IntroductionThe Protestant Reformation of the Catholic Church devastated the religious unity of Christian Europe, leading to many antagonisms, which in turn led to persecution, to the denial of civil rights, expulsion, and ultimately torture and death of many men, women and children. The ongoing conflict was not limited to a single distinct European nation, but was experienced in every European nation ruled and ruled by the Catholic Church. At that time there was no worldview in Europe that would allow men's religious differences to coexist peacefully. As cited by McGrath in his book French Protestantism to the Present Day. From Britain in the west to Hungary and Poland in the east, thousands of towns and villages found themselves internally divided and many more had to reckon with "heretics" living just at the end of the road or on the other side of the field. This was a profound shock and provoked extreme reactions. The "most Christian king" of France Francis I declared in 1535 that he wanted to banish heresy from his kingdom in such a way that if one of the arms of my body was infected by this corruption, I would cut it off, and if my children were tainted with this corruption, I would offer them myself as a sacrifice (Diefendorf, 1991). The Roots of Calvinism This limited worldview would become the preferred way of dealing with the problem that the French Calvins or Huguenots presented to Catholic France. The roots of Lutheranism or Protestantism in France go back to the life of John Calvin. Jean Calvin (whose French name is Cauvin), was born on July 10, 1509 in Noyon, in the north of France. Calvin around 1527-1530, or perhaps later, was converted to Protestantism through the possible influence of the German school...... middle of paper ...... Christopher. (1999). The broken body: the Calvinist doctrine of the Eucharist and the symbolization of power in 16th century France. New York: Oxford University Press. McGrath, Alister E. (2003). French Protestantism to the present day. The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism. Blackwell Editions. April 21, 2011 http://0-www.blackwellreference.com.library.regent.edu/subscriber/tocnode?id=g9781405157469_chunk_g978140515746916.Olson, Roger. (1999). The History of Christian Theology. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. Shelley, Bruce. (2008). Church history in plain language. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. Steinmetz, David Curtis. (2010). Calvin in context. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. (2006). Accessed April 22, 2011 www.oxfordreference.com.library.regent.edu/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t95.e2840.