The Practice of Footwashing in the Bible

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Footwashing was standard practice for first century culture in light of the dry climate. Since most people traveled by foot, wore sandals, and eating necessitated close proximity to each other, the standard practice was to wash the guests’ feet as they entered the house. “To wash the feet of one’s guests was common hospitality, the breach of which was a serious affront” (Lk. 7:44)[1]  The task of washing feet was usually reserved for a servant. It was considered such a debasing act that even (some) “Jews insisted that Jewish slaves should not be required to was the feet of others; this job should be reserved for Gentile slaves, or for women and children and pupils.”[2]

Did John Calvin Miss The Mark? - Treating Our Neighbors

I came across this piece of his-story...John's that is. Did he feel pressured to respond in light of his role/responsibility? I am conducting a study on the adulterous woman (Jn. 8:1-11) and discovered that this pericope has shaped much of Christianity's position on marriage and the family (amidst the contention on its placement in the Johannine text):

Alleged adultery made John Calvin persecute vigorously Anne le Fret, his sister-in-law, who looked after their common household. Although he could procure no decisive proof of her guilt, he managed to arrange a divorce with the right o f remarriage (against the Roman tradition), and removed her from the house with loss o f her children. She was spared capital punishment, as she kept denying, despite seven rounds o f torture. Although Calvin’s first attempt in 1548 had failed, and his brother Antoine was forced to reconcile with Anne, the text o f Jn. 8:1-11 has apparently meant little to the case, which w as treated by these reformers as a clearcut ecclesiastical affair.

See Kingdom, R. Adultery and Divorce in Calvin 's Geneva, Cambridge Mass. Harvard U .P. 1995 p .71-98.