author
Théodore de Bèze
1519–1605
A sharp-minded humanist turned Reformation leader, he became John Calvin’s closest ally and eventual successor in Geneva. His writing, teaching, Bible scholarship, and psalm translations helped shape Reformed Protestantism across Europe.
1 Audiobook
De francicae linguae recta pronuntiatione
by Théodore de Bèze
About the author
Born in Vézelay in 1519, Théodore de Bèze was educated in the humanist tradition and first made a name for himself through classical learning and poetry. After embracing the Protestant Reformation, he left France and joined the circle around John Calvin in Geneva, where he would become one of the movement’s most important voices.
Bèze taught at the Academy of Geneva, served as a pastor and theologian, and later succeeded Calvin as a leading figure in the Genevan church. He was active not only as a religious thinker but also as a public spokesman, representing the Reformed cause in major debates and during the turbulent French Wars of Religion.
He also left a strong literary and scholarly legacy. Alongside theological works, he is remembered for Bible scholarship and for contributing French verse translations of the Psalms that entered the Genevan Psalter and were sung widely in Reformed worship. He died in Geneva in 1605.