REFORMATION 247 to that of the German diet, with a respectable minority in its favor. To settle the controver- sy for the republic, a general theological con- ference was arranged and held at Baden, Aar- gau, in May, 1526, with Dr. Eck, the famous antagonist of Luther, as the champion of the Roman, and (Ecolampadius of the Reformed cause. Its result was in form adverse, but in fact favorable to the cause of the reformation. It was now introduced in the majority of the cantons, at the wish of the magistrates and the people ; by (Ecolampadius in Basel and Haller in Bern, also in part in St. Gall, Schaff hausen, Glarus, Appenzell, Thurgau, and the Grisons ; while in the French portions of Switzerland "William Farel and Viret prepared the way for Calvin. But the small cantons around the lake of Lucerne, Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, Lucerne, and Zug, steadfastly opposed every innovation. At last it came to an open war between the Reformed and Catholic cantons. Zwingli's policy was overruled by the appa- rently more humane, but in fact more cruel and disastrous policy of Bern, to force the poor mountaineers into measures by starvation. The Catholics, resolved to maintain their rights, at- tacked and routed the small army of Zurichers in the battle of Cappel, October, 1531. Zwingli, who had accompanied his flock as chaplain and patriot, met a heroic death on the field of bat- tle, and CEcolampadins of Basel followed him in a few weeks. Thus the progress of the ref- ormation was suddenly arrested in the German portions of Switzerland, and one third of it remains Catholic to this day. But it took a new start in the western or French cantons, and rose there to a higher position than ever. Soon after this critical juncture the great mas- ter mind of the Reformed church, who was to carry forward, to modify, and to complete the work of Zwingli, and to rival Luther in in- fluence, began to attract the attention of the public. John Calvin, a Frenchman by birth and education, but exiled from his native land for his faith, found providentially a new home in 1536 in the little republic of Geneva, where Farel had prepared the way. Here he devel- oped his extraordinary talents and energy as the greatest divine and disciplinarian of the reformation, and made Geneva the model church for the Reformed communion, and a hospitable asylum for persecuted Protestants of every nation. His theological writings, espe- cially the "Institutes" and " Commentaries," exerted a formative influence on all Reformed churches and confessions of faith; while his legislative genius developed the presbyterian form of government, which rests on the prin- ciple of ministerial equality and of a popu- lar representation of the congregation by lay elders, aiding the pastors in maintaining disci- pline and promoting the spiritual prosperity of the people. Calvin died after a most active and devoted life in 1564, and left in Theodore Beza (died 1605) an able and worthy successor, who partly with Bullinger, the faithful suc- cessor of Zwingli in Zurich, and author of the second Helvetic confession (1566), labored to the close of the 16th century for the consolida- tion of the Swiss reformation and the spread of its principles in France, Holland, Germa- ny, England, and Scotland. III. THE REFOR- MATION IN FRANCE. While the reformation in Germany and Switzerland carried with it the majority of the population, it met in France with the united opposition of the court, the hierarchy, and the popxilar sentiment, and had to work its way through severe trial and per- secution. The tradition in that country was favorable to a change, as France had always maintained a certain degree of independence of Rome, and as the university of Paris, once the centre of European intelligence and culture, had strongly urged a thorough reformation in capite et membris on the councils of the 15th century. The first professed Protestants in France were Lefevre, Wolmar, Farel, Viret, Marot, Olivetan, Calvin, and Beza, all men of distinguished learning and ability ; but most of them had to seek safety in exile. It was only after the successful establishment of the refor- mation in French Switzerland that the move- ment became serious in the neighboring king- dom. Calvin and Beza may be called the fathers of the French Reformed church. Their pupils returned as missionaries to their native land. The first Protestant congregation was formed at Paris in 1555, and the first .synod held in the same city in 1559. In 1561 the theological con- ference at Poissy took place, where Theodore Beza eloquently but vainly pleaded the cause of the Protestants before the dignitaries of the Roman church, and where the name Reformed originated. In 1571 the general synod at La Rochelle adopted the Gallican confession and a system of government and discipline essen- tially Calvinistic, yet modified by the peculiar circumstances of a church not in union with the state, as in Geneva, but in antagonism with it. The movement here unavoidably assumed a political character, and led to a series of civil wars which distracted France till the close of the 16th century. The Roman Catholic party, backed by the majority of the population, was headed by the dukes of Guise, who derived their descent from Charlemagne and looked to the throne, then occupied by the house of Valois. The Protestant (or Huguenot) party, numerically weaker, but containing some of the noblest blood and best talent of France, was headed by the princes of Navarre, the next heirs to the throne and descendants of Hugh Capet. The queen regent Catharine, during the minority of her sons, Francis II. and Charles IX., although decidedly Roman Catholic in sentiment, tried to keep the rival parties in check in order to rule over both. But the champions of Rome took possession of Paris, while the prince of Conde occupied Orleans. Three civil wars followed in rapid succession, when the court and the duke of Guise resorted to treason, and concerted a
