Calvin's Geneva

Synopsis: For over four hundred years the city of Geneva has been important in Western history. The character of this city--steady serious erudite clannish and proud--has remained virtually unchanged since Calvins time the heroic age when she first became famous. Professor Monter relates the success story of this fascinating city through a fresh synthesis of printed and archival sources. In the sixteenth century Geneva succeeded in winning and maintaining her independence a feat unique in Reformation Europe. Into this special environment came Calvin--and his triumph was the result of a brilliant mind and an undeviating will being placed in the midst of the crude and confused surroundings of a revolutionary commune. Professor Monter explores the components of Genevas and Calvins fame in a number of ways. First he outlines the history of the city from the early sixteenth century to Calvins death in 1564 showing the tumultuous environment of the city where Calvin worked and the means by which local opposition to Calvin dissolved. He next describes the principal institutions and social groups of Calvins Geneva: the established church the civil government and the foreign refugee communities. Finally he assesses Calvins legacy to Geneva and discusses the workings of Calvinism after its founders death. As a whole Calvins Geneva is a revealing portrait of a major city and an acute analysis of its effect on one of the most important men in the sixteenth century. Author Biography: E. William Monter (PhD Princeton 1963) is Professor of Early-Modern Europe at Northwestern University. He is an internationally renowned early-modern social historian who has worked on a wide variety of subjects including witchcraft the Inquisition womens history and perceived deviance with special reference to France Switzerland and Spain. He is the recipient of numerous awards including Guggenheim and NEH fellowships and membership in the Institute for Advanced Study.