The Construction of Reformed Identity in Jean Crespin's Livre Des Martyrs : All The True Christians

Between 1554 and 1570, the Genevan printer Jean Crespin compiled seven French-language editions of his martyrology. In The Construction of Reformed Identity in Jean Crespin's Livre des Martyrs, Jameson Tucker explores how this martyrology helped to shape a distinct Reformed identity for its Protestant readership, with a particular interest in the stranger groups that Crespin included within his Livre des Martyrs . By comparing each edition of the Livre des Martyrs , this book examines Crespin's editorial processes and considers the impact that he intended his work to have on his readers. Through this, it provides a window into the Reformed Church and its members during the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion. This is the first volume to comparatively study all seven French-language editions of Crespin's Livre des Martyrs and will be essential reading for all scholars of the Reformation and early modern France. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 9 Introduction 10 1 The Hussites and Protestant history 36 2 ‘What little true light they had’: the Vaudois in history and martyrology 75 3 The alpine Vaudois in the 1550s and 1560s 107 4 ‘Luther n’est point mort pour moy’: Crespin and Lutheran martyrs 129 5 The German Peasants’ War 164 Conclusion 186 Bibliography 194 Index 206