William Farel, Guilhem Farel or Guillaume Farel, was a French evangelist, Protestant reformer and a founder of the Calvinist Church in the Principality of Neuchâtel, in the Republic of Geneva, and in Switzerland in the Canton of Bern and the Canton of Vaud. He is most often remembered for having persuaded John Calvin to remain in Geneva in 1536, and for persuading him to return there in 1541, after their expulsion in 1538. They influenced the government of Geneva to the point that it became the "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. Together with Calvin, Farel worked to train missionary preachers who spread the Protestant cause to other countries, and especially to France.
Oil on wood, 16th Century in the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Statue of Farel in Neuchâtel
The Reformation Wall in Geneva. From left: Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox
Protestant Reformers were theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
Fictitious dispute between the leading Protestant Reformers (sitting at the left side of the table: Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen and Oecolampadius) and the representatives of the Catholic Church
