ABSTRACT
Strasbourg was a centre of considerable economic and cultural importance, a meeting-place for new ideas and opinions, and it drew men from German, Swiss, French and Italian lands. At the time of Calvin's arrival the evangelical-humanist Gymnasium illustre had been founded by Johannes Sturm. When Calvin was away attending the religious colloquy at Hagenau Castellio looked after one of his servants, a fellow Savoyard, who was seriously ill. Castellio's purpose was outlined in his preface to the Dialogi sacri, which was presented as a letter to Mathurin Cordier. Castellio regarded himself as Cordier's spiritual disciple and he wanted to make this known to his master. The Dialogi sacri was Castellio's most successful literary effort, both during his life and after his death. While he was alive there were more than 20 editions of the work, a dozen of which were produced in Basle while others came from Cologne, Lyon, Leipzig and Medina del Campo in Castille.
