Between Gold and Bronze

This chapter contrasts the perspective of Antoine de Chandieu’s contemporaries regarding his importance with the perspective of scholarship since that time. Whereas at Theodore Beza’s death, poets represented Chandieu with silver, John Calvin with gold, and Beza with bronze, since then Chandieu has been forgotten. Yet Chandieu wrote six “theological and scholastic” treatises in the 1580s that were highly influential in Reformed theology and were responded to by opponents repeatedly. His Opera Theologica went through five editions after his death. He was also highly instrumental in the formation of the French Reformed Churches as a federation with a unique church order, one later copied by many other Reformed churches. Besides, as a French baron, he played a noteworthy role in the politics of France. The argument, plan, and outline of the book are found at the close of this chapter.