William Farel

William Farel
Oil on wood, 16th Century in the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Born	Guilhem Farel 1489 Gap, Kingdom of France
Died	1565 (aged 75–76) Neuchâtel
Occupation(s)	Evangelist, theologian
Years active	1522–1565
Theological work
Era	Reformation
Language	French
Tradition or movement	Calvinist

William Farel (1489 – 13 September 1565), Guilhem Farel or Guillaume Farel^[1] (French: [gijom faʁɛl]), was a French evangelist, Protestant reformer and a founder of the Calvinist Church in the Principality of Neuchâtel, in the Republic of Geneva, and in Switzerland in the Canton of Bern and the (then occupied by Bern) Canton of Vaud. He is most often remembered for having persuaded John Calvin to remain in Geneva in 1536,^[2] and for persuading him to return there in 1541,^[3] after their expulsion in 1538. They influenced the government of Geneva to the point that it became the "Protestant Rome", where Protestants took refuge and dissidents such as Catholics and unitarians were driven out; some of the Catholics and Unitarians were even killed for their beliefs.^[4] Together with Calvin, Farel worked to train missionary preachers who spread the Protestant cause to other countries, and especially to France.^[5]