11 - Reforming the City-State

Summary

Whenever Geneva is mentioned one thinks of Calvin, Beza and the establishment of Reformed structures and theology. The great names that stand out are other ministers (Des Gallars), famous printers (Estienne) and Calvin’s great opponents: Castellio, Servetus and Bolsec.¹ Thus, Geneva becomes more the place where Calvin lived and wrote and less a locale with its own history and idiosyncratic historical context.² In particular, one forgets that Geneva was a city-state Republic squeezed by an expansionist Berne, a revanchist Savoy and a turbulent France. By focusing on Calvin and the Reformation one forgets that Geneva’s adoption of Protestantism was the direct result of the city’s Revolution from Savoy. By discussing the city’s government, the spotlight returns to this political upheaval that created the city-state in which Calvin found refuge. Geneva’s political structures were critical in facilitating (and complicating) Calvin’s work and must be understood in their own right.