England the bastard running secretary hand (a mixture of
gothic and italic, with many variant forms of letters), was
in common use till the early 17th century, but thereafter
the italic prevailed and was the origin of the copperplate
style from which modern handwriting is derived.
Greek texts began to be copied in Italy in about 1400.
At first a clear simple style, introduced by Manuel
CHRYSOLORAS, was used. Later, a formal script, favored by
Cretan scribes, was employed for liturgical texts, while a
more mannered style, with extensive use of ligatures em-
ployed for the classics, influenced the printing of Aldus
MANUTIUS. In the reign of Francis I some Cretans at
Fontainebleau cultivated a simpler style, which is the
basis of the Greek type used today.
See also: MANUSCRIPTS; TYPOGRAPHY
Further reading: Albinia de la Mare, The Handwriting
of the Italian Humanists (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University
Press for the Association internationale de bibliophilie,
1973– ); Alfred Fairbank and Richard W. Hunt, Humanis-
tic Script of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (Oxford,
U.K.: Bodleian Library, 1960; rev. ed. 1993); Berthold L.
Ullman, The Origin and Development of Humanistic Script
(Rome: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1960); James
Wardrop, The Script of Humanism: Some Aspects of Human-
istic Script, 1460–1560 (Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press,
1963).
Calvaert, Denys (Dionisio Fiammingo) (1540–1619)
Flemish-born painter
Calvaert emigrated from his native Antwerp as a young
man and around 1560 he was studying in Bologna under
Prospero Fontana. After a short spell in Rome in the early
1570s, working on the Vatican, Calvaert returned to spend
the rest of his life in Bologna, where he opened a very in-
fluential painting academy. Guido RENIwas among his nu-
merous pupils.
Calvin, John (1509–1564) French reformer
Calvin was born at Noyon, Picardy, and was intended from
an early age for a career in the Church. He spent six years
studying in Paris (1523–28), mostly at the ultra-orthodox
Collège de Montaigu, before moving to the more liberal
atmosphere of the university of Orleans. In 1532 he pub-
lished his first book, a commentary on Seneca’s De clemen-
tia, a choice of subject which demonstrates the extent of
his early interest in humanism and classical scholarship.
His conversion to Protestantism occurred suddenly, prob-
ably in 1533; the following year he left France and settled
in Basle in Switzerland. In 1536 he published Christianae
religionis institutio (The Institutes of the Christian Religion,
popularly known as THE INSTITUTES), a book which im-
mediately established his own reputation among the re-
formers. A visit to Geneva this same year resulted in an
invitation to remain and assist the local reformer, Guil-
laume FAREL, in his work; but Calvin and Farel soon alien-
ated the local populace, and in 1538 they were expelled
from the city. Calvin settled in Strasbourg, where he acted
as minister to the small French church in exile and ob-
served with approval Martin BUCER’s work in the city; he
was able to put this experience to good use, when, in
1541, he was asked to return to Geneva.
Calvin acted quickly to assert his authority. His Ec-
clesiastical Ordinances (1541) defined the powers of the
pastors and established the authority of the consistory, the
assembly of pastors and laymen (elders) which exercised
control over morals and doctrine within the city. Calvin’s
austere discipline inevitably aroused opposition, which
reached its climax with the trial of Michael SERVETUS
(1553) and the exiling of the leading “Libertines” in 1555.
Thereafter Calvin’s authority in Geneva was unchallenged,
and he enjoyed a steadily growing international influence.
A tireless writer, Calvin published numerous biblical com-
mentaries and smaller dogmatic works. He also re-edited
the Institutes, which became by the time of the definitive
1559 edition a complete systematic theology of the
Calvinist Reformation. His treatise on PREDESTINATION, re-
garded as his characteristic doctrine, was published in
1552.
Further reading: William J. Bouwsma, John Calvin: A
Sixteenth-century Portrait (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1988); Bernard Cottret, Calvin: A Biography
(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2000); Harro Höpfl, The
Christian Polity of John Calvin (Cambridge, U.K.: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1982); Richard A. Muller, The Un-
accomodated Calvin (Oxford, U.K. and New York: Oxford
University Press, 2000).Calvinism The system of theology based on the teach-
ings of John CALVIN, the reformer of Geneva. Calvin
shared with LUTHERa belief in the centrality of the Bible,
the denial of human free will, and the doctrine of JUSTIFI-
CATION BY FAITHalone. To these Calvin added double PRE-
DESTINATION, the notion that God had predestined some to
salvation and others to damnation. This doctrine, given
greater emphasis still in the teaching of Calvin’s successor
BEZA, came in time to be the touchstone of Calvinist or-
thodoxy. On Eucharistic doctrine Calvin took a middle
position between the symbolism of ZWINGLIand the more
conservative teaching of Luther, gaining the support of the
other leading Swiss churches in the important ZÜRICH
AGREEMENT(1549). Calvin favored a strongly theocratic
church polity, and his model of church government for
Geneva (the Ecclesiastical Ordinances, 1541) proved ex-
tremely influential as Calvinism spread through Europe in
the later part of the 16th century.
Important Calvinist churches were established in
France (where the HUGUENOTSwere of this persuasion), in
the Netherlands (where Calvinism became the official
state religion of the United Provinces in 1622), in Scot-
land, and in Eastern Europe. In England Calvinist theol-8844 CCaallvvaaeerrtt,, DDeennyyss