In Refusing to Kiss the Slipper Michael Bruening has successfully and thoroughly demonstrated the persistent existence of a substantial, diverse, yet interconnected network of opposition in early modern francophone Europe to John Calvin and “Calvinism.” Bruening frames this opposition in terms of networks (4–6, 300–303), not simply individuals, and concludes “the early francophone religious reform was more diverse than scholars have acknowledged” (5). Scholars in Reformation studies have increasingly provided more nuanced understandings of the complexity of Protestantism in a variety of geographical locales and theological traditions, as Richard Muller did meticulously, for example, in his “Calvin and the Calvinists” essays. In a similar vein, Bruening's work successfully shows how francophone Protestants were deeply opposed to Calvin and Calvinism and well-connected with one another, dispelling any simplistic notions of Calvin as the presumptive representative of Reformed Protestantism in francophone Europe.

Aside from the standard Introduction and Conclusion, the book can be divided in four sections with each section composed of two chapters. The first two chapters deal with the early beginnings of reform in France. In each chapter, Bruening draws attention to the importance of networks. In chapter 1, Bruening argues that Marguerite's evangelical network has been too quickly dismissed by modern scholars and that this group, which Bruening traces to Meaux in the 1520s, worked for a “limited understanding of reform,” which was best worked for “within the system, at the French royal court, and on the dicosean level” (35). Citing individuals such as Jacques Lefèvre and Gérard Roussel, Bruening argues the “Meaux experiment” worked well and made progress regarding reform. In chapter 2, Bruening charts the rise of Farel and Calvin in Bern, Geneva, and Strasbourg. Bruening focuses on Calvin's new interpretation of the Eucharist, the belief in double predestination, and the need for consistorial discipline (37, 64). Bruening argues it was these three concepts that linked Calvin's network and, more importantly for his thesis, the opposition to which alienated one from that network.

Chapters 3 and 4 shift to the opposition to Calvinism and, in particular, are focused on the opposition to Calvinism in francophone Switzerland, tracing the origins of the opposition and moving to the “consolidation” of that opposition. Chapter 3 contains, in my estimation, the most detailed and potentially dizzying array of names and locales, as Bruening traces the rise of a number of people and places where anti-Calvinist ideas and groups took hold. This opposition included men such as Pierre Caroli and Antoine Marcourt in places such as Geneva, Lausanne, and the Pays de Vaud. Chapter 4 continues in chronological fashion to chart opposition to Calvinism. Here, Bruening focuses primarily on André Zébédéé and Jerome Bolsec. One significant conclusion Bruening draws is that in 1555 Calvin's “victory” beyond Geneva was in serious doubt; instead, it “looked like the Calvinists were on the ropes, struggling simply to stay in the fight” (137).

The third section, chapters 5 and 6, focuses on Sebastian Castellio and his impact. Castellio is the most well-studied of the book's anti-Calvinists, and Bruening is clear about Castellio's lasting impact on liberal Christianity (140, 179). Chapter 5 is perhaps the least original section of the book, but Bruening's discussion of Castellio is thorough and illustrates just how drastically opposed Castellio's theological program was to Calvin's. More substantial to Bruening's argument is, as evidenced in chapter 6, that Castellio was not a lone dissenter against Calvin but was the first in a long line of opponents against Calvin who would fall under Castellio's “long shadow.” The chapter introduces that shadow in geographical locales such as the Suisse Romande and Montbéliard and, in the case of Jean Saint-Vertunien de Lavau, Poitiers. Bruening demonstrates opposition coalesced around three main issues: persecution versus toleration, predestination and its impact on free will, and the relationship between piety and discipline. The chapter demonstrates two important threads of the overall argument: First, the networks of Calvin's enemies were deeply intertwined, and, second, that Calvin's concerns of mounting opposition help explain his active support of the creation of Genevan-modeled churches in France.

Finally, the focus shifts in the final chapters to Gallican evangelicals with particular attention in chapter 8 on Jean Morély. Chapter 7 focuses on Jean de Monluc, François Bauduin, and Charles Du Moulin, and the overall argument of the chapter is that these Gallican evangelicals, as Bruening prefers to describe them, outlined a more moderate path of reform that was appealing among the French nobility, many of whom featured prominently during the Wars of Religion. The final chapter argues opposition to Calvin and Geneva included ecclesiological objections, as evidenced in Morély's advocacy for a practical church program that was controlled by French nobility, clergy, and laity rather than by Geneva.

The book itself contains a number of helpful features. For example, the “Glossary of Key Individuals” (311–319) provides helpful descriptions of the laundry-list of names, including some relatively obscure names that will almost certainly be unfamiliar to the non-specialist. Similarly, the book contains telling illustrations of network analyses (62, 301) and even the occasional map (4). The book's inclusion in the Oxford Studies in Historical Theology series ensures the editing is careful and the index is thorough, making the book a pleasure to read.

As great scholarship does, Refusing to Kiss the Slipper opens the door to further lines of research that are deserving of further attention. A number of the Calvinist opponents mentioned in the book are not well known and need further study. Notably, almost all the figures discussed are men with the exception of Marguerite of Navarre. In the “Glossary of Key Individuals,” eighty-eight individuals are included, but only two of them are women. This begs the questions: Did other women feature at all in this opposition to Calvin, and, if so, how and why? Whatever the scholarly perspective pursued in following up to Refusing to Kiss the Slipper, Bruening's work is essential reading for anyone seeking to better understand Calvin and Calvinism, the development of Reformed Protestantism, and its many forms in francophone Europe and beyond.