In obitum doctissimi viri Gulielmi Whittingham, decani olim Dunelmensis, Mariti Catherinae sororis Johannis Calvin theologi, qui obiit anno 1579.On the death of the most learned man William Whittingham, formerly dean of Durham, the husband of Catherine the sister of theologian John Calvin, who died in 1579.
“was buried in the cathedral church of Durham; soon after was a tomb-stone laid over his grave, with an epitaph of twelve long and short verses, engraven on a brass plate, fastened thereto; which, with most, if not all of the monuments, which were set up after his time, were miserably defaced by the Scots, when they invaded England, in 1640...”“Dean Whittingham died at Durham, on the 10th of June, 1579, and was interred in the cathedral church: The inscription* given in the notes was placed upon his monument, which, soon after its erection, met with the same fate as he had treated others.”
Assertion
Type “William Whittingham John Calvin brother-in-law” into the Google Search engine and in a second you will have “About 324,000 results” (not in quotes, and as of April 4, 2022). These results, pages upon pages, fill up with words such as “William Whittingham, the brother-in-law of John Calvin” and “Calvin’s brother-in-law, William Whittingham.”[i]
Problem
William Whittingham (c. 1524-1579) fled England in response to Catholic Queen Mary’s bloody persecution. He went to Geneva, where he was primarily responsible for the Geneva translation of the New Testament. In telling the story of the Geneva Bible, it is glorious (apparently) to repeat the fact that Whittingham was John Calvin’s brother-in-law. But was he? I have also repeated this factoid. However, while researching the Geneva Bible, I discovered that this appears to be a “Christian urban myth.” It will be hard to overcome, spread out all over the internet as it is, including in what should be considered reliable sources. In a biography of Whittingham edited by Mary Anne Everett Green, we find:
“During his residence in Orleans, he married Catherine, daughter of Lewis Jaqueman, and sister to the wife of John Calvin the reformer, but the date of the marriage is uncertain. Her mother was daughter and heir of Gouteron, lord of Inguir and Turvyle, near Orleans.” [ii]
As “reputable” a source as the online Encyclopedia Britannica repeats this information – “William Whittingham, the brother-in-law of Calvin’s wife.” But, again, is it so? I think not. Notice the following.
Though Green cites Athenæ Oxonienses by Anthony Wood as her source, it does not appear that Wood actually says that. Here is what he writes:
“About that time [circa 1550, rlv], if I mistake not, he took to wife Katharine the daughter of Lewis Jacqueine, by his wife, the heir of Gouteron lord of Ingrue and Turvyle near to the said city of Orleans.” [iii]
Neither is there any “allusion to the supposed relationship has been found in the works of either Calvin or Whittingham,” according to the Dictionary of National Biography. However, that work does pinpoint the source of the information – a no longer extant supposed inscription on the tomb of Whittingham that read “maritus Catherinæ sororis Johannis Calvini theologi” (or “maritus sororis Johannis Calvini theologi”).[iv]
The inscription confused B. F. Westcott. He tried to find an explanation for it. He wrote:
“The inscription on Whittingham’s tomb in Durham Cathedral described him as ‘maritus sororis Johannis Calvini theologi.’ But it is clear that his wife was not Calvin’s sister, for in her will ‘Loys Jacqueeman’ is mentioned as her father. She must therefore in all probability have been his wife’s sister. Calvin married a widow, Idelette de Buren, and her maiden name is not recorded. But the inscription which was contemporary admits of no other interpretation.” [v]
The long and short of this is that the words say that Whittingham was married to Calvin’s sister – which is not correct or possible. Westcott acknowledges that is the correct meaning of the Latin. However, he infers then that Whittingham’s wife must have been the sister of Calvin’s wife (which also is not correct or possible). Westcott fails to mention other possibilities, including that the no longer extant inscription may have been passed down incorrectly, copied down wrong, engraved incorrectly, did not exist, or any other explanation.[vi]
The British Dictionary of National Biography (page 153) describes and resolves the problem in this way:
“In the inscription placed on Whittingham’s tomb he is said to have been described as ‘maritus Catherinæ sororis Johannis Calvini theologi’ (Hutchinson, Durham, ii. 151), and this statement has been commonly repeated. Calvin is, however, not known to have had a sister named Catherine (cf. Galiffe, Notices Généalogiques, iii. 106 sqq.), no allusion to the supposed relationship has been found in the works of either Calvin or Whittingham, and chronology makes the supposition almost impossible. Similar objections apply to the statement that Whittingham’s wife was sister of Calvin’s wife; the latter was Idolette de Bures, the widow of a Strasburg anabaptist whom Calvin married in 1540; whereas Whittingham’s wife Catherine, daughter of Louis Jaqueman ‘and heire to her mother beinge the heire of Genteron [or Gouteron] in Orleance’ (Genealogist, i. 309), was probably born not before 1535 and married to Whittingham on 15 Nov. 1556.” [vii]
The inscription on Whittingham’s tomb – at least the inscription that was supposed to be on Whittingham’s tomb – seems to be the source of the legendary “common knowledge” propagated across the World Wide Web concerning Whittingham and Calvin.
Conclusion
The earliest source for the inscription on
Whittingham’s tombstone appears to be The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, Volume 2, by William Hutchinson (Newcastle: S. Hodgson & Messrs. Robinsons, 1787, p. 151) – written
over 200 years after Whittingham’s death, and nearly 150 years after the
destruction of his tomb. It seems likely the description of the inscription
could have simply been corrupted over the years.
- The inscription as passed down states that Whittingham was the husband of the sister of the theologian John Calvin. That is incorrect and requires some other explanation.
- In their extant writings, neither William Whittingham nor John Calvin mention having any relationship to one another by marriage.
- The best genealogical data currently available does not indicate or support the fact that Whittingham and Calvin had a relationship to one another by marriage.
- William Whittingham married Catherine Jaquemane of Orleans in France. She was neither John Calvin’s sister nor a sister of John Calvin’s wife. John Calvin married Idelette de Bures Stordeur of Flanders in Belgium. She was not a sister to either Catherine Jaquemane or William Whittingham.
It is worth correcting or trying to correct this information rather than repeating the unproven assertion.
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