View source for William Farel

{{Short description|French reformer}}
{{Infobox_theologian
| name               = William Farel
| image              = William-Farel.jpg
| theology           = [[Reformed_theology]]
| birth_name         = Guilhem Farel
| birth_date         = 1489
| birth_place        = Gap, Hautes-Alpes, Kingdom of France
| death_date         = 1565 (aged 75-76)
| death_place        = Neuchâtel
| occupation         = Evangelist, theologian
}}

'''William Farel''' (1489 – 13 September 1565), '''Guilhem Farel''' or '''[[Guillaume (given name)|Guillaume]] Farel''', was a French [[Evangelism|evangelist]], [[Protestant Reformers|Protestant reformer]] and a founder of the [[Calvinist Church]] in the Principality of [[Canton of Neuchâtel|Neuchâtel]], in the Republic of [[Canton of Geneva|Geneva]], and in [[Switzerland]] in the [[Canton of Bern]] and the (then occupied by Bern) [[Canton of Vaud]].  He is most often remembered for having persuaded [[John Calvin]] to remain in [[Geneva]] in 1536,<ref>{{harvnb|González|1984|p=65}}</ref> and for persuading him to return there in 1541,<ref>{{harvnb|Latourette|Winter|1975|p=758}}</ref> after their expulsion in 1538.  They influenced the government of Geneva to the point that it became the [[John Calvin#Reform work commences (1536–1538)|"Protestant Rome"]], where Protestants took refuge and dissidents such as Catholics and unitarians were driven out; some of the Catholics and Unitarians  were even killed for their beliefs.<ref>{{harvnb|Latourette|Winter|1975|p=751}}</ref> Together with Calvin, Farel worked to train missionary preachers who spread the [[Protestant]] cause to other countries, and especially to [[France]].<ref>{{harvnb|Latourette|Winter|1975|p=891}}</ref>

== Life ==
[[File:FarelNeuenburg.jpg|thumb|Statue of Farel in Neuchâtel]]
[[Image:ReformationsdenkmalGenf1.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Reformation Wall]] in [[Geneva]]. From left: Farel, [[John Calvin]], [[Theodore Beza]], and [[John Knox]]]]
Farel was born in 1489 in [[Gap, Hautes-Alpes|Gap]].<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia | title=Guillaume Farel | url=http://www.britannica.com/biography/Guillaume-Farel | encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] | access-date=January 14, 2016}}</ref>  He was a pupil of the pro-reform [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|Catholic priesthood]], at the [[University of Paris]], in the earliest years of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]]. There he met the scholar [[Jacques Lefevre d'Etaples]]<ref>{{harvnb|Latourette|Winter|1975|p=750}}</ref> who helped Farel obtain a professorship to teach grammar and philosophy at the Collège Cardinal Lemoine in Paris. With Lefevre he became a member of the ''Cercle de Meaux'' gathered together from 1519 by the reform-minded [[bishop of Meaux]], [[Guillaume Briçonnet (Bishop of Meaux)|Guillaume Briçonnet]]. Farel soon became regent of the college. By 1522 he was appointed a diocesan preacher by the bishop.{{sfn|Gordon|1911|p=176}}  Farel now could invite a number of Evangelical humanists to work in his diocese to help implement his reform program within the Catholic Church.

This group of humanists also included [[Josse van Clichtove]], [[Martial Mazurier]], [[Gérard Roussel]], and [[François Vatable]]. The members of the Meaux circle were of different talents but they generally emphasized the study of the Bible and a return to the theology of the early Church. While working with Lefevre in Meaux, Farel came under the influence of [[Lutheran]] ideas and became an avid promoter of them.  After condemnation by the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], Farel evangelized fervently in the [[Dauphiné]]. Although Farel would become a friend and ally of John Calvin,<ref>{{harvnb|MacVicar|1955|p=175}}</ref> he had been a promoter of Lutheran ideas in his youth.<ref>{{harvnb|Marshall|2007}}</ref>

Farel was forced to flee to Switzerland because of controversy that was aroused by his writings against the use of images in Christian worship. In 1524, while in [[Basel]], he wrote thirteen theses sharply criticizing Roman doctrine, but his argument was so heated that even [[Erasmus]] joined in the demand for his expulsion. He went on to [[Strasbourg]] and later [[Montbéliard]], but was again forced to leave. Eventually he spent time at [[Zürich]] with [[Huldrych Zwingli]] and back at Strasbourg, with [[Martin Bucer]]. Finally given license to preach anywhere in the Canton of Bern, he convinced [[Neuchâtel]] to join the Reform in 1530.<ref>{{harvnb|González|1984|p=68}}</ref>

Farel established himself in Geneva in 1532, where he remained as minister, drawing Calvin to the city, but breaking with him over the [[Eucharist]]. Resistance from the established authority led to a brief period of banishment but the Bern government again granted him liberty of worship and he was able to return to preaching. However, the struggle was not over and Farel, along with Calvin, was banished from Geneva in 1538, in part for his rigorous positions, and retired to Neuchâtel. There he spent the rest of his life, and was frequently consulted by Calvin.

In 1558, when he was sixty-nine, Farel married Marie Thorel, who was a teenager. Scott Manetsch notes that Calvin was "flabbergasted and irate" at the marriage, "fearing that his friend's scandalous action would inflict irreparable damage on the cause of the Reformation throughout Europe."<ref name=Manetsch>{{cite book |last1=Manetsch |first1=Scott M. |title=Calvin's Company of Pastors: Pastoral Care and the Emerging Reformed Church, 1536-1609 |date=2013 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=102}}</ref> The couple did have a son six years later, although he died in infancy. In his final year, after Calvin's death, Farel visited [[Metz]] and preached with all his old fire, but the effort seemed to have exhausted him and he died while still in Metz. A monument to him was unveiled at Neuchâtel on 4 May 1876.

== Sources ==
* {{citation|last=González|first=Justo|author-link=Justo González|title=The Story of Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mN5UPgAACAAJ|volume=2|year=1984|publisher=Prince Press|location=Peabody|isbn=978-1-56563-522-7|chapter=John Calvin}}
* {{cite EB1911|last=Gordon|first=Alexander|wstitle=Farel, Guillaume|volume=10|page=176}}
* {{citation|last1=Latourette|first1=Kenneth|author-link1=Kenneth Scott Latourette|last2=Winter|first2=Ralph|author-link2=Ralph D. Winter|title=A History of Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hk6KcgAACAAJ|volume=2|year=1975|publisher=Prince Press|location=Peabody|isbn=978-1-56563-329-2|chapter=The Rise of the Reformed and Presbyterian Churches}}
* {{citation|last=MacVicar|first=Donald|title=William Farel, Reformer of the Swiss Romand, His Life, His Writings and His Theology|journal=Church History|date=June 1955|issn=0009-6407|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=24|issue=2|page=175|jstor=3161653|doi=10.1017/3161654}}
* {{citation|last=Marshall|first=Peter|title=Reformation Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TcB8vhB2ifkC|year=2007|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-0-8006-3415-5|editor-last=Matheson|editor-first=Peter|contribution=Leaving the World}}

== Archive Sources ==
Autograph, manuscript letters of William Farel sent to other reformers and received by him, are preserved in the "[[:fr:Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel|Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel]]".

* {{cite archive |fonds = Archives de la société des pasteurs et ministres neuchâtelois (13e-20e) |collection = PAST |collection-url =  https://floraweb.ne.ch/flora/ark:/37964/001307 |institution = [[:fr:Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel|Archives de l'État de Neuchâtel]] }}

==External links==
*[http://www.prdl.org/author_view.php?a_id=281]

==References==

[[Category:1489 births]]
[[Category:1565 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Gap, Hautes-Alpes]]
[[Category:Theologians from the Republic of Geneva]]
[[Category:French evangelicals]]
[[Category:Swiss Protestant Reformers]]
[[Category:Swiss evangelicals]]