Rites of Torture in Reformation Geneva

In Reformation Geneva, city residents were faced with a situation opposite to that confronting French urban dwellers: rather than lamenting the hesitation of authorities to curb religious deviance, as early as the 1540s Genevans were more likely to riot in protest against the rigidity of the authorities' imposition of religious conformity than to ask for more. In Calvin's city, the government directed legislation and its criminal court toward creating a godly state. French men and women took violent action because they felt the royal administration was not taking responsibility for purging heresy; in contrast, the Genevan church and government worked together to impose religious conformity through liturgy, civic ritual, and rites of violence such as torture. Until now, most studies of justice in Geneva have not emphasized the link between the violence of judicial practice and Reformed religion. Beam explores that relationship, specifically with regard to the practice of torture.