Emergence of Pastoral Authority in the French Reformed Church (c.1555-c.1572)

Gianmarco Braghi, Ph.D. (1987) is an Alumnus of Trinity College Dublin. He is a member of the Fondazione per le scienze religiose (Bologna/Palermo) and Coordinator of the “Giuseppe Alberigo” European School for Advanced Religious Studies.

• AcknowledgementsAbbreviationsEditorial NoteIntroduction1 Time of Harvest: Informal Instruments of Pastoral Authority and the La Vau Affair in Poitiers ­(c.1555–1557)1Plural Influences on the French Reformation: Sebastian Castellio2The Evangelical Congregation of Poitiers and the Impact of Reformed Preaching3“Une zizanie mauvaise de discorde”: Jean Saint-Vertunien de La Vau4“Ils sont condamnés par eux-mêmes”: Dealing with Dissent in an Early Reformed Congregation2 “Ceux qui s’y trouverent, sçavent”: A Meeting of Pastors in Paris (May 1559)1Prosecution of Heresy under the Reign of Henri II2The ‘First National Synod’ of 1559: Between Legend and History3Issues of Sources and the Anticipation of Reception3 The ‘National Debut’ of the French Reformed Movement (c.1559–c.1561)1When All Hope is Gone: The Guise Rule and the Search for an ‘Outer Haven’2A Polyptych of Pamphlets: A Self-Confident and Assertive Rhetoric3The Colloquy of Poissy: Adjusting the Rhetoric for the ‘National Debut’4 The Institutional Turn: Negotiating the Limits of Pastoral Authority1The Confession de foi’s Model of Pastoral Authority2“On ne sçait pas celles qu’on doit adopter”: The Changing Forms and Limits of the Discipline ecclésiastique3A Litmus Test: The Aftermath of the La Vau Affair4An Appealing Preacher: Mathurin Sibelleau and the Congregation of Loudun5Inner and Outer Threats to Pastoral Authority5 The Multiple Battlefields of Pastoral Authority: Quarrelsome Pastors and Scandalous Books in Lower Languedoc (c.1561–1563)1The Genevan System and French Reformed Practices of Book Censorship2The Evangelical Conventicle of Nîmes Turns Reformed3The Mauget-Mutonis Affair: The Teething Trouble of Pastoral Authority4Deploying Women and the Laity for Polemical Purposes: The Declaration du mystere, ou secret de Dieu6 The Jean Morély Affair (c.1562–c.1572): Church Polity, Ecclesiastical Discipline, and the Authority of Pastors1The Early Career of an Itinerant Theologian2“Redime me à calumniis hominum”: Criticisms of Pastoral Authority in the Traicté de la discipline et police chrestienne (1562)3“Plus dangereux que les persecutions”: The Enduring Character of the Morély Affair7 Questioning the Ministry of the Word of God: The ‘Double Conversion’ of a Reformed Pastor1The Rise and Fall of an Outstanding Minister2Conversion Narratives3“Historien de la faute detestable que i’ay commise”: Redemption NarrativesConclusionBibliographyIndex