Libertine - History of The Term

History of The Term

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Thinkers Antiphon Émile Armand Aristippus Aristotle Albert Camus Albert Libertad Diogenes of Sinope Ralph Waldo Emerson Epicurus Miguel Giménez Igualada William Godwin Emma Goldman Friedrich von Hayek Thomas Jefferson Laozi John Locke Hipparchia of Maroneia H.L. Mencken John Stuart Mill Ludwig von Mises Michel de Montaigne Friedrich Nietzsche Renzo Novatore Robert Nozick Michel Onfray Georges Palante Ayn Rand Han Ryner Marquis de Sade Jean Paul Sartre Arthur Schopenhauer Adam Smith Herbert Spencer Lysander Spooner Max Stirner Henry David Thoreau Benjamin Tucker Josiah Warren Oscar Wilde Zeno Yang Zhu
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The word "libertine" is derived from the Roman mythological figure, Liber (meaning "free"). Liber represented husbandry and crops and was celebrated by mystery religions including the Secret Order of Libertines. The term was also coined by John Calvin to negatively describe opponents of his policies in Geneva, Switzerland. This group, led by Ami Perrin, argued against Calvin's "insistence that church discipline should be enforced uniformly against all members of Genevan society". Perrin and his allies were elected to the town council in 1548, and "broadened their support base in Geneva by stirring up resentment among the older inhabitants against the increasing number of religious refugees who were fleeing France in even greater numbers". By 1555, Calvinists were firmly in place on the Genevan town council, so the Libertines, led by Perrin, responded with an "attempted coup against the government and called for the massacre of the French ... This was the last great political challenge Calvin had to face in Geneva".

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