Guido de Brès

Guido de Bres (also known as Guido de Bray,Guy de Bray and Guido de Brès, 1522 – 31 May 1567) was a Walloon pastor and theologian, a student of John Calvin and Theodore Beza in Geneva. He was born in Mons, County of Hainaut, Southern Netherlands, and martyred at Valenciennes, aged 45. De Bres compiled and published the Walloon Confession of Faith known as the Belgic Confession (1561) (Confessio Belgica) still in use today in Belgium and the Netherlands. It is also used by many Reformed Churches all over the world.

Guido de Bres was born in Mons, today in southwestern Belgium. His father was formerly known as Jean Du Beguinage (alternatively: Jan le Béguinage) was an itinerant blauschilder [lit. blue painter] which is indicative of the tin-glazed process, a precursor to Delftware, introduced into the Netherlands by Guido de Savino in 1512 at Antwerp. Jean changed his name to that of De Bres when he settled in Mons and with his wife bore five children: Jehan, Jherome, Christoffel, Guy and daughter Mailette. Rehalenbeck suggests one other son, Michel.

De Bres was brought up by his mother, a devout Roman Catholic until the end of her days. The names of Guy's mother are unknown other than that of De Bres. Guy was a Roman Catholic and was very strong in that faith by all accounts. Not much is known of Guy's early life other than he followed his brother Jehan into school at the appropriate age and after a basic education followed his father in learning the craft of blauschilder.

The De Bres family were known for their skills in glass painting, and young Guido was trained in this art before moving to England. In his teenage years, he became a follower of the Protestant religion as taught by Martin Luther. Later he converted to Calvinism. He met and studied under John Calvin at the academy of Geneva where Calvin taught.

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