When studying the Reformation in France, scholars have rightly focused on the evolving concerns of theological authority and jurisdiction during the formative years of the 1520s–1560s. Naturally, these same scholars find themselves drawn into the whirlpool of Calvin studies – a sometimes inescapable swirl of correspondence, theological works and polemics (let alone secondary historical and theological literature). Because of his assertiveness and prodigious literary output, John Calvin has often been featured prominently in this story. Until recently, a sense of the inevitability of the eventual dominance of Calvin over French evangelical theology controlled the narrative. In contrast to this warped historiographical trend, a group of scholars have ‘begun to challenge this dominant image of Calvin’ (p. 2). Specifically, Michael Bruening has offered this volume to reorient understandings of the francophone Reformation away from ‘the story of a steady construction of a single, unified, Calvinian, French Reformation’ toward a more textured depiction of the movement (p. 3). Specifically, the author attempts to reveal the existence of a thorough and well-connected network of Calvin's evangelical opponents that continuously challenged his hegemony over French evangelical theology.
In contrast to other extensive attempts to study Calvin's opponents, Bruening presents a treatment of ‘Calvin's evangelical opponents together, not as a collection of distinct voices but as networks of opposition to Calvin’ (p. 4). These coordinated networks show that Calvin's (and Geneva's) eventual ascendancy over the French Reformed tradition was far from inevitable.
Bruening shows that this oppositional network was ‘neither localized nor individualistic’; rather, it was often unified around one or more of the following concerns: Calvin's self-appointed role as the sole authority on matters of doctrine and polity, his involvement with the execution of Michael Servetus, his own doctrinal idiosyncrasies and his pugnacious personality (p. 300). Bruening's ‘history of the losers’ argues that a more sustained treatment of unified opposition to Calvin is necessary to better understand the francophone Reformation – a treatment that is long overdue considering the ‘overwhelming bias in favor of the Calvinists’ common to historiography (p. 8). In his words, ‘The Calvinists have had their say. It is time to listen to the other side’ (p. 8).
To trace the development of this anti-Calvinian network, Bruening divides his work into eight chapters which are a mix of case studies and broad-brush historical survey. Chapter i outlines the development and relational network of the early evangelical movement in France. He convincingly argues that it is only after 1526 and the collapse of the Meaux group that Guillaume Farel properly started what is now known as the ‘Reformed’ strand of French Protestantism (pp. 22, 46). Chapter ii more fully explores Farel's leadership of this offshoot, arguing that Farel should be understood as the ‘father of the francophone Reformed Protestantism’ (p. 36). It is only in chapter iii that Bruening gives voice to Calvin as an individual tasked with providing constructive and ‘positive doctrine’ rather than just criticisms of the Romish positions (p. 54). According to Bruening, it is during the creation of a ‘positive program for change’ that the alliances of the broader francophone Protestant movement splintered irreparably (p. 65). Through a series of case studies that connect Calvin's opponents such as Pierre Caroli, Antoine Marcourt and André Zébédée, chapters iii and iv work together to provide evidence of the interconnectedness of resistance to Calvin and the Genevan pastors. Bruening details the culmination of this anti-Calvin network with the Bern council's decision in favour of Zébédée over Calvin. This ‘bombshell’ proves that in at least some cases, francophone evangelicals were willing to challenge Calvin and even dismiss his legitimacy (p. 134).
Chapters v–viii focus on more individual narratives and high-profile challengers to Calvin such as Sebastian Castellio. In chapter v, Bruening retells the history of Castellio's Concerning heretics – a thinly veiled attack on Calvin's role in the Servetus affair. Bruening's unique contribution here is the way that he uncovers a broader ‘Castellian theological programme’ that goes well beyond simple criticism of Genevan persecution of heresy. This programme rallied around concerns such as Calvin's views on ‘predestination, the clarity of Scripture’ and the prosecution of heretics (p. 156). Though Bruening overstates Castellio's ‘radically relativist’ approach that allowed him to serve as a forerunner of Protestant liberalism, his analysis is still poignant and helpful to contextualise Castellio beyond being a mere critic of Calvin's handling of Servetus (pp. 140, 158). Chapter vi reinforces this idea and demonstrates other geographical flowerings of anti-Calvinist ideology throughout the Suisse romande. These enclaves, often influenced by Castellio, ultimately served as a ‘significant factor in driving the creation of Geneva's missionary program in France’ (p. 180). Chapters vii and viii discuss the Gallican competition with Calvin from inside France as well as Jean Morély's ‘patriotic’ and ‘mixed aristocratic’ challenge to Genevan forms of polity (p. 256, 268). Clearly, argues Bruening, the 1550s were not the triumphant era of John Calvin that has been previously proposed.
Overall, Bruening's book is an accessible and important contribution to its field. The author helpfully resists filling his text with lengthy quotations in French and the dizzying lists of names that haunt studies of early modern French religious history. This book is a wonderful counterbalance to a lopsided body of literature that features Calvin prominently but is, unfortunately, riddled with ‘hagiographic hogwash’ and largely dismissive of Calvin's opponents (p. 122). Readers accustomed to reflexive positivity towards Calvin might be ruffled – and Bruening admits as much. However, this is by design. The author intends to ‘tell the story of the francophone Reformation for the first time from the perspective of Calvin's opponents, rather than from that of his friends’ (p. 8). It is for this reason that Bruening's work can serve as a useful companion to historiography in Calvin studies and should be a necessary addition to comprehensive reading lists covering the French Reformation.
