Marie Dentière – A Pillar of the Reformation in Geneva
Visitors to Geneva, Switzerland, will find at the heart of the Parc des Bastions – the largest historical park in the city center - an impressive monument with giant statues of the main protagonists of the Geneva Reformation: John Calvin, William Farel, Theodore Beza and John Knox (better known for his role in the Scottish Reformation). The engravings on the wall include Geneva’s motto “Post Tenebras Lux” and, on an adjacent stone block, the name of a woman: Marie Dentière.
Dentière is the only woman mentioned on the wall. Her name was added in 2002, about a century after the wall’s inauguration. It was an important addition because, despite centuries of stained reputation, she is recognized as one of the leading intellectuals and promoters of the Reformation.
From Prioress to Reformer
She was born around 1495 into a well-off noble family (d’Ennetières) in Tournai, Flanders (part of today’s Belgium). Nothing is known about her younger years. Between 1521 and 1524, we find her in the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Nicolas-des-Prés in Tournai, where she became a prioress.
By 1524, the news of Luther’s teachings had spread throughout much of continental Europe and had seeped into convents. Convinced of their truth, Dentière left her convent for Strasbourg, where she married Simon Robert, a former priest from Tournai and a member of the “Cenacle of Meaux” (founded by the French Reformer Lefèvre to encourage a deeper study of Scriptures). Simon was also a well-known Hebrew scholar. The couple had two daughters.
Dentière is the only woman mentioned on the wall. Her name was added in 2002, about a century after the wall’s inauguration. It was an important addition because, despite centuries of stained reputation, she is recognized as one of the leading intellectuals and promoters of the Reformation.
From Prioress to Reformer
She was born around 1495 into a well-off noble family (d’Ennetières) in Tournai, Flanders (part of today’s Belgium). Nothing is known about her younger years. Between 1521 and 1524, we find her in the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Nicolas-des-Prés in Tournai, where she became a prioress.
By 1524, the news of Luther’s teachings had spread throughout much of continental Europe and had seeped into convents. Convinced of their truth, Dentière left her convent for Strasbourg, where she married Simon Robert, a former priest from Tournai and a member of the “Cenacle of Meaux” (founded by the French Reformer Lefèvre to encourage a deeper study of Scriptures). Simon was also a well-known Hebrew scholar. The couple had two daughters.
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