Adultery and Divorce in Calvin's Geneva by Robert Kingdon (review)

716book reviews ners of the ThirtyYears'War. Graf's learned study explores aU this Ui detaU from archival sources, but his book is nevertheless weU organized and his arguments are convincing. Systems tiieories, however, Ui contrast to the rather useful confessionaUzation paradigm provide Uttle more than labels and categories for chapter headlines. Wolfgang Reinhard Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau Adultery and Divorce in Calvin's Geneva. By Robert Kingdon. [Harvard Historical Studies, 1 18.] (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1995. Pp. x, 214. $29.95 hardback; $14.95 paperback.) This volume presents a fascinating series of case studies on Calvinistic Geneva's attitudes toward marital disorder drawn from one of the most important and (hitherto) neglected sources on Early Modern social control— Geneva's Consistorial minutes. The book is an indispensable entry into these records. However, as Kingdon admits, he has "not reaUy attempt[ed] to offer any extended or sophisticated analysis" of the Consistory's work. The first case (Ameaux v. Jacon) presents both a marriage's coUapse and the possibUity of a wife's emotional and mental breakdown after repeated psychological and feG?^?ß) physical abuse. The next case pits Calvin's brother, Antoine , against his wife,Anne Le Fert. Here, Kingdon teases out the compUcated entangling of Genevan politics and Calvin's (vindictive?) determination to rid his household of his sister-in-law. The final case, unlike the others, resulted in the state-enforced reconcUiation of the couple (Bietrix-Maisonneuve). These cases present many interesting, recurring features: no clear proof of infideUty (save that of "unstable" Jacon); possible physical and psychological abuse; apparent official disinterest Ln abuse;poUtical interference;personal and social status ; prohibitions against male-female contact outside the famUy structure; assumptions that such contact impUed sexual misconduct; class prejudice; torture ; remarriage (even by the "guUty" party). One then sees the darkest side of Genevan attitudes: death for adultery. Five cases foUow in rapid succession. Two foreigners,Anne Le Moine (pleading marital abuse) and her lover,Antoine Cossonex, are executed.Jacques Levepveux, a foreign money-lender, used his business to coerce women into sex; he alone was punished. Bernardine Neyrod, a local, was executed though only one lover was beaten. Marie BUiot (foreign) was executed for prostitution interpreted as adultery (or bigamy) as was Louise Maistre. Maistre's eleven lovers were also prosecuted—ten received Ught sentences, one (politicaUy prominent) paramour was acquitted. Kingdon notes the misogynistic aspects and touches upon the (too) frequent recourse to torture. For example, Germain Collodon, book reviews717 Geneva's premier legal advisor in these cases, routinely presumed guUt and repeatedly advocated torture. Kingdon closes with a final case (Caracciolo v. Carafa) and an analysis of Beza's theoretical treatment of adultery, desertion, divorce, and remarriage. Caracciolo sought a divorce for "reUgious desertion"—an important aspect of Beza's treatise.Apart from its wonderful anecdotal value, Caracciolo's case highlights (with Beza) the breadth ofthe Protestant re-interpretation of marital matters . This fundamental departure from previous Christian tradition and its subsequent Impact is made clear. It is perhaps Protestant and contemporary values which aUow the pragmatic sophistry of this change to pass largely unscathed . These case studies are of obvious interest to students of Genevan, Calvinist, and Reformation history. However, there is also much here to interest students of gender issues, social control, and urban history. The value of the consistorial records for aU these areas is readUy apparent. One awaits with anticipation both the (expected) pubUcation of the records' transcription and theU detaUed study as a whole. WnxiAM G. Naphy University ofAberdeen Sin and the Calvinists: Morals Control and the Consistory in the Reformed Tradition. Edited by Raymond A. Mentzer. [Sixteenth Century Essays & Studies, Vol. XXXIL] (KirksvUle, Missouri: Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers , Inc. 1994. Pp. ix, 206. $35.00.) Mentzer,who teaches at Montana State University, has for a couple ofdecades been one of our best sources for the inner working of the French Huguenot churches. Central to French Reformed diought and practice was Calvin's famous "third use of die Law," as the guide and norm for the Christian Ufe. Luther concentrated on the first two uses—driving the sinner to God's grace by realization that the...