The development of the French Reformed Church has been a rich topic of study for historians of Christianity, particularly since the nineteenth century. Often, scholars have been drawn to the connections between the institutional development of the Church in France and its ‘mother Church’ in Geneva. With hosts of correspondence, sermons and pamphlets, there is a dizzying amount of source material to substantiate this connection and examine the development of the French Reformed Church – especially following the confessional formalisation after the first national synod of Paris in May 1559. Ripe with theological controversies and personality clashes, the narrative of this movement has often focused on high-profile pastors but has scantily addressed the nature of the pastoral office itself. Gianmarco Braghi has sought to fill in this gap and offers a ‘systematic study on the French reformed pastorate in the sixteenth century’ (p. 5). Seeing pastors as the ‘social, moral, and religious glue of their congregations’, Braghi endeavours to chart the early developing identity of the French Reformed Church by way of studying the ‘first generation’ – c. 1555–72 – of Reformed pastors and their ‘unique status, pre-eminence, and reputation’ (pp. 1, 10).
Specifically, Braghi argues here that the nature of pastoral authority was the ‘arch-stone’ of all discussions of formalisation and institutional development in the French Reformed Church. In other words, it was the ‘shifting attitudes of the leading pastors’ and ‘the assertion and implementation of their own authority as ministers of the Word of God’ that paced the formation of a national and provincial polity (p. 12). Naturally, these leading pastors were tightly tied to Geneva and its theological model of governance. Navigating through ministerial correspondence, official documents and synodal records, pamphlets, and countless variations of Genevan handbooks such as the Discipline ecclésiastique, Braghi shows that the early stages of the French Reformed movement were frequently concerned with questions of authority and jurisdiction. And, as Braghi demonstrates, the Genevan-minded ministers functioned with a sense of ‘militancy’ in asserting their authority and acted as ‘watchdogs’ in maintaining continuity with official pronouncements (pp. 244, 250).
Braghi divides his book into seven chapters of varying lengths to build his case. Chapter i examines the early implementation of Genevan-style polity in Poitiers and Jean Saint-Vertunien de La Vau's persistent resistance to this process. This chapter narrates the sticking power of ‘troublemakers’ like La Vau who challenged the assertive leadership and prophetic insight of John Calvin and others amidst attempts from the Genevan pastors to initiate ecclesial organisational principles in France. Chapters ii–iv, by contrast, provide surveys of the evolving process of institutionalisation within the French Reformed Church from the perspective of pastors eager to substantiate their role in the process. From an exhaustive study of the finalisation of the two leading documents of Reformed polity, Confession de foi and Discipline ecclésiastique (p. 42), to a detailing of the Genevan pastors' increased efforts towards visibility in the ‘public sphere’ to direct ‘politico-religious discourse’, these chapters show the intertwining interests of increasing pastoral authority and institutional development (pp. 62, 98). In chapter iv, Braghi ties the previous chapters together by examining the ultimately successful efforts of Genevan pastors to ‘put an end to … adaptations’ of key reform documents in order to clearly define ‘Reformed orthodoxy and orthopraxy’ (pp. 106, 90). Although chapter iv is hulking and makes up nearly one fifth of the entire monograph, it does helpfully set the stage for the case studies that come in the following chapters.
In chapters v–vii, Braghi returns to case studies that display the lingering conflicts and proofing ground for Genevan-style pastoral authority following the important colloquies and synods from 1559 to 1561. Chapter v examines the print culture wars of Nîmes as well as the internal pastoral rivalry between Genevan-approved Guillaume Mauget and local favourite and former Dominican Jean Mutonis. Out of this rivalry blossomed not just a challenge to Geneva's right to appoint and train pastors, but also further attempts to regulate the ‘reading habits’ and ‘monitor’ the interpretive agency of parishioners, particularly women (p. 144). Here Braghi skilfully brings in oft-overlooked case studies from southern France and the activity of female Bible interpreters beyond the few well-known and well-studied female theologians such as Marguerite of Navarre. Chapter vi explores Jean Morély's notable challenges to the ‘tyranny’ and ‘creeping clericalist attitudes’ impressed upon the Church in France by Genevan-minded ministers (p. 180). By tracing the influence of Morély's controversial work Tracté de la discipline et police chrestienne and its arguments in favour of a broader sense of church authority beyond just the pastors, Braghi demonstrates that questions of pastoral authority lingered even until the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572. Finally, in chapter vii, Braghi describes the ‘double conversion’ of Hugues Sureau du Rosier from Geneva-trained minster, to reluctant Catholic proselytiser, and then back into the Reformed fold. Interestingly, Braghi explores du Rosier's published account of his reconversion back to the Reformed Church to provide clarity into the ‘insecurities connected to the identity, legitimacy, and limits of the French Reformed pastorate's standing and authority’ even as late as 1572 (p. 243).
In summary, Braghi's book is an excellent contribution to its field. The author should be lauded for the connectivity of all his chapters, the creative angle with which he approaches his sources and his ability to avoid wandering too far into Calvin or Huguenot studies. Rather, Braghi stays well within his scope to provide a successful first contribution in the Bologna Studies in Religious History series. Aside from one quite long chapter, the reader is left desirous to hear more about how ‘ordinary members’ of French Reformed congregations participated in the development of Genevan-style pastoral authority during this period (p. 256). Nevertheless, this work stands as an example of a matured and refined doctoral thesis turned monograph. It also helpfully identifies pastoral authority as an understudied element of the French Reformed Church between 1555 and 1572 and encourages scholars in this field to continue its approach in the aftermath of the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre.
