The Colloquy of Montbéliard

Abstract

This study focuses on the Colloquy of Montbéliard, a theological debate in 1586 between the Lutheran Jacob Andreae and the Calvinist Theodore Beza. Montbéliard, the site of the Colloquy, epitomized the complex array of shifting political alliances and religious tensions which characterized the Holy Roman Empire after the Peace of Augsburg. A French speaking Reformed county, Montbéliard found itself under the jurisdiction of the Lutheran Duke of Wurttemberg, who sought to impose his religion on the region. The people and clergy of Montbéliard resisted strenuously, and this tense situation was exacerbated by a continuing influx of Reformed Huguenot refugees from France. The ostensible purpose of the Colloquy was to determine if the Lutherans and Reformed were in sufficient agreement on the doctrine of the Eucharist to permit intercommunion. The author's research of the documents surrounding the Colloquy, however, has revealed that the calling of the Colloquy was the result of high level political intrigue. In fact, the Colloquy represented a last-ditch effort on the part of Henry of Navarre, with the Palatine Elector John Casimir and Queen Elizabeth of England, to unite the Protestant forces of Europe against Rome and the papal Allies. The author uncovers the background and details of this incident and analyses the nature and implications of the underlying theological conflict.

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