Analysis of the emergence of Reformed religion (Reformed Protestantism, Calvinism, Zwinglianism or Anglicanism) remains a challenge for early modern historians. Terminological problems are but symptoms of underlying difficulties in interpreting the nascent character of Reformed Churches across the Continent. Historiography continues to debate the degree of cohesion both within and between Reformed Churches as well as the extent of change over time as Reformed religion adapted to diverse confessional, political and social contexts. As the editors suggest, essays in this volume wisely do not attempt to resolve all these wider debates but rather explore some aspects of the growth of Reformed ‘traditions’. Zwingli and Calvin are certainly discussed, but the volume focuses on a range of other influential theologians and leading clergy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries including Heinrich Bullinger, Theodore Beza, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Giovanni Diodati, Moïse Amyraut and Pierre Allix. The key themes and ideas of Reformed traditions that emerge across the ten essays are hardly a surprise – the authority of the Bible, the sacraments and salvation theology. However, some fresh insight is provided on familiar topics. An excellent essay by Emidio Campi explores the efforts of Giovanni Diodati to translate the Bible into Italian. The Diodati family, alongside the Calandrinis, Burlamacchis and Turrettinis, were prominent clans from Lucca who played a significant role over generations in the Genevan Church. From 1597 Giovanni Diodati taught Hebrew at the Genevan Academy and worked tirelessly on his translation of the Bible, publishing editions at his own expense in 1607 and 1641. Diodati hoped that his work would support existing Italian-speaking Reformed congregations and inspire mission efforts to the Venetian Republic in particular. Diodati visited Venice in 1608 and distributed copies of his Bible but left discouraged by the results. Jon Balserak's essay draws attention to the question of authority to interpret the Bible correctly. Balserak argues that the notion of prophetic interpretation was developed by reformers including the Florentine exile, Peter Martyr Vermigli. Vermigli argued that new prophetic voices, modelled on their Old Testament predecessors, had been given a divine calling to challenge practices of idolatry and campaign for the renewal of church life.
The importance of exiles in the Reformed world is further taken up by Hywel Clifford in his study on Pierre (or Peter) Allix. Another notable Hebraist, Allix was from 1670 minister of the church of the Parisian Reformed community at Charenton. Driven into exile in London in 1685, Allix made a distinctive contribution to English debates over the doctrine of the Trinity. Turning to the original text of the Old Testament, Allix set out arguments against the views of anti-Trinitarians. This essay is one of several that explores how Reformed religion was influenced by polemic debates. Pierrick Hildebrand discusses the extent to which Zwingli developed his ideas about covenants as a means of defending the practice of infant baptism against Anabaptist rivals. Stefan Lindholm discusses how ongoing Reformed debates with Lutherans shaped the evolving articulation of Reformed orthodoxy about the nature of Christ and about Christ's presence in communion. Internal divisions also shaped Reformed traditions. Alan C. Clifford reviews the disruptive career of Moïse Amyraut, a professor at the Saumur academy from 1626. Amyraut's views about predestination raised persistent suspicions of an Arminian infection in the French Church, although Amyraut was acquitted of departing from orthodoxy by the national synod held at Alençon in 1637.
Pastoral as well as polemical concerns were crucial in the development of Reformed traditions. A fascinating article by Rebecca A. Giselbrecht considers how Heinrich Bullinger attempted to influence emerging Reformed Churches in the Empire. Calvin's role in encouraging reform through correspondence with royal and aristocratic women has received a good deal of attention. Giselbrecht here explores how Bullinger likewise engaged with Anna Alexandria of Rappoltstein. Anna Alexandria was determined to influence the religious policies implemented by her ruling son Egenolf. She wrote a personal confession of faith affirming her Reformed convictions about the spiritual presence of Christ in communion. Anna Alexandria wrote to Bullinger of her frustration with the fractious arguments between clergy in ‘her little church’. She provided finance for two promising local students to spend time in Zurich. Anna Alexandria also sought advice from Bullinger's colleague in Zurich, Rudolf Gwalther, after a minister refused to give communion to all but five people at a Christmas service in 1560. She quoted the minister as saying that ‘I'm not giving it to you, because you did not come before; you did not purify yourself.’ Anna Alexandria reported that people left the church with tears in their eyes and that ‘I listened to four of the preacher's sermons, and they made me cry because they brought up things that were already put aside by the grace of God’ (p. 50). This excellent essay about the territory of Rappoltstein provides the reader with insight into one pattern of how Reformed religious traditions developed, highlighting the importance of relations between clergy and lay authorities, the challenges of defining and defending orthodoxy, and the problems faced by ministers as they attempted to lead congregations and to retain popular support for Reformed beliefs and practices.
