Gruet used to frequent taverns, and his behaviour was unacceptable by the religious standards of those days. He wrote blasphemous notes and defied social conventions. Jacques Gruet argued for more personal freedom, and stated that all laws, both God's and Man's, were nothing but laws made by men for their very own pleasure. In many ways, Jacques Gruet was ahead of his time in his thinking. Most of his ideas regarding the role of religion and the extent of freedom are practised today, at least in the Western world. He was arrested by Calvin, tortured for a month and beheaded on July 26, 1547.