Who was John Calvin?
• John Calvin was from a wealthy French family • Calvin questioned Catholic Church practices • Calvin wrote a famous Protestant document John Calvin (Jean Cauvin) was a Frenchman, born in the town of Noyon outside of Paris in 1509 to a relatively prestigious family. John’s father, Gérard, was a notary in the city of Noyon and his mother, Jeanne le Franc, was the daughter of a wealthy local innkeeper. When John was fourteen years old, his parents sent him to the Collège de la Marche, where it was expected that he enter into the priesthood. Later, Calvin continued his studies at the Collège de Montaigu, the same university at which Desiderius Erasmus studied. Calvin’s father then changed his mind and thought an education in law might be the way to go for his son. Many historians believe that Gérard’s motivation for this change of heart was his own legal troubles at home. John did change his course of studies to law but went back to theology after his father’s death. Even though he did no
