Download or read book Burning Zeal written by Nikki Shepardson and published by Lehigh University Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the chaos of the Reformation, a declaration of one's faith was not solely a religious matter, but at times a choice between life and death. Sixteenth-century Europe witnessed a renaissance of martyrdom and the rebirth of a specific rhetoric that celebrated the sacrifice, constancy, and conviction of the martyr. This rhetoric shaped and defined the experiences and worldview of the French Calvinist community.