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and the residents of Geneva, it became the norm to have one godparent; other Calvinists, most notably in Scotland and the English colonies in America, did away with them entirely.

The customary obligation of godfathers for Catholics (at least in Scotland) was stated in Nicol Burne's Of the praying in Latine (1581) in relation to Latin public prayers in church:

...if any man pray in any other tongue (i.e. than his own), it is also expedient that he understand the meaning of the words at the least. For the which cause in the catholic church the parents or godfathers are obliged to learn them (i.e. to make sure they have learned) whom they held in baptism the forms of prayers and belief, and instruct them sufficiently therein, so that they understand the same:

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