Upon being exiled from Geneva, we now find John Calvin serving in Strasbourg upon the request of Martin Bucer between the years of 1538 to 1541. It was here that Calvin not only ministered to French religious refugees, but is even known to have penned some of his finer Scriptural expositions, such as his commentary on Romans (Elsie Johnson, Man of Geneva, pg. 87). Moreover, it was during this brief exile that Calvin married a widowed woman by the name of Idelette de Bure in 1540.
Unfortunately, there is little to nothing known about Calvin’s married life. What can be deduced is that they did have one child, a boy, who died prematurely. [5] In addition, due to continual bouts with illness, Calvin’s wife Idelette died nearly nine years after they eloped (T.H.L. Parker, John Calvin: A Biography, pgs. 120-121).
Finally, it is uncertain about the marital happiness that Calvin and his wife experienced, for even Theodore Beza remarked, “[Calvin] lived in marriage for about nine years in perfect chastity” (Bernard Cottret, Calvin: A Biography, pg. 139).
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