Blogging the Reformers - Juan Diaz

Juan Diaz was a Spaniard who went to Paris to study at the Sorbonne in 1532. He was saved by reading the scriptures in the original languages, and discussing them with James Enzinas. In 1545 he left Paris and went to Geneva. After speaking with Calvin there, he went to the Reformed churches in Germany and elsewhere. When his brother Alonzo heard that he had become a Protestant he was very angry. Though he loved his family, Alonzo would rather that they die than be a heretic. Therefore he went to Germany to attempt to convert Juan back to Catholicism, but Juan said, “I am ready to suffer anything for the sake of publicly confessing the doctrine which I have embraced.”1 Alonzo was convinced that he could not convert him back to the Roman faith, so the next morning, March 27th 1546, he went to his house with his servant early in the morning. He sent his servant into the house with a letter while he waited outside. While Juan was reading the letter, the servant crept up behind him with a hatchet and plunged it into his head. Alonzo and his servant fled as fast as they could, and Juan died an hour later. For this murder, Alonzo was raised to high honor by the Emperor Charles V.

1 As quoted in J. H. Merle D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle Publications, 2000) volume 8, book XIV, p. 109