Renaissance · Europe · Religion

1541

Calvin Returns to Geneva

May 26, 1541

After an earlier expulsion, Jean Calvin accepted an invitation to return to Geneva and began implementing his ecclesiastical ordinances. A consistory of pastors and elders policed morals, closed taverns, and examined citizens on doctrine. Geneva became a model Protestant city and a refuge for reformers fleeing persecution. His consistory of pastors policing morals made Geneva a model Protestant city, earning it the nickname the Protestant Rome.