The Ink: Robert Estienne (1503–1559)

Luther stood not on the pronouncements of popes, or the decisions of councils, or the winds of popular opinion, but on “that word above all earthly powers.”

Katharina married Martin Luther to survive as a runaway nun, but their marriage proved to be a model in a time when “pastor’s wife” was a new role.

The Reformation required more than theological giants. It also demanded organizational geniuses.

He took the lead role in writing the Heidelberg Catechism, one of the most ringing affirmations of faith in all of Christian history.

Theodore Beza gave form to what we now call Calvinism by explaining and defending the biblical doctrines Calvin had rediscovered.

Lady Jane Grey was a teenage victim of social and political conspiracy, beheaded at seventeen for her faith. But her life is far from a tragedy.

German Reformer Balthasar Hübmaier had a powerful voice, a mightier pen, and a life that echoed his Reformed and Baptistic beliefs, even under torture.

Robert Estienne was the premier printer of the Protestant cause. He put Reformation doctrine and the Bible itself into the hands of ordinary people.

The key to John Calvin’s life: he recovered and embodied a passion for the absolute reality and majesty of God.

John Knox feared the face of no man, which equipped him to bring reform to his homeland in the Highlands.