 Due to Calvin 's missionary work in France , his programme of reform eventually reached the French @-@ speaking provinces of the Netherlands . Calvinism was adopted in the Electorate of the Palatinate under Frederick III , which led to the formulation of the Heidelberg Catechism in 1563 . This and the Belgic Confession were adopted as confessional standards in the first synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1571 . Several leading divines , either Calvinist or those sympathetic to Calvinism , settled in England ( Martin Bucer , Peter Martyr , and Jan Laski ) and Scotland ( John Knox ) . During the English Civil War , the Calvinistic Puritans produced the Westminster Confession , which became the confessional standard for Presbyterians in the English @-@ speaking world . As the Ottoman Empire did not force Muslim conversion on its conquered western territories , reformed ideas were quickly adopted in the two @-@ thirds of Hungary they occupied ( the Habsburg @-@ ruled third part of Hungary remained Catholic ) . A Reformed Constitutional Synod was held in 1567 in Debrecen , the main hub of Hungarian Calvinism , where the Second Helvetic Confession was adopted as the official confession of Hungarian Calvinists . Having established itself in Europe , the movement continued to spread to other parts of the world including North America , South Africa , and Korea . 
