProtestant

Reformation have on society in the sixteenth century?

Because Christianity was such an integral part of Euro-

pean life, it was inevitable that the Reformation would

have an impact on the family and popular religious

practices.

The Family

For centuries, Catholicism had praised the family and

sanctified its existence by making marriage a sacra-

ment. But the Catholic Church’s high regard for absti-

nence from sex as the surest way to holiness made the

celibate state of the clergy preferable to marriage.

Nevertheless, because not all men could remain chaste,

marriage offered the best means to control sexual

intercourse and give it a purpose, the procreation of

children. To some extent, this attitude persisted among

the Protestant reformers; Luther, for example, argued

that sex in marriage allowed one to “make use of this

sex in order to avoid sin,” and Calvin advised that ev-

ery man should “abstain from marriage only so long as

he is fit to observe celibacy.” If “his power to tame lust

fails him,” then he must marry.

But the Reformation did bring some change to the

conception of the family. Both Catholic and Protestant

John Calvin.After a conversion experience, John Calvin

abandoned his life as a humanist and became a reformer. In

1536, Calvin began working to reform the city of Geneva,

where he remained until his death in 1564. This sixteenth-

century portrait of Calvin pictures him in his study in Geneva.

CHRONOLOGYNew Reform Movements

The Zwinglian Reformation

Zwingli made cathedral priest at Z€urich 1518

Reform adopted in Z€urich 1523

Marburg Colloquy 1529

Death of Zwingli on the battlefield 1531

The Reformation in England

Henry VIII 1509–1547

Act of Supremacy 1534

Edward VI 1547–1553

Mary 1553–1558

Calvin and Calvinism

Institutes of the Christian Religion 1536

Calvin begins ministry in Geneva 1536

Soci

ete de l’Histoire du Protestantisme francais, Paris//Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library

314 Chapter 13 Reformation and Religious Warfare in the Sixteenth Century

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