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After a quick search around the board, it would seem that a sadly neglected figure of the Reformation is Jean Calvin. He normally gets mentioned by-the-by, but Luther hogs the limelight. Of course, Knox, Wycliffe, Melancthon and Zwingli are likewise neglected, being easily passed over for their more famous German Augustinian fellow-reformer, but I'd be interested to hear how the church of the reformation (Catholic and Lutheran) might've developed without that French lawyer? What if he'd stayed Catholic?

Calvin himself admits that he was a late comer to the reformed ideas. Unlike Martin who's father originally intended him to study law but became a monk, Calvin's life was the other way around - until 1525 his father intended him to enter the priesthood. He received benefices from the bishopric of Noyon.

Thus, another question arises: would/could he have climbed the rungs of the hierarchy in the Catholic church with his reforming ideas? Or would he simply have remained a minor soon-to-be-forgotten cleric in Picardie? I'm interested to hear the thoughts of others along these lines.
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