John Calvin

===Discipline and opposition (1546–1553)===
[[File:Portrait john calvin.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Sixteenth-century portrait of John Calvin by an unknown artist. From the collection of the Bibliothèque de Genève (Library of Geneva)]]

Calvin encountered bitter opposition to his work in Geneva. Around 1546, the uncoordinated forces coalesced into an identifiable group whom he referred to as the [[libertine]]s, but who preferred to be called either Spirituels or Patriots.<ref name="Libertines">{{citation|last=Schaff|first=Philip|chapter=§ 108. Calvin's Struggle with the Patriots and Libertines|title=History of the Christian Church|volume=VIII|chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc8.iv.xiii.xi.html|access-date=17 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509182955/http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc8.iv.xiii.xi.html|archive-date=9 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fisher">{{cite book|last=Fisher|first=George Park|title=The Reformation|year=1912|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|location=New York|page=192|url=https://archive.org/stream/reformation12fishgoog/reformation12fishgoog_djvu.txt|access-date=23 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403190246/https://archive.org/stream/reformation12fishgoog/reformation12fishgoog_djvu.txt|archive-date=3 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Calvin, these were people who felt that after being liberated through [[Irresistible grace|grace]], they were exempted from both ecclesiastical and civil law. The group consisted of wealthy, politically powerful, and interrelated families of Geneva.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cottret|2000|pp=185–186}}; {{Harvnb|Parker|2006|pp=124–126}}</ref> At the end of January 1546, Pierre Ameaux, a maker of playing cards who had already been in conflict with the Consistory, attacked Calvin by calling him a "Picard", an epithet denoting anti-French sentiment, and accused him of false doctrine. Ameaux was punished by the council and forced to make [[expiation]] by parading through the city and begging God for forgiveness.<ref>{{Harvnb|Cottret|2000|p=187}}; {{Harvnb|Parker|2006|p=126}}</ref> A few months later Ami Perrin, the man who had brought Calvin to Geneva, moved into open opposition. Perrin had married Françoise Favre, daughter of François Favre, a well-established Genevan merchant. Both Perrin's wife and father-in-law had previous conflicts with the Consistory. The court noted that many of Geneva's notables, including Perrin, had breached a law against dancing. Initially, Perrin ignored the court when he was summoned, but after receiving a letter from Calvin, he appeared before the Consistory.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parker|2006|p=127}}</ref>

By 1547, opposition to Calvin and other French refugee ministers had grown to constitute the majority of the [[syndics]], the civil magistrates of Geneva. On 27 June an unsigned threatening letter in Genevan dialect was found at the pulpit of [[St. Pierre Cathedral]] where Calvin preached. Suspecting a plot against both the church and the state, the council appointed a commission to investigate. [[Jacques Gruet]], a Genevan member of Favre's group, was arrested and incriminating evidence was found when his house was searched. Under torture, he confessed to several crimes including writing the letter left in the pulpit which threatened the church leaders. A civil court condemned Gruet to death and he was beheaded on 26 July. Calvin was not opposed to the civil court's decision.<ref>{{Harvnb|De Greef|2008|pp=30–31}}; {{Harvnb|McNeill|1954|pp=170–171}}; {{Harvnb|Cottret|2000|pp=190–191}}; {{Harvnb|Parker|2006|pp=136–138}}</ref>

The libertines continued organizing opposition, insulting the appointed ministers, and challenging the authority of the Consistory. The council straddled both sides of the conflict, alternately admonishing and upholding Calvin. When Perrin was elected first syndic in February 1552, Calvin's authority appeared to be at its lowest point. After some losses before the council, Calvin believed he was defeated; on 24 July 1553 he asked the council to allow him to resign. Although the libertines controlled the council, his request was refused. The opposition realized that they could curb Calvin's authority, but they did not have enough power to banish him.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parker|2006|pp=139–145}}</ref>