JOHN CALVIN A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ORLEANS.
(1527-1528.)
Calvin, whom his father's wishes and his own convictions urged to
abandon the priestly career, for which he was preparing, had left Paris
in the autumn of 1527, in order to go to Orleans and study jurisprudence
under Pierre de l'Etoile, who was teaching there with great credit.
'Reuchlin, Aleander, and even Erasmus, have professed in this city,'
said his pupils; 'but the Star (Etoile) eclipses all these suns.' He was
regarded as the prince of French jurists.[1]
When Calvin arrived in that ancient city to which the Emperor Aurelian
had given his name, he kept himself apart, being naturally timid, and
repelled by the noisy vivacity of the students. Yet his loving
disposition sighed after a friend; and such he found in a young scholar,
Nicholas Duchemin, who was preparing himself for a professorship in the
faculty of letters.[2] Calvin fixed on him an observing eye, and found
him modest, temperate, not at all susceptible, adopting no opinion
without examination,[3] of equitable judgment, extreme prudence, and
great mildness, but also a little slow in his movements. Duchemin's
character formed a striking contrast with the vivacity, ardour,
severity, activity, and, we will add, the susceptibility of Calvin. Yet
he felt himself attracted towards the gentle nature of the young
professor, and the very difference of their temperaments shed an
inexpressible charm over all their intercourse. As Duchemin had but
moderate means, he received students in his house, as many of the
citizens did. Calvin begged to be admitted also, and thus became one of
the members of his household. He soon loved Duchemin with all the energy
of a heart of twenty, and rejoiced at finding in him a Mommor, an
Olivétan, and even more. He wanted to share everything with Nicholas, to
converse with him perpetually; and they had hardly parted, when he began
to long to be with him again. 'Dear Duchemin!' he said to him, 'my
friend, you are dearer to me than life.'[4] Ardent as was this
friendship, it was not blind. Calvin, true to his character, discovered
the weak point of his friend, who was deficient, he thought, in energy;
and he reproved him for it. 'Take care,' he said, 'lest your great
modesty should degenerate into indolence.'[5]
[Sidenote: THE STUDENTS AT ORLEANS]
The scholar of Noyon, consoled by this noble friendship, began to
examine more closely the university population around him. He was
surprised to see crowds of students filling the streets, caring nothing
for learning, so far as he could tell. At one time he would meet a young
lord, in tight hose, with a richly embroidered doublet, small Spanish
cloak, velvet cap, and showy dagger. This young gentleman, followed by
his servant, would take the wall, toss his head haughtily, cast
impertinent looks on each side of him, and want every one to give way to
him. Farther on came a noisy band composed of the sons of wealthy
tradesmen, who appeared to have no more taste for study than the sons of
the nobility, and who went singing and 'larking' to one of the numerous
tennis-courts, of which there were not less than forty in the city. Ten
_nations_, afterwards reduced to four, composed the university. The
German nation combined with 'the living and charming beauty of the body'
that of a mind polished by continual study. Its library was called 'the
abode of the Muses.'[6]
Calvin made a singular figure in the midst of the world around him. His
small person and sallow face formed a strong contrast with the ruddy
features and imposing stature of Luther's fellow-countrymen. One thing,
however, delighted him: 'The university,' he said, 'is quite a
republican oasis in the midst of enslaved France.' The democratic spirit
was felt even by the young aristocrats who were at the head of each
nation, and the only undisputed authority in Orleans was that of Pierre
de l'Etoile.
[Sidenote: ÉTOILE ON HERETICS.]
This 'morning-star'[7] (as the registers of the Picard nation call him)
had risen above the fogs and was shining like the sun in the schools.
The great doctor combined an eminently judicial mind with an
affectionate heart; he was inflexible as a judge, and tender as a
mother. His manner of teaching possessed an inexpressible charm. As
member of the council of 1528, he had advocated the repression of
heresy; but he had no sooner met Calvin at Orleans than, attracted by
the beauty of his genius and the charms of his character, he loved him
tenderly. Although opposed to the young man's religious opinions, he was
proud of having him as his pupil, and was his friend to the last: thus
giving a touching example in the sixteenth century of that noble
christian equity which loves men while disapproving of their opinions.[8]
Calvin, sitting on one of the benches in the school, listened
attentively to the great doctor, and imbibed certain principles whose
justice no one at that time in all christendom thought of disputing.
'The prosperity of nations,' said Pierre de l'Etoile, 'depends upon
obedience to the laws. If they punish outrages against the rights of
man, much more ought they to punish outrages against the rights of God.
What! shall the law protect a man in his body and goods, and not in his
soul and his most precious and eternal inheritance?... A thief shall not
be able to rob us of our purses, but a heretic may deprive us of
heaven!' Jurists and students, nobles and people, were all convinced
that the law ought equally to guarantee temporal and spiritual goods.
'Those insensate and furious men,' said the code which Pierre de
l'Etoile was expounding to his pupils, 'who proclaim heretical and
infamous opinions, and reject the apostolic and evangelical doctrine of
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one only Godhead and one holy
Trinity, ought first to be delivered up to divine vengeance, and
afterwards visited with corporal punishment.[9] Is not that a _public
offence_?' added the code; 'and although committed against the
religion of God, is it not to the prejudice of all mankind?'[10]
Pierre de l'Etoile's youthful hearers received from these words those
deep impressions which, being made while the character is forming, are
calculated to last through life. The mind of man required time to throw
off these legal prejudices, which had been the universal law of the
understanding for more than a thousand years.[11] Could it be expected
that a young disciple, rising up against the most venerable teachers,
should draw a distinction between the temporal and the spiritual sphere,
between the old and the new economy, and insist that, inasmuch as grace
had been proclaimed by virtue of the great sacrifice offered to eternal
justice, it was repugnant to the Gospel of Christ for man to avenge the
law of God by severe punishments? No: during the sixteenth, and even the
seventeenth century, almost all enlightened minds remained, in this
respect, sunk in lamentable error.
Calvin, bashful and timid at first, gradually came round; his society
was courted, and he conversed readily with all. He was received into the
Picard nation. 'I swear,' he said, 'to guard the honour of the
university and of my nation.'[12] Yet he did not suffer himself to be
bound by the university spirit: he had a larger mind than his
fellow-students, and we find him in relation with men of all nations,
towards whom he was drawn by a community of affection and study. Etoile
gave his lessons in the monastery of Bonne Nouvelle. Calvin listened
silently to the master's words, but between the lessons he talked with
his companions, went in and out, or paced up and down the hall like the
rest. One day, going up to one of the pillars, he took out his knife and
carved a C, then an A, and at last there stood the word CALVIN, as the
historian of the university informs us. It was _Cauvin_ perhaps,
his father's name, or else _Calvinus_, for the students were fond
of latinising their names. It was not until some time after, when the
Latin word had been retranslated into French, that the Reformer bore the
more familiar name. This _Calvin_ long remained on the pillar where
the hand of the young Picard had cut it—a name of quarrels and
discussions, insulted by the devout, but respected by many. 'This
precious autograph has disappeared,' says the historian, 'with the last
vestiges of the building.'[13]
[Sidenote: CALVIN HEAD OF THE PICARD NATION.]
The Picards, proud of such a colleague, raised him to the highest post
in the nation—that of proctor. Calvin was thus in the front rank in the
public processions and assemblies of the university. He had to convene
meetings, examine, order, decide, execute, and sign diplomas. Instead of
assembling his _nationals_ at a jovial banquet, Calvin, who had been
struck by the disorders which had crept into these convivial meetings,
paid over to the treasurer the sum which he would have expended, and
made a present of books to the university library.[14] Erelong his
office compelled him to display that firmness of character which
distinguished him all his life. This hitherto unknown incident is worthy
of being recorded.
Every year, on the anniversary of the Finding of the Body of St. Firmin,
the inhabitants of the little town of Beaugency, near Orleans, appeared
in the church of St. Pierre, and, after the epistle had been chanted,
handed to the proctor of the Picard nation a piece of gold called
_maille de Florence_, of two crowns' weight.[15] 'The origin of
this ancient custom,' they told Calvin, 'was this. On the 13th of
January, 687, the body of St. Firmin the martyr having been solemnly
exhumed, a marvellous change took place in nature. The trees put forth
fresh leaves and blossoms, and at the same time a supernatural odour
filled the air. Simon, lord of Beaugency, who suffered from leprosy,
having gone to the window of his castle to witness the ceremony, was
restored to health by the sweet savour. In token of his gratitude he
settled an annual offering of a gold _maille_, payable at first to
the chapter of Amiens, and afterwards to the Picard students embodied in
their nation at Orleans.'[16]
Calvin, who blames 'the old follies and nonsense which men substitute
for the glory of Jesus Christ,' did not place great faith in this
miracle. However, as the tribute was not paid in 1527, he resolved to go
with his 'nation' and demand it. He assembled his fellow-students, and
placing a band of music and the beadles in front, he led the procession;
all his 'nationals' followed after him in a line, and in due course the
joyous troop arrived at Beaugency, where the _maille_ was placed in
his hand. It bore in front an image of John the Baptist, and on the
reverse a fleur-de-lys with the word _Florentia_. The Picard
students were satisfied, and, with their illustrious chief at their
head, resumed the road to Orleans, bringing back the golden
_maille_ in triumph, as Jason and the Argonauts had in days of yore
returned from Colchis with the golden fleece. The procession reentered
the city amid the shouts of the university. Calvin was one day to rob
the _dragon_ of a more magnificent treasure, and nations more
numerous were to show their joy by louder shouts of gladness.[17]
[Sidenote: CALVIN'S STUDIES AND FRIENDS.]
Although Calvin would not separate from his fellow-students, he often
suffered in the midst of this noisy and dissolute multitude, and turned
with disgust from the duels, intrigues, and excesses which filled so
large a space in the student life. He preferred study, and had applied
to the law with his whole heart.[18] The vivacity of his wit, the
strength of his memory, the remarkable style in which he clothed the
lessons of his masters, the facility with which he caught up certain
expressions, certain sentences, which fell from their lips, 'the starts
and flashes of a bright mind, which he displayed at intervals,'—all
this, says a Roman-catholic historian, soon made him distinguished by
the professors.[19]
But he was destined to find something better on the banks of the Loire:
the work begun at Paris was to be strengthened and developed at Orleans.
Calvin, always beloved by those who knew him, made numerous friends,
especially among certain men attacked by the priests, and whose faith
was full of christian meekness. Every day he had a serious conversation
with Duchemin.[20] In order to lessen his expenses, he had shared his
room with a pious German, formerly a grey friar, who having learnt, as
Luther said, that it is not the cowl of St. Francis which saves, but the
blood of Jesus Christ, had thrown off his filthy frock[21] and come to
France. The Picard student talked with him of Germany and of the
Reformation; and some persons have thought that this was what first
'perverted Calvin from the true faith.'[22]
[Sidenote: DUCHEMIN, DANIEL, WOLMAR.]
Next to the house of Duchemin where the wind of the new doctrine was
blowing; next to the library, whose curator, Philip Laurent, became his
friend: Calvin loved particularly to visit the family of an advocate
where three amiable, educated, and pious ladies afforded him the charms
of agreeable conversation. It was that of Francis Daniel, 'a person,'
says Beza, 'who, like Duchemin, had a knowledge of the truth.' He was a
grave and influential man, possessing inward christianity, and (perhaps
his profession of lawyer had something to do with it) of a very
conservative mind, holding both to the forms and ordinances of the
Church. Calvin, on leaving the schools, the library, and his study, used
to seek relaxation in this house. The company of educated and pious
women may have exercised a happy influence over his mind, which he would
have sought in vain in the society of the learned. And accordingly,
whenever he was away, he did not fail to remember his friend's mother,
wife, and sister Frances.[23]
In the company of these ladies he sometimes met a young man for whom he
felt but little sympathy: he was a student from Paris, Coiffard by name,
lively, active, intelligent, but selfish.[24] How much he preferred
Daniel, in whom he found a mind so firm, a soul so elevated, and with
whom he held such profitable conversations! The two friends were agreed
on one point—the necessity of a Reformation of the Church; but they soon
came to another point which at a later day occasioned a wide divergence
between them. 'The reformation,' said the advocate, 'must be
accomplished in the Church; we must not separate from the Church.' The
intercourse between Calvin and Duchemin gradually became less frequent;
the latter, being naturally rather negligent, did not reply to his
friend's letters.[25] But Calvin's attachment for Daniel grew stronger
so long as the reformer remained in France, and to him almost all the
letters are addressed which he wrote between 1529 and 1536.
But all these friendships did not satisfy Calvin; at Daniel's, at
Duchemin's, at the library, and wherever he went, he heard talk of a man
whom he soon burned to know, and who exercised over him more influence
than all the rest. A poor young German of Rotweil, named Melchior
Wolmar, had come to Paris, and, being forced to work for a living, had
served for some time as corrector for the press.[26] Greedy of
knowledge, the youthful reader quitted his proofs from time to time, and
slipped among the students who crowded round the illustrious John
Lascaris, Budæus, and Lefèvre. In the school of the latter he became a
sincere christian; in the school of the former, a great hellenist. When
he took his degree of M.A. along with a hundred others, he occupied the
first place. Having one day (when in Germany) to make a speech in his
mother-tongue, Wolmar asked permission to speak in Greek, because, he
said, that language was more familiar to him. He had been invited to
Orleans to teach Greek; and being poor, notwithstanding his learning, he
took into his house a small number of young children of good family. 'He
was my faithful instructor,' says one of them, Theodore Beza; 'with what
marvellous skill he gave his lessons, not only in the liberal arts, but
also in piety!'[27] His pupils did not call him _Melchior_, but
_Melior_ (better).
[Sidenote: STUDY OF GREEK.]
Calvin, whose exalted soul was attracted by all that is beautiful,
became attached to this distinguished professor. His father had sent him
to study civil law; but Wolmar 'solicited him to devote himself to a
knowledge of the Greek classics.' At first Calvin hesitated, but yielded
at last. 'I will study Greek,' he said, 'but as it is you that urge me,
you also must assist me.' Melchior answered that he was ready to devote
to him abundantly, not only his instruction, but his person, his life,
himself.[28] From that time Calvin made the most rapid progress in Greek
literature. The professor loved him above all his pupils.[29] In this
way he was placed in a condition to become the most illustrious
commentator of Scripture. 'His knowledge of Greek,' adds Beza, 'was of
great service to all the Church of God.' What Cordier had been to him
for Latin, Wolmar was for Greek.
[Footnote 1: 'Jurisconsultorum Gallorum princeps.'—Bezæ _Vita
Calvini_.]
[Footnote 2: 'Jam dedisti nomen inter rei litterariæ professores.'—
Calvinus Chemino, Berne MSS. This letter will be found in the _Letters
of John Calvin_, published in English at Philadelphia, by the learned
Dr. Jules Bonnet, to whom I am indebted for the communication of the
Latin manuscripts.]
[Footnote 3: 'In ea natus es dexteritate, quæ nihil imprudenter
præjudicare soleat.'—Calvinus Chemino.]
[Footnote 4: 'Mi Chemine! amice mi! mea vita charior!'—Calvinus Chemino.]
[Footnote 5: 'Vide ne desidem te faciat tuus pudor!'—Ibid.]
[Footnote 6: Le Maire, _Antiquités d'Orléans_, i. p. 388.—_Theod.
Beza_ von Baum, i. p. 27.]
[Footnote 7: 'Ille quasi stella matutina in medio nebulæ et quasi sol
refulgens emicuit.'—Bimbenet, _Histoire de l'Université des Lois
d'Orléans_, p. 357.]
[Footnote 8: Ibid. pp. 354-357.]
[Footnote 9: 'Hæretici divina primum vindicta, post etiam ... ultione
plectendi.'—_Justiniani Codicis_ lib. i. tit. i.: _De summa Trinitate,
et ut nemo de ea publice contradicere audeat_.]
[Footnote 10: 'Publicum crimen, quia quod in religionem divinam
committitur in omnium fertur injuriam.'—Ibid. tit. v.: _De Hæreticis_.]
[Footnote 11: The Justinian code dates from 529 A.D., just a thousand
years before the time of Calvin's studies; but the greater part of the
laws contained in it were of older date.]
[Footnote 12: Bimbenet, _Hist. de l'Univ. des Lois d'Orléans_, p. 30.]
[Footnote 13: Bimbenet, _Hist. de l'Univ. d'Orléans_, p. 358. The
prefecture now occupies the site of Bonne Nouvelle.]
[Footnote 14: Ibid. pp. 40, 41, 51, 52, 358.]
[Footnote 15: This _maille_ was probably the gold florin of Florence.
The _giglio fiorentino_ is the badge of this city, and John the Baptist
its patron.
'La lega suggellata del Batista,'
says Dante in the _Inferno_, xxx. 74.]
[Footnote 16: M. Bimbenet, chief greffier to the Imperial Court of
Orleans, gives this tradition in his _Hist. de l'Univ. d'Orléans_,
pp. 161, 162, 179-358.]
[Footnote 17: _Hist. de l'Univ. d'Orléans_, pp. 173, 176, 179.]
[Footnote 18: 'Ut patris voluntati obsequerer, fidelem operam impendere
conatus sum.'—Calv. _in Psalm_.]
[Footnote 19: 'Singularem ingenii alacritatem,' &c.—Flor. Rémond, _Hist.
de l'Hérésie_, liv. vii. ch. ix.]
[Footnote 20: 'Longa consuetudine diuturnoque usu.'—Bezæ _Vita Calvini_.]
[Footnote 21: 'Läusige Kappe.']
[Footnote 22: _Remarques sur la Vie de Calvin, Hérésiarque_, by J.
Desmay, vicar-general, p. 43.]
[Footnote 23: 'Saluta matrem, uxorem, sororem Franciscam.'—Calvinus
Danieli, Berne MSS.]
[Footnote 24: 'De Coiffartio quid aliud dicam, nisi hominem esse sibi
natum?'—Calvinus Danieli, Geneva MSS.]
[Footnote 25: _Calvin's Letters_, Philadelphia, i. p. 32.]
[Footnote 26: Wolmar, _Commentaire sur l'Iliade_.]
[Footnote 27: Beza, _Vie de Calvin et Histoire des Eglises Réformées_,
i. p. 67.]
[Footnote 28: 'Quam liberaliter paratus fueris te mihi officiaque tua
impendere.'—Calv. _in 2ᵃᵐ Ep. ad Cor._]
[Footnote 29: 'Præ cæteris discipulis diligere ac magnifacere eum
cœpit.'—Flor. Rémond, _Hist. de l'Hérésie_, liv. vii. ch. ix.]