Calvin's view had been accepted definitely by Melanchthon, and somewhat
indefinitely by Luther. The imperial cities, led by Strassburg, which
was under the influence of Bucer, who had thought out for himself a
doctrine not unlike that of Calvin, had been included in the Wittenberg
Concord (May 1536); but Luther would have nothing to do with the Swiss.
As it was vain to hope that Switzerland would be included in any
Lutheran alliance, Calvin set himself to produce dogmatic harmony in
Switzerland. In conjunction with Bullinger, Zwingli's son-in-law and
successor in Zurich, he drafted the _Consensus of Zurich_ (_Consensus
Tigurinus_) in 1549.[41] The document is Calvinist in theology and
largely Zwinglian in language. It was accepted with some difficulty in
Basel and in Bern, and heartily in Biel, Schaffhausen, Mühlhausen, and
St. Gallen. It ended dogmatic disputes in Protestant Switzerland, which
was thus united under the one creed.
This does not mean any increase of Protestantism within Switzerland. The
Romanist cantons drew more closely together. Cardinal Carlo Borromeo of
Milan took a deep interest in the Counter-Reformation in Switzerland. He
introduced the Jesuits into Luzern and the Forest cantons, and after his
death these cantons formed a league which included Luzern, Uri, Schwyz,
Zug, Unterwalden, Freiburg, and Solothurn (1586). This League (_the
Borromean League_) pledged its members to maintain the Roman Catholic
faith. The lines of demarcation between Protestant and Romanist cantons
in Switzerland practically survive to the present day.
CHAPTER III.
THE REFORMATION IN GENEVA UNDER CALVIN.[42]
§ 1. _Geneva._
Geneva, which was to be the citadel of the Reformed faith in Europe, had
a history which prepared it for the part it was destined to play.
The ancient constitution of the town, solemnly promulgated in 1387,
recognised three different authorities within its walls: the Bishop, who
was the sovereign or "Prince" of the city; the Count, who had possession
of the citadel; and the Free Burghers. The first act of the Bishop on
his nomination was to go to the Church of St. Peter and swear on the
Missal that he would maintain the civic rights. The House of Savoy had
succeeded to the countship of Geneva, and they were represented within
the town by a viceroy, who was called the Count or _Vidomne_. He was the
supreme justiciary. The citizens were democratically organised. They met
once a year in a recognised civic assembly to elect four Syndics to be
their rulers and representatives. It was the Syndics who in their
official capacity heard the oaths of the Bishop and of the Vidomne to
uphold the rights and privileges of the town. They kept order within the
walls from sunrise to sunset.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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