John Calvin

About John Calvin

John Calvin (1509–1564) was a pivotal French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation, who established Calvinism as a major branch of Protestantism. His most significant historical contribution was the systematic theological exposition found in his *Institutes of the Christian Religion*, which profoundly shaped religious, political, and social thought across Europe and later in North America. This foundational work secured his standing as the 402nd most influential historical figure according to the Pantheon project's HPI.

Calvin's historical weight contrasts with his current digital presence. Ranking \#402 in importance, he garners 723K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. This puts him in near parity with his historical importance, suggesting an "expected attention" level (a gap of only ~1x). For comparison, Mary Magdalene (\#580 importance) receives nearly three times his traffic at 1.9M views, while Brigham Young (\#947 importance) attracts 2.7M views. However, Calvin is showing increasing relevance, evidenced by an 18.7% year-over-year increase in views and a strong +9% momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025.

This modest yet growing attention indicates that while Calvin does not dominate modern searches compared to later or different fields of influence, his profile is currently ascending on the internet.