Naphy, Calvin and the Consolidation of the Genevan Reformation

Naphy, William G. Calvin and the Consolidation of the Genevan Reformation. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994.

In his work, Calvin and the Consolidation of the Genevan Reformation, William Naphy examines the central question of “how a foreign pastor, a paid civil servant with no official political powers or rights managed to resist and ultimately defeat so completely a large powerful faction of native Genevans” came about (1). To answer this question, he aims to re-examine the secondary sources and primary published sources, as well as “all the unpublished primary source documents from the period of Calvin’s ministry in Geneva” (1). He takes issue with the problematic use of secondary sources by previous scholars, who have chosen to select different facts to buttress their views, which resulted in distorted views of Calvin and his relationship to the Genevan reformation; the result is a serious need to re-examine Calvin’s political struggles through original documents. While Naphy relies on Calvin’s letters, which can make for a “very dubious course” (4), he also relies on his sermons and unpublished sources in Geneva consisting of documents from Councils, Criminal Courts, Notaries, the Consistory of Pastors. These additional documents give a detailed and daily account of life in Geneva during this time period. By using these documents, Naphy aims to take Calvin out of the center of the story of the city of Geneva between 1538 and 1555 and to place him in the larger framework of civic politics, society, and ecclesiastical events and debates of Geneva. By doing so, he hopes to “rescue Geneva and Calvin’s work there from Calvin’s all-pervasive grasp and examine them for their own sake, thereby providing the historical context for Calvin’s work as a theologian and leader of the wider Reform movement” (6). The success of Calvin and the reformation was by no means guaranteed, and throughout the book, Naphy argues that his success “was the result of a dogged determination by himself and his supporters to transform Geneva combined with an unhesitating wiliness to capitalize on any and every opportunity to confound his opponents” (231).

After examining the historiography in his introduction, Naphy examines the socio-political history of Geneva and Calvin, who was first and foremost a preacher, in seven chapters from the earlier factionalism within Geneva to Calvin’s triumph in 1555. Chapter one begins after the Reformation has begun in Geneva. Savoy, France, and Berne all had claimed or shared control of territory that Geneva had considered theirs. The crisis of 1538, Naphy examines, was first and foremost political in nature. Apart from political control of their territory by foreigners, many Genevans considered the struggle for ecclesiastical autonomy independent from the Catholic Church: From the “perspective of many Genevans, control of ecclesiastical power, and the inherent threat that the Church structure posed to their hard-won liberties, would have seen as a political matter of the greatest control” (17). After this initial crisis was over, Calvin was invited back to Geneva, renovating its ministry from 1541 to 1546 to fulfill the pastoral duties required of a state Church; the initial years following his return were a period of turmoil. Naphy notes that “Geneva’s church in 1535-46 was marked by constant instability, dissension and chaotic changes in personnel. In practical terms this meant that Genevan society was very visibly out of touch” (79). Upon his return, Calvin consolidated power and the ministers began to assert themselves, which lead to frequent clashes between Genevans and the pastors. Just as a period of ecclesiastical stability and vigor approached, however, political situations both in Geneva and abroad became increasingly unsettling. There were frequent clashes in Geneva between Genevans and the pastors, and an increased fear of attacks by the emperor’s army and others fighting religious wars throughout Europe in 1548.

The major recurring theme that Naphy returns to throughout this work is the “opposition to the growing power and influence of the French in Geneva” (121). Chapter four, “Geneva: hospitality and xenophobia” examines the effects that the increase of French Protestant refugees had on the political, social, and ecclesiastical aspects of Geneva. Even though the increase of the number of poor refugees into Geneva strained its resources and charity, “the existence of an increasingly cohesive group of citizens who supported the French refugees and ministers for religious or economic reasons, meant that the xenophobic defenders of local Genevan rights stood little chance of stemming the tide” (139). Dissent was also heard from the pews against Calvin and the ministers after 1546 mainly due to the actions and personalities of the ministers; this dissent, combined with the xenophobia throughout the community, led to rioting in the streets and complaining at Councils. With the defeat of Perrinists in 1555, Calvin and his supporters obtained political control in Geneva. To keep their power, they continued to admit French refugees to the bourgeoisie, and purified Genevan government of those even remotely connected to opponents. With the governmental purge of all opposition and consolidation of power by a unified magistracy to compliment the unified Company of Pastors, Calvin and his supporters were able to implement their visions of Geneva. Naphy attributes the influx of French refugees willing to buy bourgeois rights as the “single factor which provided the Calvinists with their change to crush their opponents” (227). Calvin achieved success by controlling the pulpit (mass-media), education and indoctrination, and the lack of qualified opposition (228-29).

By examining Calvin through the lens of Geneva, and not Geneva in relation to Calvin, Naphy shows how through the turmoil, crises, and factionalism within and outside of Geneva, the political, social, and ecclesiastical outcomes of 1555 were never certain. The infusion of detailed and daily accounts into his work adds much to the dissent and conflict during these pivotal decades. By taking and using every opportunity to advance their political, social, and ecclesiastical agenda, Calvin and his supporters were able to consolidate power from the time of his return in 1541 to his ultimate victory in 1555.