Switzerland: Geneva (1569–1574)
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CHapTer foUR SWITZERLAND: GENEVA (1569–1574) The Academy of Geneva In late 1569 Melville assessed the political and social instability of France created by the wars of religion and, with no foreseeable end to the con- flict, determined to travel to Switzerland where he hoped to find a more suitable environment to pursue his studies.1 While there is little evidence to suggest that Geneva was Melville’s next logical stop, it is not difficult to see how his previous humanistic studies in Scotland and France, as well as his early Protestant influences, might converge in his own forma- tion leading him to Geneva and the study of theology.2 Although La Rochelle as a primary political and military center for the national Reformed movement was much closer and more convenient than dis- tant Geneva, it could not offer either the social stability or the academic opportunities available in the Swiss city.3 Protestant England remained an option for the young humanist, but Melville during these early years never seems to have been greatly attracted to either Oxford or Cambridge, preferring instead the continental universities of Paris and Poitiers as well as those newer institutions which led the way in promoting the New Learning of the Renaissance in the sixteenth century, such as the Collège Royal (1530) and the Academy of Geneva (1559).4 Just as Geneva was a 1 James Melville, The Autobiography and Diary of Mr. James Melvill ed. Robert Pitcairn (Edinburgh, 1842), 41. 2 John Durkan and James Kirk, The University of Glasgow 1451–1577 (Glasgow, 1977), 269–270. 3 Judith Pugh Meyer, “La Rochelle and the Failure of the French Reformation,” Sixteenth Century Journal, 15 (Summer, 1984), 171. On La Rochelle see Kevin C. Robbins, City on the Ocean Sea: La Rochelle, 1530–1650 Urban Society, Religion, and Politics on the French Atlantic Frontier (Leiden and Boston, 1997). 4 Menna Prestwich, “Calvinism in France, 1555–1629” in Menna Prestwich (ed.), International Calvinism, 1541–1715 (Oxford, 1985), 85; Paul F. Geisendorf, L’Université de Genève 1559–1959 (Genève, 1959), 23; James Bass Mullinger, The University of Cambridge: From the Royal Injunctions of 1535 to the Accession of Charles the First (Cambridge, 1884), 368; James W. L. Adams, “The Renaissance Poets (2) Latin” in James Kinsley (ed.), Scottish Poetry a Critical Survey (London, 1955), 82; Leicester Bradner, Musae Anglicanae: A History of Anglo-Latin Poetry 1500–1925 (New York and London, 1940), 151–152. Andrew Melville, “Antitamicamicategoria” in Parasynagma Perthense et Iuramentum Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ et A.M. Antitamicamicategoria (1620), 43. Although 102 chapter four city of refuge for Protestants, such as Joseph Scaliger three years later, following the horrific events of the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre in 1572, so in 1569 in the midst of France’s bloody civil war Melville traveled to Geneva in search of a safe environment for further study.5 Like Lambert Daneau who had been attracted to the Academy in 1560 because “it offered the purest source of that celestial doctrine” and embodied “one of the richest markets of commerce in humanist litera- ture,”6 Melville, aware of the Academy’s humanistic character and intent upon pursuing a theological course of study, resided in Geneva for five years “during the quhilk tyme his cheiff studie was Divinitie.”7 To study at the Genevan Academy from an intellectual and religious standpoint was compelling, appealing to Melville’s humanist sentiments as well as his Protestant sensibilities. From the very beginning, Calvin’s Academy bore the humanistic imprint of its founder and most influential voice.8 He was assisted early on by one of his most trusted associates and fellow humanist Pierre Viret, who aided the reformer in recruiting fac- ulty and planning the curriculum.9 Just as Viret had recruited Christian humanists such as Mathurin Cordier in 1545 and Theodore Beza among others in 1549 to serve on the faculty at the Academy of Lausanne, so he aided Calvin in attracting some of the leading humanists to constitute the first faculty of the Academy of Geneva.10 Melville later attacked the English universities in his poem Anti-Tami-Cami-Categoria (1604) due to their opposition to the Millenary Petition and their role in the Episcopal controversy, he, nevertheless, expressed his sincere admiration for both seats of learning and during his visits to both universities developed an appreciation for William Whittaker, John Rainolds, George Carleton, and Thomas Savile. 5 Karin Maag, Seminary or University? The Genevan Academy and Reformed Higher Education, 1560–1620 (Aldershot, 1995), 36. Cf. R. G. Philip, “Scottish Scholars at Geneva, 1559–1650,” Records of the Scottish Church History Society, 6 (1938), 216–231. 6 Olivier Fatio and Olivier Labarthe (eds.), Registres de la Compagnie des Pasteurs de Genève tome III 1565–1574 (Genève, 1969), 90; Charles Borgeaud, Histoire de l’Université de Genève: L’Académie de Calvin 1559–1798 (Genève, 1900), 52, 639. Cf. also Geisendorf, L’Université de Genève 1559–1959, 30; Maag, Seminary or University? 31. 7 Melville, JMAD, 42. 8 On Calvin’s humanism see Quirinus Breen, John Calvin: A Study in French Humanism (Hamden, CT, 1968); “John Calvin and the Rhetorical Tradition,” Church History, 26 (Mar., 1957), 3–21; François Wendel, Calvin et l’humanisme (Paris, 1976); Calvin, Sources et Evolution de sa Pensée Religieuse (Genève, 1985); William James Bouwsma, John Calvin: A Sixteenth-Century Portrait (New York, 1988); Basil Hall, John Calvin Humanist and Theologian (London, 1956); Charles Partee, Calvin and Classical Philosophy (Leiden, 1977); Robert D. Linder, “Calvinism and Humanism: The First Generation,” Church History, 44 (Jun., 1975), 167–181. 9 On Viret see Robert Dean Linder, The Political Ideas of Pierre Viret (Genève, 1964); Jean Barnaud, Pierre Viret: sa vie et son œuvre (1511–1571) (Saint-Amans, 1911). 10 Robert D. Linder, “Pierre Viret’s Ideas and Attitudes Concerning Humanism and Education,” CH, 34 (Mar.,1965), 25, 27–28. On the Academy of Lausanne see Louis .