John Calas (1698-1762) was a merchant in Toulouse. He was tried, tortured and executed for the murder of his son, but protested his innocence. Calas was a Protestant in an officially Roman Catholic country and doubts were raised about his guilt. In France, he became a symbolic victim of religious intolerance. The philosopher Voltaire campaigned to have Calas' conviction overturned, claiming that Calas' son had committed suicide because of gambling debts and being unable to complete his university studies. King Louis XV had the sentence annulled in 1764 and Voltaire went on to use the case in his criticisms of the Catholic Church for being intolerant and fanatical.

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