Nicolas Cop (c. 1501 – c. 1540) was a French academic and humanist, best known for his brief but significant role in the early stages of the Protestant Reformation in France.
Cop was born in Paris, the son of Guillaume Cop, a royal physician originally from Basel, Switzerland. He studied at the Collège de Montaigu, part of the University of Paris, where he was a contemporary and friend of John Calvin.
In 1533, Nicolas Cop was elected Rector of the University of Paris. On November 1, 1533, All Saints' Day, he delivered an inaugural discourse (or sermon) that openly defended the principle of justification by faith alone, a core doctrine of Martin Luther and the burgeoning Protestant movement. The discourse was a clear departure from traditional Catholic teaching and included thinly veiled criticisms of the scholastic theologians of the Sorbonne.
The controversial nature of the speech immediately provoked outrage among the conservative Catholic faculty of the Sorbonne and the Parlement of Paris. Charges of heresy were quickly brought against Cop. Fearing arrest, Cop fled Paris, first to his family home in Basel, and later to various locations, eventually settling in his family's native Basel. His flight signaled a significant escalation of the religious tensions in France.
John Calvin, who was closely associated with Cop and was suspected of having helped draft the controversial sermon (or at least of sharing its sentiments), also had to flee Paris around the same time, marking the beginning of his own exile and a pivotal moment in his career as a reformer.
Cop's discourse and the subsequent crackdown by authorities are considered important events leading up to the "Affair of the Placards" in 1534, which further hardened the French monarchy's stance against Protestantism and led to increased persecution. Cop lived out his remaining years in exile, dying around 1540.
See also:
- John Calvin
- Affair of the Placards
- Reformation in France
- University of Paris