Basel and Geneva: two paths from the Institutio
The Institutio was printed in Basel and applied in Geneva. The two cities followed different paths in the following centuries, although both remained Reformed. Geneva became the centre of Calvinism, the Protestant Rome, which trained pastors for France, the Netherlands, Scotland and other countries, and which received waves of Huguenot refugees. Its moral discipline was stricter, its consistory more powerful, its church more autonomous. Its bankers, many of them Huguenot refugees, developed international networks that connected Geneva with Paris, Lyon, Amsterdam and London. They lent to the French crown on a large scale in the eighteenth century.
Basel remained within the Zwinglian tradition of a state church under the control of the council, with a moderate discipline and a closer relationship with the German Reformed world. Its merchants developed trade and industry, above all the silk ribbon industry. Its banking developed later and more slowly than Geneva's. Its connection with the Huguenot world was real but less intense. Its university remained an important centre of learning, in particular in medicine, law and mathematics.
The two paths reflect the different positions of the two cities: Geneva, French-speaking and oriented towards France, received the refugees of the French Reformation and became their intellectual and financial centre; Basel, German-speaking and oriented towards the Rhine, received refugees from several countries and integrated them into a local economy dominated by its own merchant families. The next chapter follows the refugees who came to Basel and the industries they founded.
For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of August 2025.