Heidelcast Heidelcast Live! Dark Days Of The Reformation With Dan Borvan
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Oct 30, 2026 
Dan Borvan, an Oxford-trained scholar of the French Reformation and pastor in California, explores the Huguenots’ perilous history. They discuss Calvin’s ministry from exile, Pierre Du Moulin’s defense of Reformed orthodoxy, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, and the 1685 expulsion. The conversation also examines religious establishment, political pressure, theological compromise, and why Reformed churches may thrive as faithful underdogs.
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Du Moulin Became Reformed France’s Polemicist
- Pierre Du Moulin became the French Reformed Church’s leading pastor and polemicist in the early seventeenth century.
- He opposed Roman Catholics, Arminians, and Amyraldians while promoting Protestant cooperation across Europe.
The Massacre Lasted More Than One Day
- The St. Bartholomew’s Day violence lasted weeks rather than a single day and killed thousands across France.
- Estimates vary dramatically, from several thousand in modern scholarship to much larger contemporary Protestant reports.
La Rochelle Ended Protestant Territorial Power
- French Protestants fought defensively for protected territories rather than pursuing a realistic conquest of France.
- After La Rochelle fell in 1629, operating as a separate Protestant political community was effectively over.