Pierre Boquin (also known as Bouquin, Boucquin, or Petrus Boquinus; post 1518 –1582 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

) was a French

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

Theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

who played a critical role in the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

of the

Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...

Origins and early career

Pierre Boquin was probably born after 1518 in

Guyenne Guyenne or Guienne ( , ; ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the Catholic archdiocese of Bordeaux. Name The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transform ...

in Western France. He earned a doctorate in theology in 1539 at the

University of Bourges The University of Bourges () was a university located in Bourges, France. It was founded by Louis XI in 1463 and closed during the French Revolution. Until the mid-17th century, lack of suitable legal training at home meant many Scots seeking to ...

. He was briefly a member of the Carmelite Order even serving as

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

of the Bourges community before leaving in 1541 due to his turn toward Protestantism. He fled through

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

. He joined the faculty of the Strasbourg Academy in 1542 as the successor of

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

. Towards the end of that year he returned to

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

to lecture at the

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

under the protection of Queen

Marguerite de Navarre Marguerite de Navarre (, ''Marguerite d'Alençon''; 11 April 149221 December 1549), also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was a princess of France, Duchess of Alençon and Berry, and Queen of Navarre by her second mar ...

. Bouquin also served as cathedral preacher in Bourges, but he lost this position in short order due to his Protestant convictions. Because of this he was brought up on charges before the

Archbishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created i ...

, which he wholly escaped by fleeing again to Strasbourg in 1555. He served there for two years from 1555 as preacher for the church of the French refugee community.

Activity in the Electorate of the Palatinate

He was appointed Professor of Theology at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

in 1557. He served as dean of the theological faculty, and Frederick III tapped him to serve on the church council due to his Reformed opinions. In June 1560, he participated in a

disputation Disputation is a genre of literature involving two contenders who seek to establish a resolution to a problem or establish the superiority of something. An example of the latter is in Sumerian disputation poems. In the scholastic system of e ...

with Saxon

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

s from the court of John Frederick II on the Lord's Supper, chiefly against

Johann Stössel Johann Stössel (also spelled Stoessel; 24 June 1524 – 18 March 1576) was a Lutheran Theologian and Reformer. Life Stössel was born in Kitzingen. He came to Wittenberg at 15 and became a master after 10 years of study. Since he distanced him ...

. He also participated in the Maulbronn Colloquy in April 1564, a debate with the Lutheran theologians of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, chiefly

Jakob Andreae Jakob Andreae (25 March 1528 – 7 January 1590) was a significant German Lutheran theologian and Protestant Reformer involved in the drafting of major documents. Life He was born in Waiblingen, in the Duchy of Württemberg. He studied at the ...

, over the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. There is currently no consensus on how large a role should be attributed to Boquin in the composition of the

Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Reformed catechism taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Reformed Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, Germany. Its ...

, although he was certainly a prime theological authority in that period alongside the principal author

Zacharias Ursinus Zacharias Ursinus (born Zacharias Baer; 18 July 1534 – 6 May 1583) was a German Reformed theologian and Protestant reformer. He became the leading theologian of the Reformed Protestant movement of the Palatinate, serving both at the University ...

. He supported the doctoral promotion of the Englishman George Withers at the University of Heidelberg in 1568, which in part helped to ignite the controversy over

church discipline Church discipline is the practice of church members calling upon an individual within the Church to repent for their sins. Church discipline is performed when one has sinned or gone against the rules of the church. Church discipline is practiced wi ...

between the Calvinist ''disciplinist'' party and Thomas Erastus.Ruth Wesel-Roth, ''Thomas Erastus: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der reformierten Kirche und zur Lehre von der Staatssouveränität'', 53-54.

Late career

When Frederick III died on 26 October 1576, his son Elector Louis VI returned the Palatinate to the Lutheran confession. To this end he released Reformed teachers and preachers, and therefore, Bouquin lost his post. He accepted a position in Bernese territory as preacher and instructor at the Lausanne Academy in 1578. He died four years later.

Works

''Ad calumnias doctoris cujusdam Avii in Evangelii professores Defensio''
n.p., 1558 * ''Apodeixis antichristianismi, qua christianismum veram religionem, pharisaismum christianismo contrarium, papismum pharisaismo simillimum esse ostenditur'' (Geneva 1583)* ''Examen libri, quem D. Til. Heshusius nuper scripsit de praesentia corporis Christi in coena Domini'' (Basel 1561) * ''Assertio veteris et veri christianismi adversus novum et fictum jesuitismum'' (Heidelberg 1579) * ''Exegesis divinae atque humanae koinonías'' (Heidelberg 1561)
Oratio de Vita et morte illustrissimi Principis D.D. Friderici III....
eidelberg Apud Ioannem Mareschallum, 1577.

References

External links