Geneva Around this time, the House of Savoy came to at least nominally dominate the city. In the 15th century, an oligarchic republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In the first half of the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation reached the city, causing religious strife, during which Savoy rule was thrown off and Geneva allied itself with the Swiss Confederacy. In 1541, with Protestantism on the rise, John Calvin, the founder of Calvinism, became the spiritual leader of the city and established the Republic of Geneva. By the 18th century, Geneva had come under the influence of
Amadeus II of Geneva Amadeus II of Geneva Amadeus II (died 22 May 1308) was the Count of Geneva, which included the Genevois, but not the city of Geneva, from 1280. He was the second son of Count Rudolf and succeeded his heirless brother Aymon II. In June 1282 at Versoix, Amadeus and Béatrice “la Grande Dauphine”, the dowager Countess of Albon and regent for her son John I, came to an agreement whereby all the places that Amadeus' father and grandfather, William II, had been forced to cede to Peter “the Little Charlemagne” in 1250 and 1260—the so-called "gagerie"—would be returned to Geneva.