Guido de Bres (1522 – May 31, 1567) was the main author of the Belgic Confession.
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Guido de Bres was born in Mons, Hainaut, in the Lowlands between France and modern-day Belgium. The de Bres family was known far around 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.
During the years 1552-1556 he was a wandering preacher in the Southern Low Countries. The ideas of Luther were well-received in these areas (Ghent, Antwerp, Tournai etc.).
De Bres fled to Germany and later moved back to Geneva. Around 1559 he returned to the Low Countries, but now as a travelling Calvinist preacher. In the years 1559-1561 he served as the resident reverend in Tournai.
In 1561 de Bres authored the Belgic Confession. This confession was meant for the Spanish Government to show them that the Calvinists weren't a radical Anabaptist sectarian movement, but demanded a Reformation in the biblical sense of the Roman Catholic Church. The text is strongly influenced by Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion" and the creed of the French Huguenots. The creed was printed by J. Crespin in Geneva.
On the night of November 1st, 1561, de Bres threw his creed over the castle wall of Tournai, where Margaret of Parma, governor of the Netherlands stayed, to bring the confession to the attention of the Spanish government. The governor has seen one exemplar.
In 1565 de Bres was arrested for his Calvinist beliefs. He was tried before the Spanish Inquisition, received the death penalty and was hanged at Valenciennes. He died a martyr's death in front of a large crowd after making a final statement of his beliefs. Twelve days before his death he wrote a still-circulating letter to his mother showing his trust in God.
De Bres wrote a number of books. The Belgic Confession is part of the Three Forms of Unity. Its text is still in wide use in particular among orthodox Calvinists.
   | Last letter of De Brès to his mother of 19 May 1567 in modern Dutch - De laatste brief van Guido de Brès |
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