Early Life
Guido de Bres was born in Mons, today in southwestern Belgium. His father was formerly known as Jean Du Beguinage (alternatively: Jan le Béguinage) was an itinerant blauschilder which is indicative of the tin-glazed process, a precursor to Delftware, introduced into the Netherlands by Guido de Savino in 1512 at Antwerp. Jean changed his name to that of De Bres when he settled in Mons and with his wife bore five children: Jehan, Jherome, Christoffel, Guy and daughter Mailette. Rehalenbeck suggests one other son, Michel.
De Bres was brought up by his mother, a devout Roman Catholic until the end of her days. The names of Guy's mother are unknown other than that of De Bres. Guy was a Roman Catholic and was very strong in that faith by all accounts. Not much is known of Guy's early life other than he followed his brother Jehan into school at the appropriate age and after a basic education followed his father in learning the craft of blauschilder.
The De Bres family were known for their skills in glass painting, and young Guido was trained in this art before moving to England. In his teenage years, he became a follower of the Protestant religion as taught by Martin Luther. Later he converted to Calvinism. He met and studied under John Calvin at the academy of Geneva where Calvin taught.
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