title: John Calvin

text: During late 1536, Farel drafted a confession of faith, and Calvin wrote separate articles on reorganizing the church in Geneva. On 16 January 1537, Farel and Calvin presented their "Articles concernant l'organisation de l'église et du culte à Genève" (Articles on the Organization of the Church and its Worship at Geneva) to the city council. The document described the manner and frequency of their celebrations of the Eucharist, the reason for, and the method of, excommunication, the requirement to subscribe to the confession of faith, the use of congregational singing in the liturgy, and the revision of marriage laws. The council accepted the document on the same day.


title: John Calvin

text: As the year progressed, Calvin and Farel's reputation with the council began to suffer. The council was reluctant to enforce the subscription requirement, as only a few citizens had subscribed to their confession of faith. On 26 November, the two ministers hotly debated the council over the issue. Furthermore, France was taking an interest in forming an alliance with Geneva and as the two ministers were Frenchmen, councillors had begun to question their loyalty. Finally, a major ecclesiastical-political quarrel developed when the city of Bern, Geneva's ally in the reformation of the Swiss churches, proposed to introduce uniformity in the church ceremonies. One proposal required the use of unleavened bread for the Eucharist. The two ministers were unwilling to follow Bern's lead and delayed the use of such bread until a synod in Zurich could be convened to make the final decision. The council ordered Calvin and Farel to use unleavened bread for the Easter Eucharist. In protest, they refused to administer communion during the Easter service. This caused a riot during the service. The next day, the council told Farel and Calvin to leave Geneva.


title: John Calvin

text: Farel and Calvin then went to Bern and Zurich to plead their case. The resulting synod in Zurich placed most of the blame on Calvin for not being sympathetic enough toward the people of Geneva. It asked Bern to mediate with the aim of restoring the two ministers. The Geneva council refused to readmit the two men, who then took refuge in Basel. Subsequently, Farel received an invitation to lead the church in Neuchâtel. Calvin was invited to lead a church of French refugees in Strasbourg by that city's leading reformers, Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Capito. Initially, Calvin refused because Farel was not included in the invitation, but relented when Bucer appealed to him. By September 1538 Calvin had taken up his new position in Strasbourg, fully expecting that this time it would be permanent; a few months later, he applied for and was granted citizenship of the city.


title: John Calvin

text: During his time in Strasbourg, Calvin was not attached to one particular church, but held his office successively in the Saint-Nicolas Church, the Sainte-Madeleine Church and the former Dominican Church, renamed the Temple Neuf. (All of these churches still exist, but none are in the architectural state of Calvin's days.) Calvin ministered to 400–500 members in his church. He preached or lectured every day, with two sermons on Sunday. Communion was celebrated monthly and congregational singing of the psalms was encouraged. He also worked on the second edition of the "Institutes". Calvin was dissatisfied with its original structure as a catechism, a primer for young Christians.


title: John Calvin

text: For the second edition, published in 1539, Calvin dropped this format in favour of systematically presenting the main doctrines from the Bible. In the process, the book was enlarged from six chapters to seventeen. He concurrently worked on another book, the "Commentary on Romans", which was published in March 1540. The book was a model for his later commentaries: it included his own Latin translation from the Greek rather than the Latin Vulgate, an exegesis, and an exposition. In the dedicatory letter, Calvin praised the work of his predecessors Philipp Melanchthon, Heinrich Bullinger, and Martin Bucer, but he also took care to distinguish his own work from theirs and to criticise some of their shortcomings.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin's friends urged him to marry. Calvin took a prosaic view, writing to one correspondent:I, who have the air of being so hostile to celibacy, I am still not married and do not know whether I will ever be. If I take a wife it will be because, being better freed from numerous worries, I can devote myself to the Lord. Several candidates were presented to him including one young woman from a noble family. Reluctantly, Calvin agreed to the marriage, on the condition that she would learn French. Although a wedding date was planned for March 1540, he remained reluctant and the wedding never took place. He later wrote that he would never think of marrying her, "unless the Lord had entirely bereft me of my wits". Instead, in August of that year, he married Idelette de Bure, a widow who had two children from her first marriage.


title: John Calvin

text: Geneva reconsidered its expulsion of Calvin. Church attendance had dwindled and the political climate had changed; as Bern and Geneva quarrelled over land, their alliance frayed. When Cardinal Jacopo Sadoleto wrote a letter to the city council inviting Geneva to return to the Catholic faith, the council searched for an ecclesiastical authority to respond to him. At first Pierre Viret was consulted, but when he refused, the council asked Calvin. He agreed and his "Responsio ad Sadoletum" (Letter to Sadoleto) strongly defended Geneva's position concerning reforms in the church. On 21 September 1540 the council commissioned one of its members, Ami Perrin, to find a way to recall Calvin. An embassy reached Calvin while he was at a colloquy, a conference to settle religious disputes, in Worms. His reaction to the suggestion was one of horror in which he wrote, "Rather would I submit to death a hundred times than to that cross on which I had to perish daily a thousand times over."


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin also wrote that he was prepared to follow the Lord's calling. A plan was drawn up in which Viret would be appointed to take temporary charge in Geneva for six months while Bucer and Calvin would visit the city to determine the next steps. The city council pressed for the immediate appointment of Calvin in Geneva. By mid-1541, Strasbourg decided to lend Calvin to Geneva for six months. Calvin returned on 13 September 1541 with an official escort and a wagon for his family.


title: John Calvin

text: In supporting Calvin's proposals for reforms, the council of Geneva passed the "Ordonnances ecclésiastiques" (Ecclesiastical Ordinances) on 20 November 1541. The ordinances defined four orders of ministerial function: pastors to preach and to administer the sacraments; doctors to instruct believers in the faith; elders to provide discipline; and deacons to care for the poor and needy. They also called for the creation of the "Consistoire" (Consistory), an ecclesiastical court composed of the elders and the ministers. The city government retained the power to summon persons before the court, and the Consistory could judge only ecclesiastical matters having no civil jurisdiction. Originally, the court had the power to mete out sentences, with excommunication as its most severe penalty. The government contested this power and on 19 March 1543 the council decided that all sentencing would be carried out by the government.


title: John Calvin

text: In 1542, Calvin adapted a service book used in Strasbourg, publishing "La Forme des Prières et Chants Ecclésiastiques" (The Form of Prayers and Church Hymns). Calvin recognised the power of music and he intended that it be used to support scripture readings. The original Strasbourg psalter contained twelve psalms by Clément Marot and Calvin added several more hymns of his own composition in the Geneva version. At the end of 1542, Marot became a refugee in Geneva and contributed nineteen more psalms. Louis Bourgeois, also a refugee, lived and taught music in Geneva for sixteen years and Calvin took the opportunity to add his hymns, the most famous being the Old Hundredth.


title: John Calvin

text: In the same year of 1542, Calvin published "Catéchisme de l'Eglise de Genève" (Catechism of the Church of Geneva), which was inspired by Bucer's "Kurze Schrifftliche Erklärung" of 1534. Calvin had written an earlier catechism during his first stay in Geneva which was largely based on Martin Luther's Large Catechism. The first version was arranged pedagogically, describing Law, Faith, and Prayer. The 1542 version was rearranged for theological reasons, covering Faith first, then Law and Prayer.


title: John Calvin

text: Historians debate the extent to which Geneva was a theocracy. On the one hand, Calvin's theology clearly called for separation between church and state. Other historians have stressed the enormous political power wielded on a daily basis by the clerics.


title: John Calvin

text: During his ministry in Geneva, Calvin preached over two thousand sermons. Initially he preached twice on Sunday and three times during the week. This proved to be too heavy a burden and late in 1542 the council allowed him to preach only once on Sunday. In October 1549, he was again required to preach twice on Sundays and, in addition, every weekday of alternate weeks. His sermons lasted more than an hour and he did not use notes. An occasional secretary tried to record his sermons, but very little of his preaching was preserved before 1549. In that year, professional scribe Denis Raguenier, who had learned or developed a system of shorthand, was assigned to record all of Calvin's sermons. An analysis of his sermons by T. H. L. Parker suggests that Calvin was a consistent preacher and his style changed very little over the years. John Calvin was also known for his thorough manner of working his way through the Bible in consecutive sermons. From March 1555 to July 1556, Calvin delivered two hundred sermons on Deuteronomy.


title: John Calvin

text: Voltaire wrote about Calvin, Luther and Zwingli, "If they condemned celibacy in the priests, and opened the gates of the convents, it was only to turn all society into a convent. Shows and entertainments were expressly forbidden by their religion; and for more than two hundred years there was not a single musical instrument allowed in the city of Geneva. They condemned auricular confession, but they enjoined a public one; and in Switzerland, Scotland, and Geneva it was performed the same as penance."


title: John Calvin

text: Very little is known about Calvin's personal life in Geneva. His house and furniture were owned by the council. The house was big enough to accommodate his family as well as Antoine's family and some servants. On 28 July 1542, Idelette gave birth to a son, Jacques, but he was born prematurely and survived only briefly. Idelette fell ill in 1545 and died on 29 March 1549. Calvin never married again. He expressed his sorrow in a letter to Viret:


title: John Calvin

text: I have been bereaved of the best friend of my life, of one who, if it has been so ordained, would willingly have shared not only my poverty but also my death. During her life she was the faithful helper of my ministry. From her I never experienced the slightest hindrance.


title: John Calvin

text: Throughout the rest of his life in Geneva, he maintained several friendships from his early years including Montmor, Cordier, Cop, Farel, Melanchthon and Bullinger.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin encountered bitter opposition to his work in Geneva. Around 1546, the uncoordinated forces coalesced into an identifiable group whom he referred to as the libertines, but who preferred to be called either Spirituels or Patriots. According to Calvin, these were people who felt that after being liberated through grace, they were exempted from both ecclesiastical and civil law. The group consisted of wealthy, politically powerful, and interrelated families of Geneva. At the end of January 1546, Pierre Ameaux, a maker of playing cards who had already been in conflict with the Consistory, attacked Calvin by calling him a "Picard", an epithet denoting anti-French sentiment, and accused him of false doctrine. Ameaux was punished by the council and forced to make expiation by parading through the city and begging God for forgiveness. A few months later Ami Perrin, the man who had brought Calvin to Geneva, moved into open opposition. Perrin had married Françoise Favre, daughter of François Favre, a well-established Genevan merchant. Both Perrin's wife and father-in-law had previous conflicts with the Consistory. The court noted that many of Geneva's notables, including Perrin, had breached a law against dancing. Initially, Perrin ignored the court when he was summoned, but after receiving a letter from Calvin, he appeared before the Consistory.


title: John Calvin

text: By 1547, opposition to Calvin and other French refugee ministers had grown to constitute the majority of the syndics, the civil magistrates of Geneva. On 27 June an unsigned threatening letter in Genevan dialect was found at the pulpit of St. Pierre Cathedral where Calvin preached. Suspecting a plot against both the church and the state, the council appointed a commission to investigate. Jacques Gruet, a Genevan member of Favre's group, was arrested and incriminating evidence was found when his house was searched. Under torture, he confessed to several crimes including writing the letter left in the pulpit which threatened the church leaders. A civil court condemned Gruet to death and he was beheaded on 26 July. Calvin was not opposed to the civil court's decision.


title: John Calvin

text: The libertines continued organizing opposition, insulting the appointed ministers, and challenging the authority of the Consistory. The council straddled both sides of the conflict, alternately admonishing and upholding Calvin. When Perrin was elected first syndic in February 1552, Calvin's authority appeared to be at its lowest point. After some losses before the council, Calvin believed he was defeated; on 24 July 1553 he asked the council to allow him to resign. Although the libertines controlled the council, his request was refused. The opposition realised that they could curb Calvin's authority, but they did not have enough power to banish him.


title: John Calvin

text: The turning point in Calvin's fortunes occurred when Michael Servetus, a brilliant Spanish polymath who introduced the Islamic idea of Pulmonary circulation to Europe, and a fugitive from ecclesiastical authorities, appeared in Geneva on 13 August 1553. Servetus was a fugitive on the run after he published "The Restoration of Christianity" (1553), Calvin scholar Bruce Gordon commented "Among its offenses were a denial of original sin and a bizarre and hardly comprehensible view of the Trinity."


title: John Calvin

text: Decades earlier, in July 1530 he disputed with Johannes Oecolampadius in Basel and was eventually expelled. He went to Strasbourg, where he published a pamphlet against the Trinity. Bucer publicly refuted it and asked Servetus to leave. After returning to Basel, Servetus published "Two Books of Dialogues on the Trinity" () which caused a sensation among Reformers and Catholics alike. When John Calvin alerted the Inquisition in Spain about this publication, an order was issued for Servetus's arrest.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin and Servetus were first brought into contact in 1546 through a common acquaintance, Jean Frellon of Lyon; they exchanged letters debating doctrine; Calvin used a pseudonym as "Charles d' Espeville" and Servetus used the moniker "Michel de Villeneuve." Eventually, Calvin lost patience and refused to respond; by this time Servetus had written around thirty letters to Calvin. Calvin was particularly outraged when Servetus sent him a copy of the "Institutes of the Christian Religion" heavily annotated with arguments pointing to errors in the book. When Servetus mentioned that he would come to Geneva, "Espeville" (Calvin) wrote a letter to Farel on 13 February 1546 noting that if Servetus were to come, he would not assure him safe conduct: "for if he came, as far as my authority goes, I would not let him leave alive."


title: John Calvin

text: In 1553 Servetus published "Christianismi Restitutio" (English: The Restoration of Christianity), in which he rejected the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the concept of predestination. In the same year, Calvin's representative, Guillaume de Trie, sent letters alerting the French Inquisition to Servetus. Calling him a "Spanish-Portuguese", suspecting and accusing him of his recently proved Jewish converso origin. De Trie wrote down that "his proper name is Michael Servetus, but he currently calls himself Villeneuve, practising medicine. He stayed for some time in Lyon, and now he is living in Vienne." When the inquisitor-general of France learned that Servetus was hiding in Vienne, according to Calvin under an assumed name, he contacted Cardinal François de Tournon, the secretary of the archbishop of Lyon, to take up the matter. Servetus was arrested and taken in for questioning. His letters to Calvin were presented as evidence of heresy, but he denied having written them, and later said he was not sure it was his handwriting. He said, after swearing before the holy gospel, that "he was Michel De Villeneuve Doctor in Medicine about 42 years old, native of Tudela of the kingdom of Navarre, a city under the obedience to the Emperor". The following day he said: "..although he was not Servetus he assumed the person of Servet for debating with Calvin". He managed to escape from prison, and the Catholic authorities sentenced him "in absentia" to death by slow burning.


title: John Calvin

text: On his way to Italy, Servetus stopped in Geneva to visit ""d'Espeville"", where he was recognized and arrested. Calvin's secretary, Nicholas de la Fontaine, composed a list of accusations that was submitted before the court. The prosecutor was Philibert Berthelier, a member of a libertine family and son of a famous Geneva patriot, and the sessions were led by Pierre Tissot, Perrin's brother-in-law. The libertines allowed the trial to drag on in an attempt to harass Calvin. The difficulty in using Servetus as a weapon against Calvin was that the heretical reputation of Servetus was widespread and most of the cities in Europe were observing and awaiting the outcome of the trial. This posed a dilemma for the libertines, so on 21 August the council decided to write to other Swiss cities for their opinions, thus mitigating their own responsibility for the final decision. While waiting for the responses, the council also asked Servetus if he preferred to be judged in Vienne or in Geneva. He begged to stay in Geneva. On 20 October the replies from Zurich, Basel, Bern, and Schaffhausen were read and the council condemned Servetus as a heretic. The following day he was sentenced to burning at the stake, the same sentence as in Vienne. Some scholars claim that Calvin and other ministers asked that he be beheaded instead of burnt, knowing that burning at the stake was the only legal recourse. This plea was refused and on 27 October, Servetus was burnt alive at the Plateau of Champel at the edge of Geneva.


title: John Calvin

text: After the death of Servetus, Calvin was acclaimed a defender of Christianity, but his ultimate triumph over the libertines was still two years away. He had always insisted that the Consistory retain the power of excommunication, despite the council's past decision to take it away. During Servetus's trial, Philibert Berthelier asked the council for permission to take communion, as he had been excommunicated the previous year for insulting a minister. Calvin protested that the council did not have the legal authority to overturn Berthelier's excommunication. Unsure of how the council would rule, he hinted in a sermon on 3 September 1553 that he might be dismissed by the authorities. The council decided to re-examine the "Ordonnances" and on 18 September it voted in support of Calvin—excommunication was within the jurisdiction of the Consistory. Berthelier applied for reinstatement to another Genevan administrative assembly, the "Deux Cents" (Two Hundred), in November. This body reversed the council's decision and stated that the final arbiter concerning excommunication should be the council. The ministers continued to protest, and as in the case of Servetus, the opinions of the Swiss churches were sought. The affair dragged on through 1554. Finally, on 22 January 1555, the council announced the decision of the Swiss churches: the original "Ordonnances" were to be kept and the Consistory was to regain its official powers.


title: John Calvin

text: The libertines' downfall began with the February 1555 elections. By then, many of the French refugees had been granted citizenship and with their support, Calvin's partisans elected the majority of the syndics and the councillors. On 16 May the libertines took to the streets in a drunken protest and attempted to burn down a house that was supposedly full of Frenchmen. The syndic Henri Aulbert tried to intervene, carrying with him the baton of office that symbolised his power. Perrin seized the baton and waved it over the crowd, which gave the appearance that he was taking power and initiating a "coup d'état". The insurrection was soon over when another syndic appeared and ordered Perrin to go with him to the town hall. Perrin and other leaders were forced to flee the city. With the approval of Calvin, the other plotters who remained in the city were found and executed. The opposition to Calvin's church polity came to an end.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin's authority was practically uncontested during his final years, and he enjoyed an international reputation as a reformer distinct from Martin Luther. Initially, Luther and Calvin had mutual respect for each other. A doctrinal conflict had developed between Luther and Zurich reformer Huldrych Zwingli on the interpretation of the eucharist. Calvin's opinion on the issue forced Luther to place him in Zwingli's camp. Calvin actively participated in the polemics that were exchanged between the Lutheran and Reformed branches of the Reformation movement. At the same time, Calvin was dismayed by the lack of unity among the reformers. He took steps toward rapprochement with Bullinger by signing the "Consensus Tigurinus", a concordat between the Zurich and Geneva churches. He reached out to England when Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer called for an ecumenical synod of all the evangelical churches. Calvin praised the idea, but ultimately Cranmer was unable to bring it to fruition.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin sheltered Marian exiles (those who fled the reign of Catholic Mary Tudor in England) in Geneva starting in 1555. Under the city's protection, they were able to form their own reformed church under John Knox and William Whittingham and eventually carried Calvin's ideas on doctrine and polity back to England and Scotland.


title: John Calvin

text: Within Geneva, Calvin's main concern was the creation of a "collège", an institute for the education of children. A site for the school was selected on 25 March 1558 and it opened the following year on 5 June 1559. Although the school was a single institution, it was divided into two parts: a grammar school called the "collège" or "schola privata" and an advanced school called the "académie" or "schola publica". Calvin tried to recruit two professors for the institute, Mathurin Cordier, his old friend and Latin scholar who was now based in Lausanne, and Emmanuel Tremellius, the former Regius professor of Hebrew in Cambridge. Neither was available, but he succeeded in obtaining Theodore Beza as rector. Within five years there were 1,200 students in the grammar school and 300 in the advanced school. The "collège" eventually became the Collège Calvin, one of the college preparatory schools of Geneva; the "académie" became the University of Geneva.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin was deeply committed to reforming his homeland, France. The Protestant movement had been energetic, but lacked central organizational direction. With financial support from the church in Geneva, Calvin turned his enormous energies toward uplifting the French Protestant cause. As one historian explains:


title: John Calvin

text: In late 1558, Calvin became ill with a fever. Since he was afraid that he might die before completing the final revision of the "Institutes", he forced himself to work. The final edition was greatly expanded to the extent that Calvin referred to it as a new work. The expansion from the 21 chapters of the previous edition to 80 was due to the extended treatment of existing material rather than the addition of new topics. Shortly after he recovered, he strained his voice while preaching, which brought on a violent fit of coughing. He burst a blood-vessel in his lungs, and his health steadily declined. He preached his final sermon in St. Pierre on 6 February 1564. On 25 April, he made his will, in which he left small sums to his family and to the "collège". A few days later, the ministers of the church came to visit him, and he bade his final farewell, which was recorded in "Discours d'adieu aux ministres". He recounted his life in Geneva, sometimes recalling bitterly some of the hardships he had suffered. Calvin died on 27 May 1564 aged 54. At first his body lay in state, but since so many people came to see it, the reformers were afraid that they would be accused of fostering a new saint's cult. On the following day, he was buried in an unmarked grave in the Cimetière des Rois. The exact location of the grave is unknown; a stone was added in the 19th century to mark a grave traditionally thought to be Calvin's.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin developed his theology in his biblical commentaries as well as his sermons and treatises, but the most comprehensive expression of his views is found in his magnum opus, the "Institutes of the Christian Religion". He intended that the book be used as a summary of his views on Christian theology and that it be read in conjunction with his commentaries. The various editions of that work spanned nearly his entire career as a reformer, and the successive revisions of the book show that his theology changed very little from his youth to his death. The first edition from 1536 consisted of only six chapters. The second edition, published in 1539, was three times as long because he added chapters on subjects that appear in Melanchthon's "Loci Communes". In 1543, he again added new material and expanded a chapter on the Apostles' Creed. The final edition of the "Institutes" appeared in 1559. By then, the work consisted of four books of eighty chapters, and each book was named after statements from the creed: Book 1 on God the Creator, Book 2 on the Redeemer in Christ, Book 3 on receiving the Grace of Christ through the Holy Spirit, and Book 4 on the Society of Christ or the Church.


title: John Calvin

text: The first statement in the "Institutes" acknowledges its central theme. It states that the sum of human wisdom consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. Calvin argues that the knowledge of God is not inherent in humanity nor can it be discovered by observing this world. The only way to obtain it is to study scripture. Calvin writes, "For anyone to arrive at God the Creator he needs Scripture as his Guide and Teacher." He does not try to prove the authority of scripture but rather describes it as "autopiston" or self-authenticating. He defends the trinitarian view of God and, in a strong polemical stand against the Catholic Church, argues that images of God lead to idolatry. John Calvin famously said "the human heart is a perpetual idol factory". At the end of the first book, he offers his views on providence, writing, "By his Power God cherishes and guards the World which he made and by his Providence rules its individual Parts." Humans are unable to fully comprehend why God performs any particular action, but whatever good or evil people may practise, their efforts always result in the execution of God's will and judgments.


title: John Calvin

text: The second book includes several essays on original sin and the fall of man, which directly refer to Augustine, who developed these doctrines. He often cited the Church Fathers to defend the reformed cause against the charge that the reformers were creating new theology. In Calvin's view, sin began with the fall of Adam and propagated to all of humanity. The domination of sin is complete to the point that people are driven to evil. Thus fallen humanity is in need of the redemption that can be found in Christ. But before Calvin expounded on this doctrine, he described the special situation of the Jews who lived during the time of the Old Testament. God made a covenant with Abraham, promising the coming of Christ. Hence, the Old Covenant was not in opposition to Christ, but was rather a continuation of God's promise. Calvin then describes the New Covenant using the passage from the Apostles' Creed that describes Christ's suffering under Pontius Pilate and his return to judge the living and the dead. For Calvin, the whole course of Christ's obedience to the Father removed the discord between humanity and God.


title: John Calvin

text: In the third book, Calvin describes how the spiritual union of Christ and humanity is achieved. He first defines faith as the firm and certain knowledge of God in Christ. The immediate effects of faith are repentance and the remission of sin. This is followed by spiritual regeneration, which returns the believer to the state of holiness before Adam's transgression. Complete perfection is unattainable in this life, and the believer should expect a continual struggle against sin. Several chapters are then devoted to the subject of justification by faith alone. He defined justification as "the acceptance by which God regards us as righteous whom he has received into grace." In this definition, it is clear that it is God who initiates and carries through the action and that people play no role; God is completely sovereign in salvation. Near the end of the book, Calvin describes and defends the doctrine of predestination, a doctrine advanced by Augustine in opposition to the teachings of Pelagius. Fellow theologians who followed the Augustinian tradition on this point included Thomas Aquinas and Martin Luther, though Calvin's formulation of the doctrine went further than the tradition that went before him. The principle, in Calvin's words, is that "All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestinated to life or to death." Calvin believed that God's absolute decree was double predestination, but he also confessed that this was a "horrible decree": "The decree is dreadful indeed, I confess. (latin. ""Decretum quidem horribile, fateor.""; French. ""Je confesse que ce decret nous doit epouvanter."")


title: John Calvin

text: The final book describes what he considers to be the true Church and its ministry, authority, and sacraments. He denied the papal claim to primacy and the accusation that the reformers were schismatic. For Calvin, the Church was defined as the body of believers who placed Christ at its head. By definition, there was only one "catholic" or "universal" Church. Hence, he argued that the reformers "had to leave them in order that we might come to Christ." The ministers of the Church are described from a passage from Ephesians, and they consisted of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and doctors. Calvin regarded the first three offices as temporary, limited in their existence to the time of the New Testament. The latter two offices were established in the church in Geneva. Although Calvin respected the work of the ecumenical councils, he considered them to be subject to God's Word found in scripture. He also believed that the civil and church authorities were separate and should not interfere with each other.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin defined a sacrament as an earthly sign associated with a promise from God. He accepted only two sacraments as valid under the new covenant: baptism and the Lord's Supper (in opposition to the Catholic acceptance of seven sacraments). He completely rejected the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and the treatment of the Supper as a sacrifice. He also could not accept the Lutheran doctrine of sacramental union in which Christ was "in, with and under" the elements. His own view was close to Zwingli's symbolic view, but it was not identical. Rather than holding a purely symbolic view, Calvin noted that with the participation of the Holy Spirit, faith was nourished and strengthened by the sacrament. In his words, the eucharistic rite was "a secret too sublime for my mind to understand or words to express. I experience it rather than understand it."


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin's theology caused controversy. Pierre Caroli, a Protestant minister in Lausanne, accused Calvin, as well as Viret and Farel, of Arianism in 1536. Calvin defended his beliefs on the Trinity in "Confessio de Trinitate propter calumnias P. Caroli". In 1551 Jérôme-Hermès Bolsec, a physician in Geneva, attacked Calvin's doctrine of predestination and accused him of making God the author of sin. Bolsec was banished from the city, and after Calvin's death, he wrote a biography which severely maligned Calvin's character. In the following year, Joachim Westphal, a Gnesio-Lutheran pastor in Hamburg, condemned Calvin and Zwingli as heretics in denying the eucharistic doctrine of the union of Christ's body with the elements. Calvin's "Defensio sanae et orthodoxae doctrinae de sacramentis" (A Defence of the Sober and Orthodox Doctrine of the Sacrament) was his response in 1555. In 1556 , a Dutch dissident, held a public disputation with Calvin during his visit to Frankfurt, in which Velsius defended free will against Calvin's doctrine of predestination. Following the execution of Servetus, a close associate of Calvin, Sebastian Castellio, broke with him on the issue of the treatment of heretics. In Castellio's "Treatise on Heretics" (1554), he argued for a focus on Christ's moral teachings in place of the vanity of theology, and he afterward developed a theory of tolerance based on biblical principles.


title: John Calvin

text: Scholars have debated Calvin's view of the Jews and Judaism. Some have argued that Calvin was the least anti-semitic among all the major reformers of his time, especially in comparison to Martin Luther. Others have argued that Calvin was firmly within the anti-semitic camp. Scholars agree that it is important to distinguish between Calvin's views toward the biblical Jews and his attitude toward contemporary Jews. In his theology, Calvin does not differentiate between God's covenant with Israel and the New Covenant. He stated, "all the children of the promise, reborn of God, who have obeyed the commands by faith working through love, have belonged to the New Covenant since the world began." Nevertheless, he was a covenant theologian and argued that the Jews are a rejected people who must embrace Jesus to re-enter the covenant.


title: John Calvin

text: Most of Calvin's statements on the Jewry of his era were polemical. For example, Calvin once wrote, "I have had much conversation with many Jews: I have never seen either a drop of piety or a grain of truth or ingenuousness—nay, I have never found common sense in any Jew." In this respect, he differed little from other Protestant and Catholic theologians of his day. Among his extant writings, Calvin dealt explicitly with issues of contemporary Jews and Judaism in only one treatise, "Response to Questions and Objections of a Certain Jew". In it, he argued that Jews misread their own scriptures because they miss the unity of the Old and New Testaments.


title: John Calvin

text: The aim of Calvin's political theory was to safeguard the rights and freedoms of ordinary people. Although he was convinced that the Bible contained no blueprint for a certain form of government, Calvin favored a combination of democracy and aristocracy (mixed government). He appreciated the advantages of democracy. To further minimize the misuse of political power, Calvin proposed to divide it among several political institutions like the aristocracy, lower estates, or magistrates in a system of checks and balances (separation of powers). Finally, Calvin taught that if rulers rise up against God they lose their divine right and must be deposed. State and church are separate, though they have to cooperate to the benefit of the people. Christian magistrates have to make sure that the church can fulfill its duties in freedom. In extreme cases, the magistrates have to expel or execute dangerous heretics, but nobody can be forced to become a Protestant.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin thought that agriculture and the traditional crafts were normal human activities. With regard to trade and the financial world, he was more liberal than Luther, but both were strictly opposed to usury. Calvin allowed the charging of modest interest rates on loans. Like the other Reformers, Calvin understood work as a means through which the believers expressed their gratitude to God for their redemption in Christ and as a service to their neighbors. Everybody was obliged to work; loafing and begging were rejected. The idea that economic success was a visible sign of God's grace played only a minor role in Calvin's thinking. It became more important in later, partly secularized forms of Calvinism and became the starting-point of Max Weber's theory about the rise of capitalism.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin's first published work was a commentary of Seneca the Younger's "De Clementia". Published at his own expense in 1532, it showed that he was a humanist in the tradition of Erasmus with a thorough understanding of classical scholarship. His first theological work, the "Psychopannychia", attempted to refute the doctrine of soul sleep as promulgated by the Anabaptists. Calvin probably wrote it during the period following Cop's speech, but it was not published until 1542 in Strasbourg.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin produced commentaries on most of the books of the Bible. His first commentary on Romans was published in 1540, and he planned to write commentaries on the entire New Testament. Six years passed before he wrote his second, a commentary on First Epistle to the Corinthians, but after that he devoted more attention to reaching his goal. Within four years he had published commentaries on all the Pauline epistles, and he also revised the commentary on Romans. He then turned his attention to the general epistles, dedicating them to Edward VI of England. By 1555 he had completed his work on the New Testament, finishing with the Acts and the Gospels (he omitted only the brief second and third Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation). For the Old Testament, he wrote commentaries on Isaiah, the books of the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and Joshua. The material for the commentaries often originated from lectures to students and ministers that he reworked for publication. From 1557 onwards, he could not find the time to continue this method, and he gave permission for his lectures to be published from stenographers' notes. These "Praelectiones" covered the minor prophets, Daniel, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and part of Ezekiel.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin also wrote many letters and treatises. Following the "Responsio ad Sadoletum", Calvin wrote an open letter at the request of Bucer to Charles V in 1543, "Supplex exhortatio ad Caesarem", defending the reformed faith. This was followed by an open letter to the pope ("Admonitio paterna Pauli III") in 1544, in which Calvin admonished Paul III for depriving the reformers of any prospect of rapprochement. The pope proceeded to open the Council of Trent, which resulted in decrees against the reformers. Calvin refuted the decrees by producing the "Acta synodi Tridentinae cum Antidoto" in 1547. When Charles tried to find a compromise solution with the Augsburg Interim, Bucer and Bullinger urged Calvin to respond. He wrote the treatise, "Vera Christianae pacificationis et Ecclesiae reformandae ratio" in 1549, in which he described the doctrines that should be upheld, including justification by faith.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin provided many of the foundational documents for reformed churches, including documents on the catechism, the liturgy, and church governance. He also produced several confessions of faith to unite the churches. In 1559, he drafted the French confession of faith, the Gallic Confession, and the synod in Paris accepted it with few changes. The Belgic Confession of 1561, a Dutch confession of faith, was partly based on the Gallic Confession.


title: John Calvin

text: After the deaths of Calvin and his successor, Beza, the Geneva city council gradually gained control over areas of life that were previously in the ecclesiastical domain. Increasing secularisation was accompanied by the decline of the church. Even the Geneva "académie" was eclipsed by universities in Leiden and Heidelberg, which became the new strongholds of Calvin's ideas, first identified as "Calvinism" by Joachim Westphal in 1552. By 1585, Geneva, once the wellspring of the reform movement, had become merely its symbol. Calvin had always warned against describing him as an "idol" and Geneva as a new "Jerusalem". He encouraged people to adapt to the environments in which they found themselves. Even during his polemical exchange with Westphal, he advised a group of French-speaking refugees, who had settled in Wesel, Germany, to integrate with the local Lutheran churches. Despite his differences with the Lutherans, he did not deny that they were members of the true Church. Calvin's recognition of the need to adapt to local conditions became an important characteristic of the reformation movement as it spread across Europe.


title: John Calvin

text: Due to Calvin's missionary work in France, his programme of reform eventually reached the French-speaking provinces of the Netherlands. Calvinism was adopted in the Electorate of the Palatinate under Frederick III, which led to the formulation of the Heidelberg Catechism in 1563. This and the Belgic Confession were adopted as confessional standards in the first synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1571. Several leading divines, either Calvinist or those sympathetic to Calvinism, settled in England (Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr, and Jan Laski) and Scotland (John Knox). During the English Civil War, the Calvinistic Puritans produced the Westminster Confession, which became the confessional standard for Presbyterians in the English-speaking world.


title: John Calvin

text: As the Ottoman Empire did not force Muslim conversion on its conquered western territories, reformed ideas were quickly adopted in the two-thirds of Hungary they occupied (the Habsburg-ruled third part of Hungary remained Catholic). A Reformed Constitutional Synod was held in 1567 in Debrecen, the main hub of Hungarian Calvinism, where the Second Helvetic Confession was adopted as the official confession of Hungarian Calvinists.


title: John Calvin

text: Having established itself in Europe, the movement continued to spread to other parts of the world including North America, South Africa, and Korea.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin did not live to see the foundation of his work grow into an international movement; but his death allowed his ideas to break out of their city of origin, to succeed far beyond their borders, and to establish their own distinct character.


title: John Calvin

text: Calvin is recognized as a Renewer of the Church in Lutheran churches commemorated on 26 May. Calvin is also remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 26 May.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The is the series of small sports cars produced by Nissan. Versions of the Silvia have been marketed as the 200SX or 240SX for export, with some export versions being sold under the Datsun brand.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The name "Silvia" is derived from Sylvia, the name of the nymph who served Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and chastity. The name also means "forest" in Latin.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In 1962, Albrecht Graf von Goertz has previously worked as a consultant for BMW, having created the BMW 507, and saw the potential of Japanese manufacturers. Yamaha had created the Technical Research Institute to develop their own sports car in 1959, and had built the YX30 sports car. As Yamaha had a working relationship with Nissan, work began on project A550X, but at some point the project fell apart and work was cancelled. Kazuo Kimura and Fumio Yoshida were both working on Project A550X and when the professional relationship between Nissan and Goertz ended in 1964, the work on the project contributed to the Silvia.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The Nissan Silvia CSP311 made its public debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in September 1964 as the "Datsun Coupe 1500". The introductory model was a hand-built coupe based on the Fairlady platform. The CSP311 was powered by the 96 hp 1.6 L Nissan R series engine. The engine was equipped with twin SU carburetors. Due to being nearly entirely hand made, only 554 were produced, mainly in 1965, before production stopped in 1968. Most of the vehicles remained in Japan; however, 49 examples were exported to Australia and another 10 went to other countries. 4 were also developed with a LHD interior for export to Europe for the purpose of display at events and shows.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In December 1965, Nissan provided the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department with 2 CSP311 Silvia's for highway patrol use. These were modified from the production model to include standard police lights, sirens, police radio, overbumpers, as well as upgraded suspension to better cope with high speed patrol, however the engine remained standard. The CSP311 patrol car was the first Japanese high-performance patrol car, chosen due to being the fastest production car in Japan at the time with a top speed of 165 km/h (103 mph), and due to its disc brakes giving it good stopping power.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S10 was the first mass-produced Silvia built on the all-new S platform, intended as Nissan's compact, rear-wheel-drive, sporty car platform. Japanese versions were exclusive to Nissan Japanese dealerships called "Nissan Prince Store" along with the larger C110 Skyline. The S10 featured less "traditional" lines than similar offerings from rivals Toyota and Mazda sharing a common appearance with the larger Skyline. Initially, the S10 was intended to be powered by a rotary engine, however this idea was scrapped due to the oil crisis' of the 70's. The S10 Silvia and Datsun 200SX were based on the Datsun Sunny Coupe.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In Japan, the S10, officially named "New Silvia" was initially fitted with a 1.8 L L18S inline-4 engine, which it shared with the Datsun 610/Bluebird 180B. The Japanese version featured Nissan NAPS emission control technology at its introduction. In 1976, the S10 received its first upgrade which included a new trim level "Type-LSE" which got a new L18E engine which had an electronic fuel injection intake instead of the carburetor. This upgrade also included a change to the model name, from S10 to S11. In 1977, the S11 received upgrades including interior upgrades, a body-colored front grille, new wheels, new hubcaps, new rubber bumper corners, a new trim level "Type-G" and more optional parts and colors.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S10 was exported in 1976 to the North American market as the Datsun 200-SX, incorporating the larger-displacement 2.0 L L20B. This model in North America was affixed with the mandated bumpers, a new fascia and a LHD interior. The Datsun-200SX was initially sold with an MSRP of US$4,399, equivalent to US$23,000 today, making it a relatively cheap car for the time. There are official photos of a trim level called the Datsun 200-SX/E which had window louvers, stripes, and a bodykit, however it appears to have never been produced.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Its success in both markets was limited, most buyers opting for the Celica over what was considered the more mundane S-Chassis. The car had a drivetrain similar to the popular 510, but with leaf springs fitted at the rear, rather than the 510's independent suspension. During the 4-year lifespan of the S10, over 145,000 units were produced until production stopped in 1979.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Even though it had poor handling, Paul Newman built and raced a 1977 Datsun 200SX in the 1978 IMSA Class C where it won 19 out of 22 races.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: This iteration of the Silvia (sold in United States and Canada as the Datsun 200SX and in Mexico as the Datsun Sakura, Japanese for cherry blossom), available as a 2-door hardtop coupe and a new bodystyle 3-door hatchback. The Japanese market version of the hatchback was called the Gazelle and was exclusive to "Nissan Bluebird Store" locations sold alongside the Fairlady Z, while the coupe bodystyle Silvia remained exclusive to "Nissan Prince Store" locations alongside the Skyline. Its sharp-edged styling was shared with the new Nissan Leopard sedan and coupé, also exclusive to "Nissan Bluebird Store".


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Like the previous generation, the S110 Silvia was uniquely progressive in that it was originally intended to feature a rotary engine, designed and built by Nissan. The resulting unit was fairly unreliable, and forestalled production. Coincidentally, this Silvia shares its chassis code with the Mazda Cosmo, the first Japanese production car to feature a rotary engine. The chassis was shared with the B310 Nissan Sunny and the larger A10 Nissan Violet platform.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The car was redesigned shortly before it was released and the stillborn Wankel power plant was replaced by a line of twin-plug conventional piston engines from the new Z-series range. These included the Z20 and the turbocharged and later the fuel-injected Z18ET, although the latter of the two was only available to the Japanese domestic market and after the mid-life facelift. This took place in late May 1981 and included new bumpers and a reworked front design. Albeit a sporting design, the Turbo model received largely the same chassis as regular models and did not have any kind of turbocharger boost indicator. At the time of the facelift, the DOHC FJ20-engined RS model was also introduced.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Nissan rebadged the Silvia as the Gazelle coupé and hatchback so that Nissan's different dealership networks in Japan could all carry their own variants of the model. There are minor cosmetic differences between the two cars such as grille pattern and taillight lenses. Gazelle was treated as a more exclusive model, while the Silvia was the base and sporty models.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The Silvia continued to be sold as the 200SX in North America, with either the two-door coupé or the three-door liftback bodywork. It was originally powered by the 2.0 L inline-four L20B engine, although in 1980 California-market cars received the twin-plug Z20 NAPS-Z inline-four of the same displacement. From the 1981 model year, this became the only engine available to the 200SX. Power is , channeled through a five-speed manual or a three-speed automatic and coupled with the H165 rear axle. For 1982 the 200SX was facelifted and gained the 2.2-liter Z22E engine coupled with the sturdier H190 rear axle. This model produces SAE at 5200 rpm. There were no significant changes for 1983 and these were sold well into the 1984 model year, as the S12 did not appear until February 1984.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The top model was the luxurious SL, which received a remote opening hood, trunk, and gas tank lid, more adjustable seats, and a removable glass skyroof. The hatchback model received sportier trim, while the notchback coupé focused more on luxury.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: This generation saw the introduction of the Nissan 240RS (BS110), a coupe fitted with the 2.4-liter DOHC FJ24 engine. The 240RS was built between 1983 and 1985, its production extending the end of the S110 itself. The resulting machine became Nissan's official rally car in the World Rally Championship from 1983 to 1985, with its best result a second-place finish in the 1983 New Zealand Rally. This car was also featured in the video game Gran Turismo.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: As part of their sponsorship of the series, Nissan provided several of their vehicles for the production of the police drama Seibu Keisatsu, including a one-off S110 Gazelle convertible driven by Chief Kogure.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S12 was produced from August 1983 to 1989, with revisions to the exterior trim in 1986 (referred to as "Mark II"). It used retractable pop-up headlights and was sold in two configurations — a coupé (often called a "notchback" due to the side profile view of its rear window section) and a hatchback version, which bore heavy resemblance to the liftback versions of the Toyota Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno AE86.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: and production year, also a change in available engines again with the Mk2 revision. The NAPS system was carried over on the CA20E which replaced the Z engines of the S110 in North America. A CA18ET 1.8l turbo engine with ECCS was added for SE trims, Certain US trims had the S12 equipped with an optional VG30E V6 engine, also shared by the 300ZX (Z31). The FJ20 was replaced with the CA18DET in the Mk2 revision in markets where it was offered.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: As with the S110, the S12 chassis in Japan was badged as both a Silvia and a Gazelle. The S12 Silvia in Japan was available in a hatchback as a basic model only, or as a coupé (notchback) in base, RS, and RS-X trims and exclusive to "Nissan Prince Store" Japanese dealerships as a junior companion to the Nissan Skyline. The S12 Gazelle was strictly a hatchback, available in regular, RS and RS-X variants and exclusive to "Nissan Bluebird Store locations" as a junior companion to the Fairlady ZX. The RS was equipped with the 2.0-litre DOHC "FJ" engine (FJ20E), while the RS-X was equipped with a turbocharged version of the same engine (FJ20ET). In 1987 Nissan discontinued the FJ Series engine in the S12 and replaced it with the CA18DET (Also with dual cams but a bigger turbocharger — the CA18DET). Japanese spec Gazelle models came with many options like voice command, fog lights and a variety of different engine options (FJ20E, FJ20ET, CA18DE, CA18E, CA18DET.). The RS-X model also came with different factory alloy wheels. When the S13 Silvia was introduced in 1988 in Japan, the Gazelle nameplate was replaced with the Nissan 180SX as a junior companion to the 300ZX. In Australia there would not be a replacement until the introduction of the Silvia-based Nissan 200SX in 1995.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S12 series was badged as a "Nissan 200SX" in North America. It was introduced in February 1984, four months behind the rest of Nissan's 1984 models. For fear that the North American market would not be as profitable as other markets throughout, Nissan executives only scheduled the manufacturing of 5,000 of each trim package/engine options in the final two years before the halt of production for the United States, which was in 1988.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S12 "XE" was strictly a notchback coupé, and was only available with a 2.0-litre SOHC, non-turbo engine and made available with either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic gearbox. (CA20E) The hatchback received both the 2.0L SOHC engine, and a 1.8L SOHC Turbo (non-intercooled) engine (CA18ET). For 1987 in the United States, Nissan discontinued the Turbo model and created the "SE" model which had a 3.0L SOHC VG30E V6 engine, generating and of torque. This was similar to the engine offered in the non-turbo Z31 300ZX for that generation. This model received the RVS12 model code. For 1988 the "SE" model received a gain from using the later "W" series revisions of the VG30E with a total output of while torque remained the same at .


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S12 chassis in Europe was badged as a "Silvia", with a notable exception of Sweden where it was sold as the "180ZX". "ZX" is traditionally associated with the Nissan Z-cars; the name change was done to avoid giving the car the same name as the Queen of Sweden. The ZX name was also used because Nissan's Swedish importer decided to stop carrying the Z31 300ZX when the naturally aspirated version was discontinued for Europe; the Silvia acted as a partial replacement for the Z-car in that region.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The European S12 was available only in the hatchback configuration, few were equipped with a rally package that included a rally foot brace for the navigator, headlamp guards, headlamp dust cleaners, with the same 1.8L SOHC Turbo (CA18ET) used in North America, and in some areas the 2.0L DOHC "FJ" engine (FJ20E). These models equipped with the rally package were dubbed "Rally Spec". The "FJ" engine series was originally designed for the "DR30" Nissan Skyline chassis, in both turbocharged and naturally aspirated versions. The CA18ET was also available catalyzed, producing .


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S12 chassis in Australia, released in October 1983, was badged as a Gazelle. The Australian Gazelle was available in both hatchback and coupé variants. It was equipped with the same 2.0-litre SOHC "CA20E" engine found in North America producing at 5,200 rpm, and of torque at 3,200 rpm. This engine was mated to either a five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: According to the May 1984 brochure, the coupé added: alloy wheels, mudflaps, electric windows/mirrors/antenna, a six speaker sound system (over four), time delay interior lighting, variable intermittent wipers, an armrest, carpet kickpads, and cloth headlining/sunvisors/door trims (over vinyl). An option pack for the coupé added air conditioning, power steering, and power sunroof. The hatchback's option pack added air conditioning, power steering, and power sunroof.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: By the time of the August 1985 brochure, the coupé's option pack had been deleted, but the standard SGL coupé added power steering and a manual sunroof (a power sunroof was no longer offered). Air conditioning remained as an option, while power steering was added to the hatchback's option pack. The alloy wheel design was also changed.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S12 chassis in 1984-86 is referred to as "Mark I", with "Mark II" as a revision in '87. Below lists the description of both.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The first trim of the S12 chassis. Bumpers featured matte-finish raised surfaces, and sides featured half-inch rubstripping. Cars featured a honeycomb radiator grille, and long corner lights. The RS-X trim in Japan and Europe received a hood bulge accent to accommodate the oversized dimensions of the FJ20E/ET engine, and featured a faux front vent with monogram (either FJ20, DOHC, or TURBO); In North America, the 1984 Turbo came with a "TURBO" monogrammed hood bulge accent, although all subsequent North American Mark I hoods were flat regardless of trim. In some markets, the 1984 and 85 could be had with a foam rubber deck spoiler. In 1986 the foam rubber deck spoiler was changed for a fiberglass version with an integrated third brake light. Some hatchbacks and all Turbo models came with ground effects, as did the RS-X coupés These had a combination of plastic mudflaps (monogrammed as either "NISSAN", or "SILVIA" in applicable markets) and accommodating foam rubber sideskirts, as well as a foam rubber lower deflection lip. 1984 year foam rubber sideskirts featured the "NISSAN" monogram.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In 1986, the bumpers were updated, and the matte finished surfaces were eliminated for a more uniform surface. Rubstripping was increased to 2-inch height w/ scribe detailing. The honeycomb radiator grille was replaced with a slatted version that spanned the entire front end (previous was shorter), and cornerlights were shortened. The "SE" model and the Turbo (Canada, Europe) came with new fiberglass ground effects and mudflaps, painted in the color of the car, and a new and more pronounced lower deflection lip in the front. All Mark II S12's received a new reverse-cowl hood bulge design to accommodate clearance for the new 3.0-litre V6. Optional rear mudflap accents were available.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In Europe, a limited-run (~250 units?) version of the S12 was produced and sold as the "Silvia Grand Prix" model. Based on a Mark I chassis, it was powered by the FJ20E (with a few known to be sold with the CA18DET), and featured molded-in fiberglass wide body fenders and quarter sections and special edition wheels.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The widebody exterior grabs design cues from popular European rally car platforms of the time (e.g. Audi Quattro, BMW M3 Sport Evolution, Renault 5 Turbo 2, etc.), although Nissan's choice of the FJ20E over the FJ20ET suggests this was more of a "rally inspired" car rather than a serious performance trim. The Silvia Grand Prix holds the distinction as one of the rarest incarnation of the S12, along with the CA18DET-engined RS-X in Japan, and are generally considered to be collector's items.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In Japan, a special anniversary model was produced and sold as the "50th Anniversary Version" with the CA18DET. Between 100 and 300 units were sold. It came with a white and gold two tone decals and interior, gold wheels, an electronic instrument cluster and navigation system, a voice warning system, gold badges and gold keys.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The elimination of Group B from the World Rally Championship signified the end of Nissan's FJ24-powered 240RS. The FJ20ET-powered Silvia RS-X of 1986 would have been Nissan's first choice, however there was an insufficient number of that exact trim sold in Japan to meet the WRC's Homologation requirements (minimum 5000 units). Nissan had to quickly find a car to replace the 240RS.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The North American 1987 200SX SE V6 was chosen and competed in 1986-89 as a 200SX. Nissan's creation and choice of this car ensured they could sell 5000 cars required for WRC Homologation. The S12 "SE" trim's V6 held the only real appeal to the North American market, allowing Nissan to sell right at 5000 cars to a single specification. The V6 was a very unusual choice as the WRC was dominated by 4-cylinder 2.0 L turbocharged engines, although for similar reasons Toyota entered WRC with the 6-cylinder Supra at the same time. The 200SX achieved a first place in the 1988 Ivory coast rally and second place for two years running in the very challenging Safari Rally 1988 and Safari Rally 1989.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Mark Skaife won the 1987 Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship driving a Nissan Gazelle entered by the Nissan Motor Company.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The Silvia S12 competed in the JSS (Japan Supersports Series) throughout the 1980s, when many of the top tuners got their start. They featured 15"x10"J wheels under the "Fisco" wide body kit. The JSS S12's made between 280PS to 340PS from the FJ20ET and CA18DET from 1987. The "HKS World Trade Silvia" sponsored and engineered by tuners HKS and Tomei ran in this series.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S13 Silvia was introduced in mid-1988 and was immensely popular in Japan. Upon its introduction, it won the 1988 Car of the Year Japan Award. The Silvia was no longer exported, however; rebadged 180SXs were instead sold in most markets. European versions of this car were still known as the 200SX. In North America, the S13 (with the 180SX front in all three different body-styles) was known as the 240SX. The 200SX nameplate was on hiatus in that region but would return on a 2-door coupé version of the B14 Nissan Sunny/Sentra (1995–99), itself based on the Japan-only 2-door Nissan Lucino. Following industry trends, the S13 Silvia switched to relampable fixed headlights. Projector optics were offered as an option.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In Japan, Nissan renamed the Gazelle as the Nissan 180SX, which was exported to North America primarily under the name Nissan 240SX. The 180SX served as the junior companion to the Fairlady ZX at "Nissan Bluebird Store" Japanese dealerships. As before, the Silvia was exclusive to Japanese dealerships called "Nissan Prince Store" next to the Skyline.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S13 Silvia coupé was made from 1988 to 1994, overlapping with the S14 Silvia introduced in 1993. The Nissan Silvia used fixed headlights; whereas the 180SX, simply a hatchback version of the Silvia, introduced at the same time used pop-up headlights. The hatchback version, called the 180SX, replaced the Gazelle name in Japan and remained in production until 1998.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S13 was one of the first uses of Nissan's multi-link rear suspension, the technology of which was previewed in concept cars in previous years, such as the Nissan MID4. It also offered a four-wheel steering system for the first time, known as HICAS-II. In 1990, HICAS-II was updated and renamed SuperHICAS. The S13 also saw the introduction of a viscous-type limited slip differential for some models.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: S13 Silvias were initially powered by the CA18DE and CA18DET engines carried over from the end of S12 production, with an intercooler added to the CA18DET for a slight increase in stability and power. In mid-1990, (for the 1991 model year) the SR20DE and SR20DET engines debuted, offering improvements across the board in power and torque due to increased displacement and a more efficient turbocharger than was offered on the previous cars. One of the other simple changes that were made between the CA generation and the SR generation was the switch to a single colour paint job, instead of the two-tone colour sets that were previously offered. On top of this, the SR motor later debuted another variant of the platform known simply as the "blacktop". Identifiable by its black and silver rocker-cover (as opposed to the traditional red/silver cover), it featured a number of minor changes, resulting in a little performance gain. It is vastly different from the more powerful "notch top" used in the S14 and S15 variants.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In the U.S. the S13 was replaced after the 1994 model year by the new S14 design but lived on until 1998 in Japan with a major facelift, the 180SX Aero (Type X). This was known as the "Kouki" generation, while the previous (or 'middle') generation was referred to as "Chuki". The Kouki models featured newly designed tail-lights, a redesigned aero body kit and outfitted with an airbag.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In 1998, the S13 Silvia was resurrected, in part, with a variant produced by Kid's Heart for Nissan called the Sileighty, which featured the 180SX body with the front end of the Silvia. The Sileighty was originally created by Japanese enthusiasts for their own 180SXs, and is still a common modification for both the 180SX and 240SX fastback. The Sileighty made an appearance in the "Initial D" Japanese anime and manga series (based around the Japanese motorsports of togue and drifting), which featured the Sileighty in one of the first battles in the manga and one of the last battles in "First Stage" (the first season of the anime).


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The creation of the Sileighty was then followed by another version of the Silvia known as the Onevia. Based on the chassis of the S13, the front end of the Silvia would be removed and replaced with the front end of a 180SX. The Onevia was never retailed as a complete car in Japan (though it was in North America: the coupé version of the 240SX was essentially a left hand drive version of the Silvia with the 180SX/240SX nose).


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The Mitsuoka Le-Seyde was a retro-styled car (á la the Zimmer Golden Spirit) based on the S13 Silvia, built in a very limited series in 1990. It used the S13 Silvia's centre portion and engine, but used the underpinnings of the Toyota MR2 (SW20).


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The car has been popular with multiple diecast manufacturers like Hot Wheels, of which released several iterations of it over the years.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: A Silvia convertible was briefly offered soon after the start of production and sold in limited numbers. Demand was low at the time due to high cost (3.25 million Yen in 1988), heavier curb weight, and chassis flex. The Silvia convertibles were a conversion done by Autech Japan, Inc. and the production was entrusted to with a manufacture date of July 1988. A total of 603 Autech convertibles were produced in the following colour codes: TH1 - velvet blue (430), 5G7 - green two-tone lime (50), 5H6 - warm two-tone white (70), AH3 - cranberry red (40), and DH0 dark green (10). The other three were made to order for Nissan and the colours are unknown. They came equipped with K's trim grade, which included the turbocharged CA18DET engine. All of the 600 publicly available cars were sold with a 4-speed automatic transmission.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: It was unrelated to the 240SX convertible offered in North America in 1992, which was a local conversion done by ASC.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S13 Silvia was the first S-series car to use the "J's", "Q's", and "K's" designations for the different trim packages. These names are references to the face cards of English playing cards.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The J's was the base model. The Q's model offered a slightly more refined experience and received electric options and an available LSD. The K's grade received the turbocharged CA18DET or SR20DET (depending on the year of manufacture) in addition to the options offered on the Q's.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: On top of the K's and Q's models, the Club and Diamond Selection packages came with specific options bundled together. For example, all K's Club Selections came with projector headlamps, a rear spoiler, and 15" aluminum wheels while all Q's models came out with automatic climate control.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The A's "Almighty" trim was introduced in early 1991, and had a limited manufacturing run of fewer than 150. Trim-wise, the Almighty slotted between the J's and Q's trim grades, offering options not available on the J's but also not including all the standard features of the Q's (power windows and sunroof). The only available powertrain was the naturally aspirated SR20DE with a five-speed manual transmission. What sets the Almighty apart from other trim levels is its body style: it had a new front-end that featured pop-up headlights in place of the fixed headlights of the Silvia, similar to the unofficial Onevia and the North American 240SX coupé.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: There were a number of different headlight options over the years, including triple projectors, dual projectors and square projectors (usually referred to as "bricks").


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S14 Silvia debuted in Japan towards the end of 1993. It was lower and wider than the S13. New rounded styling contributed to the illusion of a greater increase in size than actually occurred. Wheelbase and track were both increased, leading to slightly improved handling. Unlike export markets, where sales of the S14 chassis variants faltered, the Silvia remained popular in Japan. However, the width dimension exceeded , which pushed this generation out of the compact class tax bracket and made Japanese buyers liable for higher road taxes. Sales of the S14 also faltered because specialty car buyers at the time were moving to RVs and SUVs. The fastback and convertible bodystyles were discontinued internationally, leaving only the coupé in production.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Trim level designations were similar to the S13, however the Club Selection package was dropped. "Aero" variants of the Q's and K's were offered that featured large rear wings and mild ground effects.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S14 Silvia K's received a new version of the SR20DET, with a slight bump in power due to the implementation of Nissan's variable cam timing system known as N-VCT, on the intake cam, and a larger T28 turbocharger.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: There was a mild styling update to the S14 during 1996, which added aggressive-looking projector headlamps and tinted taillights to all models. The older version is known as the "zenki (前期, literally "prior period")." Fascias and other exterior trim pieces were also revised. The turbocharger now used a more efficient ball bearing center section. This updated version is also known as the "kouki" (後期, literally "later period") S14, or by enthusiasts as the S14A. It was sold as the second generation 240SX in North America from 1995 to 1998, equipped with the non-turbo KA24DE engine. The final model year of S14 production in all markets was 1999, called the Touring Model, which had a better engine block, pistons, and better acceleration in lower gears.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The 270R was a limited edition vehicle developed by Nissan Motorsports, produced only in 1994. The vehicle was built on the S14 chassis but had many enhancements over the Silvia. The '270' is in reference to the horsepower of the unique car as opposed to the displacement of the engine. The 270R featured a vented hood with a front-mounted intercooler, Nismo 'Edge' Aero kit, heavy duty clutch, 2-way limited slip differential, NISMO logo front and rear seats among other upgrades. All the 270s were painted Black with 'Nismo 270R' badging above the rear wheels and a product numbered plaque in the glove compartment. Only 30 270Rs were ever built.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Tuning company Autech, has a tuned adaption of the CS14 King's variant. This includes Aero style HUD with white displays and gauges for oil pressure, boost, and voltage in the centre console, along with a MOMO steering wheel and leather gear knob. The interior trim is also revised.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Handling improvements include multi-link suspension, firmer shocks and springs, front strut brace, and a rear sway bar. A large F40 style rear spoiler and aero bodykit with Autech indicators are also fitted. An "Autech Version K's MF-T" badge and sticker can be found on the boot.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: An IHI ball bearing turbo (VN14) was fitted in favour of the Garrett T28 for slightly quicker response and flow. Larger 480 cc injectors found in the later S15 Spec R's were also fitted as well as a thicker 80 mm intercooler also found in S15's. To help expel exhaust, a higher flowing Fujitsubo Giken (FGK) exhaust was fitted.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: According to the Autech website, the vehicle is still available at a cost of ¥2.99 million yen (around 27,000 US dollars).


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In 1999, Japan saw a new version of the Silvia, the S15, now boasting at 6,400 rpm and at 4,800 rpm of torque from its SR20DET Inline-four engine, thanks to a ball bearing turbocharger upgrade, as well as improved engine management system. The non-turbo SR20DE produced .


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S15 Silvia included aggressive styling inside and out, updating the previous Silvia styling in-line with modern car design trends. The body dimensions were reduced from the previous generation so that it would comply with Japanese Government compact class, which had an effect on sales of the previous model.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S15 Silvia model lineup was initially simplified to just the Spec-S and Spec-R, both models offering an "Aero" variant with a large rear wing, side skirts, valances and front bumper.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: This generation of the Silvia was only sold new in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. In Australia and New Zealand the car was sold as the Nissan 200SX.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Within the Australian market (AUM), the S15 sold in two trim levels as noted above; Spec-S and Spec-R - however both models featured the SR20DET motor, albeit detuned. The S15s were never officially sold with the naturally aspirated SR20DE engine in Australia or New Zealand. These two models were available at Nissan showrooms until when the Nissan 200SX GT was introduced in 2002, the last year of production for the S15. Main differences here were namely the wheels being finished in a silver shadow chrome, chrome interior door handles, chrome gear selector surround, "sports" metal pedal set and an updated larger rear wing.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: As of August 2002, Nissan stopped producing the S platform with the S15-series Nissan Silvia being the final variant. Production of the Silvia ended amidst Nissan's efforts to reduce its myriad of platforms. The S15 Silvia was therefore the last car to use the Silvia name, as well as the last small-sized sports car to be offered by Nissan. Nissan's current worldwide sports car platform is the FM platform, which underpins the Z33/34 Fairlady Z (the 350/370Z outside Japan) sports car and the V35/37 Nissan Skyline (the Infiniti G35/37 in North America) sedan and coupé.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The Spec-R was fitted with a turbocharged SR20DET engine, and differed from previous Silvia models by featuring a 6-speed manual gearbox as well as a 4-speed automatic transmission. The Spec-R also included extensive chassis and suspension strengthening via the use of larger anti-roll bars and strut bracing. The S15 featured the same 4-piston front brake calipers that were found in the Z32 300ZX but included a larger brake booster.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: One of the biggest changes to the S15 model of the Silvia fitted with the 6-speed manual transmission built by Aisin Seiki was the implementation of a helical limited-slip differential. The result was a safer, more track suited drive; in some contrast to its drifting heritage and subsequent media attention. All other versions of the Silvia (S14, S15 Spec S JDM) came with the viscous limited slip differential.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The Spec-S was fitted with a naturally aspirated SR20DE engine, and featured a 5-speed manual transmission (in addition to a 4-speed automatic available on both the Spec-S and the Spec-R). It lacked the additional chassis support of the Spec-R; featured 4-piston front brake caliper and a slightly smaller brake booster. The Spec-S came only with an open differential with an optional LSD. Australian-delivered Spec-S models featured the same helical differential, chassis bracing and 6 speed manual transmission as the Australian market Spec-R models.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S15 line was later expanded to include various luxury and upgrade option packages for both the Spec-S and Spec-R. Autech, a specialty car developer, also offered several tuned versions of the S15; one with body and interior trim modeled after the Ferrari 456, called the style-A, available in both Spec-S and Spec-R based trims; and a second tuned version was based on the Spec-S trim level with the engine output increased to through the use of increased compression, more aggressive camshafts, and free-breathing intake and exhaust tracts, along with ECU tuning and upgrades to the chassis and suspension. This version also included the 6-speed transmission and other upgrades normally found only in the Spec-R.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In Japan, Nissan offered a retractable hardtop variant of the Silvia, called the Varietta. The Varietta was built by Autech and was based on the Spec-S model, featuring the same naturally aspirated engine, with a choice of the 5-speed manual transmission or the 4-speed automatic transmission. This is a rare type of Nissan Silvia which is uncommon in most places as only 1143 cars were produced.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Mitsuoka produced an updated version of their Mitsuoka Le-Seyde (also known as the "New Le-Seyde") based on the S15 Silvia, built in limited quantities in 2000. As with the original Le-Seyde, it used the S15 Silvia's centre portion and engine, while retaining the underpinnings of the Toyota MR2 (SW20).


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The Australian and New Zealand versions of the Silvia S15 were sold as the Nissan 200SX, with the two regions having differences between each other.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The Australian market received the S15 Silvia in October 2000. Unlike the New Zealand-spec S15, the car was built to different specs from the factory, featuring a 17-digit VIN instead of the Japanese "S15-XXXXXX". The car was de-tuned to meet Australian fuel regulations - power outputs decreased from 247 bhp to 197 bhp. The car also received various other changes from the Japanese models to lower costs, some of which being the removal of the rear window wiper, sun visor mirrors, A-pillar boost gauge, auto-climate control, and electric folding mirrors. The steering wheel was changed to the one found in the R34 Nissan Skyline 25GT Turbo (GT-T), however the Australian market did receive a 260 km/h speedometer instead of the 180 km/h speedometer in the Japanese version. Both the Spec-R and the Spec-S received the SR20DET, the main difference between the two being that the Spec-R was offered from the factory with a sunroof.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Available at the end of 200SX production for Australia was a "GT" edition, available on both the Spec-S and Spec-R. This featured the "L Package" interior and the "Aero" Wing of the Japanese models. All GTs received darker colour wheels and GT badges taken from the Nissan Skyline GT-R located on the fenders.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The New Zealand market received the S15 Silvia in May 1999. They were official models, unlike with the Australian S15 Silvia, which were released a year later. The New Zealand S15s were Japan-spec from the factory and modified by New Zealand vehicle dealerships to meet New Zealand road requirements. These modifications included an antenna on the rear right quarter panel, an optional 2-spoke spoiler, New Zealand-spec brochures, and Australian 200SX badges (which are now located on the rear bumper instead of the boot lid). To comply with New Zealand's road regulations, the New Zealand S15s had a "JN1" VIN on a metal plaque placed over the JDM VIN on the firewall.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In total, 477 200SXs were sold in New Zealand from 1997–07 to 2002–08. This does not include the few 40+ S15s from 1999–05 to 1999–07, as they weren't included in the official Nissan databases. The reasons for these exclusions are unknown.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The S-chassis is a popular drift car and time attack car, especially the S13 through S15 vehicles. This is due to the extreme versatility and huge aftermarket for the S-chassis; many professional racing cars have been built with off-the-shelf suspension and engine components. The car has enjoyed success, having won 11 D1 Grand Prix championships with 8 different drivers driving the S15 (Nobuteru Taniguchi : 2001; Ryuji Miki : 2004; Yasuyuki Kazama : 2005; Masato Kawabata : 2007; Youichi Imamura: 2009, 2010, 2011; Masashi Yokoi: 2018, 2019; Masanori Kohashi: 2020; Naoki Nakamura: 2021). Odi Bakchis, a pro-level drifter from USA who started drifting in 2011, has an S14 that races in Formula Drift, finishing third in the Formula Drift USA Championship. He has multiple event wins and has placed in the Top 5 overall in Formula Drift for the past 4 years. In 2017,2018 and 2019 Formula Drift driver James Deane campaigned and won the PRO championship in the Worthouse Drift Team S15.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: In Europe, the S13 has also been very popular with pro-level drifters, especially in countries like the United Kingdom, Poland, France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Russia and Ukraine. While some have opted to keep the SR20DET engine, most drivers swap this for the more powerful RB25DET unit, or even the Toyota Supra derived 2JZ, like Pawel Trela from Poland.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: Silvias have been raced successfully in the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (now Super GT) and its predecessors. Both the S14 and S15 generations of the Silvia won the GT300 class championship in 1997 and 2001 respectively. In the late Eighties, when Group B was banned, S110 and S12 Silvias also saw limited success in rallying, mainly on endurance rallies. During the S13's production, there was a one-make series in Japan. The S13s were also successful in racing in the IMSA GTU class during the 1990s.


title: Nissan Silvia

text: The Silvia S15 of Under Suzuki has dominated the Tsukuba circuit lap time record for some time. After it defeated the HKS CT230R LanEvo for the record in 2012, Under Suzuki's S15 has been resetting Tsukuba's lap time record. The latest lap record is currently timed at 50.366s, even faster than an official JGTC race car ARTA NSX.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007) was an American actress. She received an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman's professional career began at age 16 in 1933, when she signed with Warner Bros. A popular contract player, she frequently played the leading lady, appearing in films such as "Public Wedding" (1937), "Brother Rat" (1938), its sequel "Brother Rat and a Baby" (1940), "Bad Men of Missouri" (1941), "Stage Fright" (1950), "So Big" (1953), "Magnificent Obsession" (1954), and "All That Heaven Allows" (1955). She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, winning for "Johnny Belinda" (1948). In her later years, she achieved continuing success on the soap opera "Falcon Crest" (1981–1990), portraying the role of villainous matriarch Angela Channing.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman was the first wife of Hollywood actor and the future 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Sarah Jane Mayfield was born on January 5, 1917, in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Gladys Hope ("" Christian; 1891–1960) and Manning Jeffries Mayfield (1895–1922). Her father was a meal company laborer and her mother was a doctor's stenographer and office assistant. Wyman was an only child biologically, but she had two foster siblings, whom she would refer to when saying she was the youngest of three. Wyman's birth parents were married in March 1916 in Jackson County, Missouri. The 1920 census showed her to be the only child from the marriage, and aged three years old on January 15, 1920, and living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


title: Jane Wyman

text: In October 1921, her biological parents divorced and her father died unexpectedly three months later. After his death, her mother moved to Cleveland, Ohio, leaving her to be reared by foster parents, Emma (née Reiss) and Richard D. Fulks, the chief of detectives in Saint Joseph. She took their surname unofficially, including in her school records and on her marriage certificate to first husband Ernest Wyman.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Her unsettled family life resulted in few pleasurable memories. Wyman later said "I was raised with such strict discipline that it was years before I could reason myself out of the bitterness I brought from my childhood."


title: Jane Wyman

text: In 1928, aged 11, she moved to Southern California with her foster mother. In 1930, the two moved back to Missouri, where Sarah Jane attended Lafayette High School in Saint Joseph. That same year, she began a radio singing career, calling herself Jane Durrell and adding years to her birthdate to work legally because she was under-aged.


title: Jane Wyman

text: For many years, Wyman's birthdate was widely reported to be January 4, 1914, but research by biographers and genealogists indicated that she was actually born three years later.


title: Jane Wyman

text: The most likely reason for the 1914 year of birth is that she added to her age in order to gain employment doing odd jobs and working as an actress, even though she was still a minor. She may have moved her birthday back by one day to January 4 so as to share the same birthday as her daughter, Maureen. After Wyman's death, a release posted on her official website confirmed these details.


title: Jane Wyman

text: After dropping out of Lafayette in 1932 at age 15, she returned to Hollywood, taking on odd jobs as a manicurist and a switchboard operator.


title: Jane Wyman

text: She started to obtain small parts in such films as "The Kid from Spain" (as a "Goldwyn Girl"; 1932), "Elmer, the Great" (1933), "Gold Diggers of 1933" (1933), "Harold Teen" (1934), "College Rhythm" (1934), "Rumba" (1935), "All the King's Horses" (1935), "George White's 1935 Scandals" (1935), "Stolen Harmony" (1935), "Broadway Hostess" (1935), "King of Burlesque" (1936) and "Anything Goes" (1936).


title: Jane Wyman

text: At Warners she was in "Freshman Love" (1936) and "Bengal Tiger" (1936) then went to Universal for "My Man Godfrey" (1936).


title: Jane Wyman

text: At Warners she was in "Stage Struck" (1936), "Cain and Mabel" (1936), and "Here Comes Carter" (1936).


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman had small parts in "Polo Joe" (1936), and "Gold Diggers of 1937" (1936) but a bigger one in "Smart Blonde" (1936), the first of the Torchy Blane series.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman was in "Ready, Willing and Able" (1937), "The King and the Chorus Girl" (1937), and "Slim" (1937). She had the lead in "Little Pioneer" (1937), a short, and parts in "The Singing Marine" (1937).


title: Jane Wyman

text: By the time Wyman starred in "Public Wedding" (1937), a "B", she was already divorced from first husband Ernest Wyman. However, she would retain use of his surname for the remainder of her career.


title: Jane Wyman

text: She had a support part in "Mr. Dodd Takes the Air" (1937) and the female lead in some "B" "The Spy Ring" (1938) (at Universal), "He Couldn't Say No" (1938) with Frank McHugh and "Wide Open Faces" (1938) with Joe E. Brown.


title: Jane Wyman

text: At Warners she had the lead in "Brother Rat" (1938), a "B" which proved popular. It co starred Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris and Eddie Albert.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman was borrowed by Fox for a support part in "Tail Spin" (1939), then did "The Kid from Kokomo" (1939) with Pat O'Brien and Morris. She played the title role in "Torchy Blane.. Playing with Dynamite" (1939), but it was the last in the series.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman was now established as a leading lady, albeit of Bs – she did "Kid Nightingale" (1939) with John Payne, "Private Detective" (1939) with Foran, "Brother Rat and a Baby" (1940) with Reagan, "An Angel from Texas" (1940) with Albert, "Flight Angels " (1940), and "Gambling on the High Seas" (1940) with Wayne Morris.


title: Jane Wyman

text: She supported in "A"s such as "My Love Came Back" (1940), starring Olivia de Havilland and Jeffrey Lynn. She and Reagan were in "Tugboat Annie Sails Again" (1940). Wyman supported Ann Sheridan in "Honeymoon for Three" (1941) and was Dennis Morgan's leading lady in "Bad Men of Missouri" (1941).


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman made "The Body Disappears" (1941) with Jeffrey Lynn and "You're in the Army Now" (1941) with Jimmy Durante; in the latter she and Regis Toomey had the longest screen kiss in cinema history: 3 minutes and 5 seconds.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman did "Larceny, Inc." (1942) with Edward G. Robinson, and "My Favorite Spy" (1942) with Kay Kyser.


title: Jane Wyman

text: At Fox she supported Betty Grable in "Footlight Serenade" (1942) then back at Warners supported Olivia de Havilland in "Princess O'Rourke" (1943).


title: Jane Wyman

text: Warners teamed her with Jack Carson in "Make Your Own Bed " (1944) and "The Doughgirls" (1944), then she was top billed in "Crime by Night" (1944). She was one of many stars to cameo in "Hollywood Canteen" (1944).


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman finally gained critical notice in the film noir "The Lost Weekend" (1945) made by the team of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, who had been impressed by her performance in "Princess O'Rourke". It was only a supporting role – Ray Milland was the lead – but was the second biggest part. Wyman called it "a small miracle".


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman remained a supporting actor in "One More Tomorrow" (1946), and "Night and Day" (1946). However Wyman was borrowed by MGM for the female lead in "The Yearling" (1946), and was nominated for the 1946 Academy Award for Best Actress.


title: Jane Wyman

text: She was leading lady for Dennis Morgan in "Cheyenne" (1947) and James Stewart in RKO's "Magic Town" (1947).


title: Jane Wyman

text: Her breakthrough role was playing a deaf-mute rape victim in "Johnny Belinda" (1948). Wyman spent over six months preparing for the film which was an enormous hit and won Wyman a Best Actress Oscar. She was the first person in the sound era to win an acting Oscar without speaking a line of dialogue. In an amusing acceptance speech, perhaps poking fun at some of her long-winded counterparts, Wyman took her statue and said only, "I accept this, very gratefully, for keeping my mouth shut once. I think I'll do it again."


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman was now a top billed star. She did two comedies, "A Kiss in the Dark" (1948) with David Niven and "The Lady Takes a Sailor" (1949) with Morgan, then made a thriller in England, "Stage Fright" (1950) for Alfred Hitchcock.


title: Jane Wyman

text: She played Laura in "The Glass Menagerie" (1950), and went to MGM for "Three Guys Named Mike" (1951), a popular comedy.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Frank Capra used her as Bing Crosby's leading lady in "Here Comes the Groom" (1951) at Paramount, then she had the lead in RKO's "The Blue Veil" (1951), a melodrama that was a big box office hit and earned her an Oscar nomination.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman was one of many stars in Warner Bros' "Starlift" (1951). She was the female lead in "The Story of Will Rogers" (1952) and Paramount reunited her and Crosby in "Just for You" (1952). Wyman expressed interest around this time of doing no more "weepy" roles.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Columbia cast her in a musical, "Let's Do It Again" (1953) with Ray Milland, then at Warners she was in "So Big" (1953), a melodrama.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman had a huge success when producer Ross Hunter cast her alongside Rock Hudson in "Magnificent Obsession" (1954). It earned her another Oscar nomination.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman and Hudson were promptly reteamed on "All That Heaven Allows" (1955). Pine-Thomas Productions put Wyman in "Lucy Gallant" (1955) with Charlton Heston. She did "Miracle in the Rain" (1956) with Van Johnson. Wyman was meant to follow this with "Annabella" but it appears to have not been made.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Her first guest-starring television role was on a 1955 episode of "General Electric Theater", a show hosted by her former husband Ronald Reagan. Wyman began a TV series "Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre" (1955–58). In its first season it was known as "Fireside Theatre" then being changed to "Jane Wyman Theatre". Wyman hosted every episode, acted in half, and was a producer.


title: Jane Wyman

text: When "Fireside Theatre" ended Wyman was no longer a film star, but she remained in demand. She replaced the ailing Gene Tierney in "Holiday for Lovers" (1959) for Fox, and next appeared in Disney's "Pollyanna" (1960) and "Bon Voyage!" (1962).


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman continued to guest star on TV shows like "Checkmate", "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse", "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre", "The Investigators", "Wagon Train", and "Insight".


title: Jane Wyman

text: "Something happened in the sixties," she later said. "it seemed that the time didn't permit women to be part of it except in a sort of secondary sort of way which I resented. I kept telling myself 'I didn't want to play "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane"." So she went into semi-retirement around 1962.


title: Jane Wyman

text: In 1966, Reginald Denham announced Wyman would appear in a play "Wonderful Us" based on the Parker–Hulme murder case but it was not produced.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Wyman continued to work in the 1970s, guest starring on "My Three Sons"; ""; "The Sixth Sense"; and "Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law" and starring in films like "The Failing of Raymond" (1971) and "The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel" (1979). She starred in a pilot for a TV series "Amanda Fallon" but it was not picked up.


title: Jane Wyman

text: She was offered roles of "murderers, old ladies that were senile – they were awful. The weirdest kind of writing."


title: Jane Wyman

text: In the spring of 1981, Wyman's career enjoyed a resurgence when she was cast as the scheming Californian vintner and matriarch Angela Channing in "The Vintage Years", which was retooled as the primetime soap opera "Falcon Crest". Wyman said she wanted to make it as it was a change from "the four handkerchief bits" she was known for. "You just can't miss on a thing like this," she added.


title: Jane Wyman

text: The series, which ran from December 1981 to May 1990, was created by Earl Hamner, who had created "The Waltons" a decade earlier. Hamner called Wyman "one of the legendary stars... a great actress", strongly denying her casting was due to her connection to the then-current president.


title: Jane Wyman

text: Also starring on the show was an already established character actress, Susan Sullivan, as Angela's niece-in-law, Maggie Gioberti, and the relatively unknown actor Lorenzo Lamas as Angela's irresponsible grandson, Lance Cumson. The on- and off-screen chemistry between Wyman and Lamas helped fuel the series' success.


title: Jane Wyman

text: In its first season, "Falcon Crest" was a ratings hit, behind other 1980s prime-time soap operas, such as "Dallas" and "Knots Landing", but initially ahead of rival "Dynasty". Cesar Romero appeared from 1985 to 1987 on "Falcon Crest" as the romantic interest of Angela Channing.