 Several candidates were presented to him including one young woman from a noble family . Reluctantly , Calvin agreed to the marriage , on the condition that she would learn French . Although a wedding date was planned for March 1540 , he remained reluctant and the wedding never took place . He later wrote that he would never think of marrying her , " unless the Lord had entirely bereft me of my wits " . Instead , in August of that year , he married Idelette de Bure , a widow who had two children from her first marriage . 
