Refugee churches and exile centers in the French Reformation

Abstract

Refugee churches and exile centers played a central role in the development of French Protestantism, so much so that the French Reformed churches are often viewed as clones of Geneva. Substantial foundation exists for such a view, notably the dominant role that Geneva occupied as a center for the production and dissemination of French-language evangelical books between c. 1536 and c. 1560, Calvin and Beza's substantial correspondence with those within the kingdom, and the role played by ministers sent from Geneva in organizing many local Reformed churches. But other less frequently examined places of refuge also deserve notice: Antwerp (where many of the earliest evangelical books in French were produced), Strasbourg (home of an early refugee church), the other francophone territories of the Swiss borderlands (where many future French ministers received their initial pastoral formation), and London (home to another refugee church of importance). The role of Genevan initiative in shaping the French Reformed churches, however great, should not be allowed completely to overshadow either the significance of these other refugee centers or the forces of initiative emanating from within the kingdom.