Calvinism in Europe 1540-1610 [antikvár]

Introduction A generation after Luther's protest had first ignited the Reformation in Germany, it must have seemed to many contemporaries as if the evangelical movement had reached the natural limits of its potential growth. After two decades of apparently effortless expansion in Germany and central Europe, the years around Luther's death (1546) saw an equally serious contraction. This decade brought a whole series of damaging reverses for evangelicals, particularly in England, France and the Netherlands: in these last two countries, persistent persecution all but eliminated traces of an organised evangelical movement. With reform sentiment also in retreat in Italy, and even in Germany itself, harassed evangelicals had no doubts as to the extent of the problems they faced in bringing back to the movement for church reform something of its early fervour. The Reformation badly needed a second wind. This it found with the emergence from the second half of the century of the new force of Calvinism. From a secure base in Reformed Switzerland, Calvinism from the mid-century progressively transformed Europe's religious and political landscape. The rapid growth of Calvinist churches in France was the first sign of the movement's explosive potential, but within a few years the new confession had also secured many adherents in the Netherlands, Scotland, and large parts of Germany and Eastern Europe. Even without calling in aid the more ambiguous phenomenon of Anglican England (Calvinist in doctrine, if not church organisation), then there could be little doubt that Calvinism was the most dynamic - and disruptive - element in the consolidation of the Reformation's early gains during this period. Explanations of Calvinism's phenomenal success have varied. Some writers, particularly those with a background in church history, have stressed the importance of Calvin's writing in developing a coherent system of belief, of the sort that could inspire an individual layman to independent action: in this scheme Calvin's Institutes takes on an almost canonical importance. Others who come at these questions from a more secular perspective have laid stress on either the vulnerability of the states in question at this particular juncture, or the particular suitability of [ 1 ]