Last time we left off with John Calvin’s studies at the College de la Marche and a comment about his intellectual abilities that garnered him recognition from the church officials.  Today we’re going to delve deeper into Calvin’s experience at de la March, as well as the remainder of his scholastic years, so that we can observe how the different educational institutions shaped his thought as an eventual Protestant Reformer.

College de la Marche

The College de la Marche was located in Paris and served as a branch to the University of Paris.  While attending this fine establishment Calvin would have been trained in the areas of French, Latin, and grammar in preparation for his studies in the arts, namely, theology (T.H.L. Parker, John Calvin, pg. 5).  While attending de la Marche Calvin quickly excelled in his studies and was transferred to the College de Montaigu to further study theology (Elsie M. Johnson, The Man of Geneva: The Story of John Calvin, pg. 17).

College de Montaigu

The College de Montaigu was both an educational monastery and religious community known for means of absolute harshness in the education of their students (Parker, pg. 8).  “There was a strict control of moral life” begins Parker, “pupils were taught to search their consciences in preparation for the regular public confession of sins; denunciation of one another was demanded and a weekly examination into behavior was conducted” (Parker, pg. 8).  One can only imagine that such an environment exasperated Calvin’s work ethic and zeal in living a righteous life and denouncing the faults and failures of his classmates.  This proves to be the case since Calvin came to be known as “the accusative case” by his peers (Parker, pg. 8). Even though the school was known to have been strict in its ways, it’s believed that Calvin would have bypassed some of the schools rigorous ways due to his “respectable provincial income” as a cameriste (paying guest) (Bernard Cottret, Calvin: A Biography, pg. 16).  Although both John and his father, Gerard, had purposed for him to study theology, there was a drastic change that was to take place in John’s life at the age of twenty.Upon being licensed in arts and obtaining a master’s degree, John Calvin was withdrawn from Paris by his father and sent to the University of Orleans in order to study law (Parker, pg. 15; Cottret, pg. 20).  The motive behind Gerard’s sudden removal of John from the tract of theology is twofold.  First, it has been alleged that Gerard was involved in some sort of conflict with the clergy of Noyon.  Secondly, it has been offered that Gerard foresaw greater economic advantages for John in a legal career.  According to the testimony of John himself, it is apparent that the latter of the two hold’s to be the case (Cottret, 20-21; Parker, 15).

During this transitional period, John Calvin’s zeal for theology and the priesthood would be temporarily subjected while studying law at The University of Orleans.  Unbeknownst to him at the time, his law studies would later prove to be a tremendous asset in his theological career.  “His thought remained permeated with the rigor, the geometry, the fascination, and the memory of the law,” observed Bernard Cottret.  When combing through the writings of Calvin, we can readily see his use of legal terminology woven throughout.

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Tags: College de la Marche, College de Montaigu, John Calvin, University of Orleans, University of Paris