Geneva

GENEVA: A city of Switzerland, of considerable importance in ecclesiastical history, with a population (1900) of 105,710. It was founded by the Allobroges, and employed by Caesar as headquarters in his campaign against the Helvetii. At the beginning of the fifth century it came under Burgundian rule and was the residence of King Chilperic; but before this Christianity had taken firm root in the district. The establishment of the bishopric, which Leo the Great in 450 declared subject to the metropolitan of Vienne, is usually placed in the middle of the fourth century. When the death of the last Burgundian king, Rudolf III., in 1032 transferred Geneva to the Empire, the bishops acquired princely rights which led to frequent contests with the counts of Geneva during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Bishop William of Conflans (1287-95) sought aid from Amadeus V. of Savoy, which was the beginning of gradual encroachments on the part of the latter power, and ultimately, through the necessity of forming an alliance in 1478 with Bern and Freiburg, of the Bernese influence which made the Reformation successful in Geneva. In 1534 its adherents, augmented by fugitives from France, were estimated to be equally numerous with those of the old religion. The bishop, Pierre de la Baume (1523-44), left the city, transferring his see first to Gex (1534) and then to Annecy (1535). In the latter year the senate abolished the bishopric; but the bishops, of whom the most distinguished was St. Francis of Sales (q.v.), continued to rule from Annecy those of their former subjects who still, acknowledged their allegiance until 1802, when the French Revolution put an end to the see. The Congress of Vienna, restoring the canton to Switzerland, decreed religious equality; and in 1819 Pius VII. placed the Roman Catholics of Geneva (who formed a third of the population) under the bishop of Lausanne, allowing him two years later to add to his title that of the ancient see. When, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, for the first time in three hundred years, mass was celebrated in the city, there were not more than 300 Roman Catholics there; at present they number over 30,000 in spite of the repressive measures undertaken by the cantonal government after the Vatican Council of 1870, which included the repudiation and banishment of the vicar apostolic named by the pope and the requirement of an oath of allegiance to the government incompatible with Roman Catholic belief (law of Mar. 23, 1873). An Old Catholic congregation was established by the French ex-Carmelite Hyacinthe Loyson; the churches were one by one handed over to this organization, which in 1904 had ten congregations in Geneva.

The first seeds of the Reformation were sown here as early as 1524 with the importation of the French

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translation of the Bible by Lefevre d'Etaples; and in Dec., 1526, the Duke of Savoy asked for assistance from Rome in repressing the movement, while in 1528 he executed twelve gentlemen guilty "of possessing the accursed book and spreading the heresy of Luther." His efforts, however, were frustrated by the support which the Protestant cause received from Bern. In 1532 Farel arrived in Geneva and made a deep impression. Riots and combats followed, in spite of the efforts of the Council of Two Hundred to reestablish peace by a compromise ordinance (Mar. 30, 1533). In July the bishop fled, never to return, but gained military support and from the middle of 1534 to the end of 1535 threatened the city. It succeeded in beating off these attacks at last, and on Apr. 2, 1536, the mass was finally abolished. In May a general assembly of the whole people swore to be at one in the sacred law of the Gospel. There were now ten pastors, who found their hands full and appealed for assistance. In July Calvin took up his residence there, and Geneva became a city governed by Protestant laws and a refuge for Reformers from France, Italy, Spain, and England (see Calvin, John). The city was the headquarters for Evangelical missionary effort; between 1555 and 1564 not less than 150 preachers left Geneva for France. In 1589 the party of the Guises in France allied itself with the Duke of Savoy in an attempt to recover the city by force. The war lasted until 1601, costing the republic 400,000 crowns and 1,500 lives, and was terminated by the Treaty of Lyons. The position of Geneva was made still stronger the next year by the victory of the Escalade, when on Dec. 11-12, 1602, an army of 8,000 men was despatched by Charles Emmanuel of Savoy to seize the city and had fixed their scaling-ladders to the walls before the alarm was given. The Genevese repelled the enemy and completed their success by turning the defeat into a rout. In the earlier part of the seventeenth century Geneva still continued to furnish pastors and teachers for France, and at its close became once more an asylum for Huguenot fugitives after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; between 1682 and 1720 3,600 refugees were received and maintained at the cost of the citizens. Close relations were also kept up with the Protestant churches of the North, England, Holland, and parts of Germany. In the eighteenth century, after two hundred years of constant combat with the papacy, Geneva was active in defense of the Christian faith against the attacks of Voltaire and the position of the Encyclopedist school in general: but the deism of Rousseau made alarming inroads on the Protestant Church membership. Between 1841 and 1878 there were constant conflicts between the Calvinist majority and the growing Roman Catholic minority, which resulted in the separation of Church and State.

The organization of the Church of Geneva remained unaltered for a long time, or underwent only minor modifications, until, in 1846, a radical change was effected, amounting almost to a revolution. Up to 1846 the pastors were chosen by the Venerable Compagnie des Pasteurs, one of the institutions of Calvin, which also had in hand the administration of all religious affairs of the Church, and exercised great influence on the academy and the schools. But from that year the authority of the Compagnie was confined to questions of worship proper; while the other branches of the administration of the Church were placed under the consistoire, composed of twenty-five lay members and six pastors, and elected by the people; and the pastors were chosen by the congregations. At the same time that doctrinal difference began to develop which finally led to the formation of the Evangelical Society, and the foundation of a new theological school; for which see Gaussen; Merle D'Aubigne; and Evangelical Society of Geneva. The radicals, who gained control in 1846, held it for fifteen years, abolished the Protestant Church of Geneva, and established a church almost creedless. This was reversed in 1862, when the conservatives came into power. In 1873 the grand council ousted all Roman Catholic priests who refused the oath of allegiance to the State; in 1876 the cathedral was given to the Old Catholics. In 1878 the expelled cures were permitted to return, and the separation of Church and State was accepted. In 1909 a monument to John Calvin was erected by general subscription.

Bibliography: Important are the M�moires et documents publies par la soci6M d'histoire et d'arch�ologie de Genhe, Geneva, 1840 sqq. Consult: Besson, Mt!mOiree pour ssrvir d Mistoire eccleaiaatique . . . de Gentve, Nancy, 1759; J. Gaberel, Hist. de 1'Egliae de Genwe, 3 vols., Geneva. 18531862; Regeste Genevois des documents imprim& relaWs h 1'kistoire de is vine et du diocese de Gentve avant Vann& 1318, Geneva, 1866; J. B. G. Maliffe, Gentve historique et archeologique, ib. 1868 (sumptuous); J. D. Blavignae, Le Christianisme A Genre, ib. 1872; idem, nudes sur Goalive, 2 vols., ib. 1872-74; idem, in MErrwires et documents d'histoire et d'archgologie de Genbve, vii. 20; E. Choisy, La Th�ocratie h Gentve au temps de Calvin, ib. 1897; E. Doumergue, La Gen~ve calviniste, Lausanne, 1905.