Originally from the Low Countries, Idelette and her husband were converted under the ministry of John Calvin in Strasbourg. After her husband died of the plague, leaving her with two young children, she was courted and married by Calvin. She died after only nine precious years of marriage, occasioning Calvin much grief. As he confided to his dear friend Viret, “Mine is no common source of grief. I have been bereaved of the best companion of my life, of one who, had it been so ordered, would not only have been the willing sharer of my exile and poverty, but even of my death.”