Until about 1536 it had been a mere unorganized opinion, rather a philosophy than a coherent body.

From the date of the publication of the _Institutes_ to that of the Synod of 1559 the new church had become organized, self-conscious, and definitely political in aims.

But after 1559 it became more than a party; it became an _imperium in imperio_.

There was no longer one government and one allegiance in France but two, and the two were at war.
[Sidenote: The Huguenots] It was just at this time that the name of Huguenot applied to the Protestants, hitherto called "Lutherans," "heretics of Meaux" and, more rarely, "Calvinists." The origin of the word, first used at Tours in 1560, is uncertain.

It may possibly come from "le roi Huguet" or "Hugon," a night spectre; the allusion then would be to the ghostly manner in which the heretics crept by night to their conventicles.
Huguenot is also found as a family name at Belfort as early as 1425.
It may possibly come from the term "Hausgenossen" as used in Alsace of those metal-workers who were not taken into the gild but worked at home, hence a name of contempt like the modern "scab." It may also come from the name of the Swiss Confederation, "Eidgenossen," and perhaps this derivation is the most likely, though it cannot be considered beyond doubt.