Michael Servetus Explained

Michael Servetus
Era:Renaissance
Titles:Theologian, physician, editor, translator
Birth Date:
possibly 29 September 1511
Birth Place:Villanueva de Sigena, Aragon, or Tudela, Navarre
Death Date: (aged 42)
Death Place:Geneva, Republic of Geneva
Alma Mater:University of Paris
School Tradition:Renaissance humanism
Main Interests:Theology, medicine

Michael Servetus (;[1] Spanish; Castilian: Miguel Serveto; French: Michel Servet; also known as Miguel Servet, Miguel de Villanueva, Revés, or Michel de Villeneuve; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and Renaissance humanist. He was the first European to correctly describe the function of pulmonary circulation, as discussed in Christianismi Restitutio (1553). He was a polymath versed in many sciences: mathematics, astronomy and meteorology, geography, human anatomy, medicine and pharmacology, as well as jurisprudence, translation, poetry, and the scholarly study of the Bible in its original languages.

He is renowned in the history of several of these fields, particularly medicine. His work on the circulation of blood and his observations on pulmonary circulation were particularly important. He participated in the Protestant Reformation, and later rejected the Trinity doctrine and mainstream Catholic Christology.

After being condemned by Catholic authorities in France, he fled to Calvinist Geneva where he was denounced by John Calvin himself and burned at the stake for heresy by order of the city's governing council.

Life

Early life and education

For a long time, it was held that Servetus was probably born[2] in 1511 in Villanueva de Sigena in the Kingdom of Aragon, present-day Spain. The day of 29 September has been conventionally proposed for his birth, due to the fact that 29 September is Saint Michael's day according to the Catholic calendar of saints, but there is no evidence supporting this date. Some sources give an earlier date based on Servetus' own occasional claim of having been born in 1509.[3] However, in 2002 a paper published by Francisco Javier González Echeverría and María Teresa Ancín suggested that he was born in Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre.[4] It has also been held that his true name was De Villanueva according to the letters of his French naturalization (Chamber des Comptes, Royal Chancellorship and Parlement of Grenoble) and the registry at the University of Paris.[5]

The ancestors of his father came from the hamlet of Serveto, in the Aragonese Pyrenees. His father was a notary of Christian ancestors from the lower nobility (infanzón),[6] who worked at the nearby Monastery of Santa Maria de Sigena. It was long believed that Servetus had just two brothers: Juan, who was a Catholic parish priest, and Pedro, who was a notary.[7] But it has been recently documented that Servetus actually had two more brothers (Antón and Francisco) and at least three sisters (Catalina, Jeronima, and Juana).[8] Although Servetus declared during his trial in Geneva that his parents were "Christians of ancient race", and that he never had any communication with Jews,[9] his maternal line actually descended from the Zaportas (or Çaportas), a wealthy and socially relevant family from the Barbastro and Monzón areas in Aragon.[10] [11] This was demonstrated by a notarial protocol published in 1999.[12] [13] [14]

Servetus' family used a nickname, "Revés", according to an old tradition in rural Spain of using alternate names for families across generations. The origin of the Revés nickname may have been that a member of a (probably distinguished) family living in Villanueva with the surname Revés established blood ties with the Servet family, thus uniting both family names for the next generations.[15]

Education

Servetus attended the Grammar Studium in Sariñena, Aragón, near Villanueva de Sijena, under master Domingo Manobel until 1520. From course 1520/1521 to 1522/1523, Michael Servetus was a student of the Liberal Arts in the primitive University of Zaragoza, a Studium Generale of Arts. The Studium was ruled by the Archbishop of Saragossa, the Rector, the High Master ("Maestro Mayor"), and four "Masters of Arts", which resembled Art professors in the Arts Faculties of other primitive universities. Servetus studied under High Master Gaspar Lax, and masters Exerich, Ansias, and Miranda. During those years this education center had been significantly influenced by Erasmus's ideas. Ansias and Miranda died soon, and two new professors were appointed: Juan Lorenzo Carnicer and Villalpando. In 1523 he got his BA and next year his MA. From course 1525/1526 ahead, Servetus became one of the four Masters of Arts in the Studium, and for unknown reasons, he traveled to Salamanca in February 1527. But on 28 March 1527, also for unknown reasons, master Michael Servetus had a brawl with High Master (and uncle) Gaspard Lax, and this probably was the cause of his expulsion from the Studium, and his exile from Spain for the Studium of Toulouse, trying to avoid the strong influence of Gaspar Lax in any Spanish Studium Generale.[16] [17]

Near 1527 Servetus attended the University of Toulouse where he studied law. Servetus could have had access to forbidden religious books, some of them maybe Protestant, while he was studying in this city.[18]

Career

In 1530 Servetus joined the retinue of Emperor Charles V as page or secretary to the emperor's confessor, Juan de Quintana.[19] Servetus travelled through Italy and Germany and attended Charles' coronation as Holy Roman Emperor in Bologna. He was outraged by the pomp and luxury displayed by the Pope and his retinue, and so decided to follow the path of reformation.[20] It is not known when Servetus left the imperial entourage, but in October 1530 he visited Johannes Oecolampadius in Basel, staying there for about ten months, probably supporting himself as a proofreader for a local printer. By this time, he was already spreading his theological beliefs. In May 1531 he met Martin Bucer and Wolfgang Fabricius Capito in Strasbourg.

Two months later, in July 1531, Servetus published De Trinitatis Erroribus (On the Errors of the Trinity). The next year he published the work Dialogorum de Trinitate (Dialogues on the Trinity) and the supplementary work De Iustitia Regni Christi (On the Justice of Christ's Reign) in the same volume. After the persecution of the Inquisition, Servetus assumed the name "Michel de Villeneuve" while he was staying in France. He studied at the Collège de Calvi in Paris in 1533.Servetus also published the first French edition of Ptolemy's Geography. He dedicated his first edition of Ptolemy and his edition of the Bible to his patron Hugues de la Porte. While in Lyon, Symphorien Champier, a medical humanist, had been his patron. Servetus wrote a pharmacological treatise in defence of Champier against Leonhart Fuchs In Leonardum Fucsium Apologia (Apology against Leonard Fuchs). Working also as a proofreader, he published several more books, which dealt with medicine and pharmacology (such as his Syruporum universia ratio (Complete Explanation of the Syrups)), for which he gained fame.

After an interval, Servetus returned to Paris to study medicine in 1536. In Paris, his teachers included Jacobus Sylvius, Jean Fernel, and Johann Winter von Andernach, who hailed him with Andrea Vesalius as his most able assistant in dissections. During these years, he wrote his Manuscript of the Complutense, an unpublished compendium of his medical ideas. Servetus taught mathematics and astrology while he studied medicine. He predicted an occultation of Mars by the Moon, which along with his teaching, generated much envy among the medicine teachers. His teaching classes were suspended by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Jean Tagault, and Servetus wrote his Apologetic Discourse of Michel de Villeneuve in Favour of Astrology and against a Certain Physician against him. Tagault later argued for the death penalty in the judgment of the University of Paris against Servetus, who was accused of teaching De Divinatione by Cicero. Finally, the sentence was reduced to the withdrawal of this edition. As a result of the risks and difficulties of studying medicine at Paris, Servetus decided to go to Montpellier to finish his medical studies, maybe thanks to his teacher Sylvius who did exactly the same as a student.[21] There Servetus became a Doctor of Medicine in 1539. After that he lived at Charlieu. A jealous physician ambushed and tried to kill Servetus, but Servetus defended himself and injured one of the attackers in a sword fight. He was in prison for several days because of this incident.[22]

Working at Vienne

After his studies in medicine, Servetus started a medical practice. He became the personal physician to Pierre Palmier, Archbishop of Vienne and was the physician to Guy de Maugiron, the lieutenant governor of Dauphiné. Thanks to the printer Jean Frellon II, acquaintance of John Calvin and friend of Michel, Servetus and Calvin began to correspond. Calvin used the pseudonym "Charles d'Espeville". Servetus also became a French citizen, using his "De Villeneuve" persona, by the Royal Process (1548–1549) of French Naturalization, issued by Henri II of France.[23]

In 1553 Michael Servetus published another religious work with further anti-trinitarian views entitled Christianismi Restitutio (The Restoration of Christianity), a work that sharply rejected the idea of predestination as the idea that God condemned souls to Hell regardless of worth or merit. God, insisted Servetus, condemns no one who does not condemn himself through thought, word, or deed. This work also includes the first published description of the pulmonary circulation in Europe, though it's thought to be based on work by 13th century Syrian polymath ibn al-Nafis.

Servetus had sent an early version of his book to Calvin. To Calvin, who had published his summary of Christian doctrine Institutio Christianae Religionis (Institutes of the Christian Religion) in 1536, Servetus' latest book was an attack on historical Nicene Christian doctrine and a misinterpretation of the biblical canon. Calvin sent a copy of his own book as his reply. Servetus promptly returned it, thoroughly annotated with critical observations. Calvin wrote to Servetus, "I neither hate you nor despise you; nor do I wish to persecute you; but I would be as hard as iron when I behold you insulting sound doctrine with so great audacity". In time, their correspondence grew more heated until Calvin ended it.[24] Servetus sent Calvin several more letters, to which Calvin took offense.[25] Thus, Calvin's frustrations with Servetus seem to have been based mainly on Servetus's criticisms of Calvinist doctrine, but also on his tone, which Calvin considered inappropriate. Calvin revealed these frustrations with Servetus when writing to his friend William Farel on 13 February 1546:

Imprisonment and execution

On 16 February 1553, Michael Servetus while in Vienne, France, was denounced as a heretic by Guillaume de Trie (a rich merchant who had taken refuge in Geneva and who was a good friend of Calvin)[26] in a letter sent to a cousin, Antoine Arneys, who was living in Lyon. On behalf of the French inquisitor Matthieu Ory, Michael Servetus and Balthasard Arnollet, the printer of Christianismi Restitutio, were questioned, but they denied all charges and were released for lack of evidence. Ory asked Arneys to write back to De Trie demanding proof. On 26 March 1553, the letters sent by Michael to Calvin and some manuscript pages of Christianismi Restitutio were forwarded to Lyon by De Trie. On 4 April 1553, Servetus was arrested by Roman Catholic authorities and imprisoned in Vienne. He escaped from prison three days later. On 17 June, he was convicted of heresy, "thanks to the 17 letters sent by John Calvin, preacher in Geneva"[27] and sentenced to be burned with his books. In his absence, he and his books were burned in effigy (blank paper for the books).[28]

Meaning to flee to Italy, Servetus inexplicably stopped in Geneva, where Calvin and his Reformers had denounced him. On 13 August, he attended a sermon by Calvin at Geneva. He was arrested after the service[29] and again imprisoned, and all his property was confiscated. Servetus claimed during this proceeding that he had been arrested at an inn at Geneva. French inquisitors asked that he be extradited to them for execution, but Calvin wanted to show that he was as firm in defense of Christian orthodoxy as his opponents, and determined "to push the condemnation of Servetus with all the means at his command". Calvin's health was one possible reason why he did not personally appear against Servetus.[30] The laws regulating criminal actions in Geneva required that in certain grave cases the complainant himself should be incarcerated pending the trial. Calvin's health, and his importance in the administration of the state, rendered a prolonged absence from the public life of Geneva impracticable. Therefore Nicholas de la Fontaine had the more active role in Servetus's prosecution and the listing of the points that condemned him. (Nicholas de la Fontaine was a refugee in Geneva and entered the service of Calvin, by whom he was employed as secretary.[31]) Nevertheless, Calvin is regarded as the author of the prosecution.

At his trial, Servetus was condemned on two counts for spreading and preaching Nontrinitarianism, specifically, Modalistic Monarchianism (or Sabellianism) and anti-paedobaptism (anti-infant baptism).[32] Of paedobaptism Servetus had said, "It is an invention of the devil, an infernal falsity for the destruction of all Christianity."[33] In the case, the procureur général (chief public prosecutor) added some curious-sounding accusations in the form of inquiries – the most odd-sounding perhaps being, "whether he has married, and if he answers that he has not, he shall be asked why, in consideration of his age, he could refrain so long from marriage." To this oblique imputation about his sexuality, Servetus replied that rupture (inguinal hernia) had long since made him incapable of that particular sin. Another question was "whether he did not know that his doctrine was pernicious, considering that he favours Jews and Turks, by making excuses for them, and if he has not studied the Koran in order to disprove and controvert the doctrine and religion that the Christian churches hold, together with other profane books, from which people ought to abstain in matters of religion, according to the doctrine of St. Paul."

Calvin believed that Servetus deserved death because of what Calvin termed "execrable blasphemies".[34] Calvin expressed these sentiments in a letter to Farel, written about a week after Servetus' arrest, in which he also mentioned an exchange with Servetus. Calvin wrote:

...after he [Servetus] had been recognized, I thought he should be detained. My friend Nicolas summoned him on a capital charge, offering himself as a security according to the lex talionis. On the following day he adduced against him forty written charges. He at first sought to evade them. Accordingly we were summoned. He impudently reviled me, just as if he regarded me as obnoxious to him. I answered him as he deserved... of the man’s effrontery I will say nothing; but such was his madness that he did not hesitate to say that devils possessed divinity; yea, that many gods were in individual devils, inasmuch as a deity had been substantially communicated to those equally with wood and stone. I hope that sentence of death will at least be passed on him; but I desired that the severity of the punishment be mitigated.[35]

As Servetus was not a citizen of Geneva, and legally could at worst be banished, the government in an attempt to find some plausible excuse to disregard this legal reality had consulted the Swiss Reformed cantons of Zürich, Bern, Basel and Schaffhausen. They universally favoured his condemnation and the suppression of his doctrine, but without saying how either should be accomplished.[36] Martin Luther had also condemned his writings in strong terms.[37] Servetus and Philip Melanchthon had strongly hostile views of each other. The party called the "Libertines", who were generally opposed to anything and everything that Calvin supported, were in this case strongly in favour of the execution of Servetus at the stake, while Calvin urged that he be beheaded. In fact, the council that condemned Servetus was presided over by Ami Perrin (a Libertine) who ultimately on 24 October sentenced Servetus to death by burning for denying the Trinity and infant baptism.[38] Calvin and other ministers asked that he be beheaded instead of burned, knowing that burning at the stake was the only legal recourse.[39] This plea was refused, and on 27 October, Servetus was burnt alive atop a pyre of his own books at the Plateau of Champel at the edge of Geneva.[40] Historians record his last words as: "Jesus, Son of the Eternal God, have mercy on me."[41]

Legacy

Sebastian Castellio and countless others denounced this execution and became harsh critics of Calvin because of the whole affair.

Some other anti-trinitarian thinkers began to be more cautious in expressing their views: Martin Cellarius, Lelio Sozzini and others either ceased writing or wrote only in private. The fact that Servetus was dead meant that his writings could be distributed more widely, though others such as Giorgio Biandrata developed them in their own names.

The writings of Servetus influenced the beginnings of the Unitarian movement in Poland and Transylvania.[42] Peter Gonesius's advocacy of Servetus' views led to the separation of the Polish brethren from the Calvinist Reformed Church in Poland, and laid the foundations for the Socinian movement which fostered the early Unitarians in England like John Biddle.

Theology

In his first two books (De trinitatis erroribus, and Dialogues on the Trinity plus the supplementary De Iustitia Regni Christi) Servetus rejected the classical conception of the Trinity, stating that it was not based on the Bible. He argued that it arose from teachings of Greek philosophers, and he advocated a return to the simplicity of the Gospels and the teachings of the early Church Fathers that he believed predated the development of Nicene trinitarianism. Servetus hoped that the dismissal of the trinitarian dogma would make Christianity more appealing to believers in Judaism and Islam, which had preserved the unity of God in their teachings. According to Servetus, trinitarians had turned Christianity into a form of "tritheism", or belief in three gods. Servetus affirmed that the divine Logos, the manifestation of God and not a separate divine Person, was incarnated in a human being, Jesus, when God's spirit came into the womb of the Virgin Mary. Only from the moment of conception was the Son actually generated. Therefore, although the Logos from which He was formed was eternal, the Son was not Himself eternal. For this reason, Servetus always rejected calling Christ the "eternal Son of God" but rather called him "the Son of the eternal God."[43]

In describing Servetus' view of the Logos, Andrew Dibb explained: "In 'Genesis' God reveals himself as the creator. In 'John' he reveals that he created by means of the Word, or Logos. Finally, also in 'John', he shows that this Logos became flesh and 'dwelt among us'. Creation took place by the spoken word, for God said "Let there be ..." The spoken word of Genesis, the Logos of John, and the Christ, are all one and the same."[44]

In his "Treatise Concerning the Divine Trinity" Servetus taught that the Logos was the reflection of Christ, and "That reflection of Christ was 'the Word with God" that consisted of God Himself, shining brightly in heaven, "and it was God Himself"[45] and that "the Word was the very essence of God or the manifestation of God's essence, and there was in God no other substance or hypostasis than His Word, in a bright cloud where God then seemed to subsist. And in that very spot the face and personality of Christ shone bright."[45]

Unitarian scholar Earl Morse Wilbur states: "Servetus' Errors of the Trinity is hardly heretical in intent, rather is suffused with passionate earnestness, warm piety, an ardent reverence for Scripture, and a love for Christ so mystical and overpowering that [he] can hardly find words to express it ... Servetus asserted that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were dispositions of God, and not separate and distinct beings."[46] Wilbur promotes the idea that Servetus was a modalist.

Servetus states his view clearly in the preamble to Restoration of Christianity (1553): "There is nothing greater, reader, than to recognize that God has been manifested as substance, and that His divine nature has been truly communicated. We shall clearly apprehend the manifestation of God through the Word and his communication through the Spirit, both of them substantially in Christ alone."[47]

This theology, though original in some respects, has often been compared to Adoptionism, Arianism, and Sabellianism, all of which Trinitarians rejected in favour of the belief that God exists eternally in three distinct persons. Nevertheless, Servetus rejected these theologies in his books: Adoptionism, because it denied Jesus's divinity;[48] Arianism, because it multiplied the hypostases and established a rank;[49] and Sabellianism, because it seemingly confused the Father with the Son, though Servetus himself does appear to have denied or diminished the distinctions between the Persons of the Godhead, rejecting the Trinitarian understanding of One God in Three Persons.[50]

The incomprehensible God is known through Christ, by faith, rather than by philosophical speculations. He manifests God to us, being the expression of His very being, and through him alone, God can be known. The scriptures reveal Him to those who have faith; and thus we come to know the Holy Spirit as the Divine impulse within us.[51]

Under severe pressure from Catholics and Protestants alike, Servetus clarified this explanation in his second book, Dialogues (1532), to show the Logos coterminous with Christ. He was nevertheless accused of heresy because of his insistence on denying the dogma of the Trinity and the distinctions between the three divine Persons in one God.

Legacy

Theology

Because of his rejection of the Trinity and eventual execution by burning for heresy, Unitarians often regard Servetus as the first (modern) Unitarian martyr—though he was a Unitarian in neither the 17th-century sense of the term nor the modern sense. Sharply critical though he was of the orthodox formulation of the trinity, Servetus is better described as a highly unorthodox trinitarian.[52]

Aspects of his thinking—his critique of existing trinitarian theology, his devaluation of the doctrine of original sin, and his fresh examination of biblical proof-texts—did influence those who later inspired or founded unitarian churches in Poland and Transylvania.[52]

Other non-trinitarian groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses,[53] and Oneness Pentecostalism,[54] also claim Servetus held similar non-trinitarian views as theirs.[55] Oneness Pentecostalism particularly identifies with Servetus' teaching on the divinity of Jesus Christ and his insistence on the oneness of God, rather than a Trinity of three distinct persons: "And because His Spirit was wholly God He is called God, just as from His flesh He is called man."[56]

Oneness Pentecostal Scholar David K. Bernard has written the following in regard to the theology of Michael Servetus: "... some historians consider him to be a motivating force for the development of Unitarianism. However, he definitely was not Unitarian, for he acknowledged Jesus as God."[57]

Swedenborg wrote a systematic theology that had many similarities to the theology of Servetus.[58] [59]

Freedom of conscience

Widespread aversion to Servetus's death has been taken as signaling the birth in Europe of the idea of religious tolerance, a principle now more important to modern Unitarian Universalists than antitrinitarianism.[52] The Spanish scholar on Servetus' work, Ángel Alcalá, identified the radical search for truth and the right for freedom of conscience as Servetus' main legacies, rather than his theology.[60] The Polish-American scholar, Marian Hillar, has studied the evolution of freedom of conscience, from Servetus and the Polish Socinians, to John Locke and to Thomas Jefferson and the American Declaration of Independence. According to Hillar: "Historically speaking, Servetus died so that freedom of conscience could become a civil right in modern society."[61]

Science

Servetus was the first European to describe the function of pulmonary circulation although his achievement was not widely recognized at the time, for a few reasons. One was that the description appeared in a theological treatise, Christianismi Restitutio, not in a book on medicine. However, the sections in which he refers to anatomy and medicines demonstrate an amazing understanding of the body and treatments. Most copies of the book were burned shortly after its publication in 1553 because of persecution of Servetus by religious authorities. Three copies survived, but these remained hidden for decades. In passage V, Servetus recounts his discovery that the blood of the pulmonary circulation flows from the heart to the lungs (rather than air in the lungs flowing to the heart as had been thought). His discovery was based on the colour of the blood, the size and location of the different ventricles, and the fact that the pulmonary vein was extremely large, which suggested that it performed intensive and transcendent exchange.[62] However, Servetus does not only deal with cardiology. In the same passage, from page 169 to 178, he also refers to the brain, the cerebellum, the meninges, the nerves, the eye, the tympanum, the rete mirabile, etc., demonstrating a great knowledge of anatomy. In some other sections of this work he also talks of medical products.

Servetus also contributed enormously to medicine with other published works specifically related to the field, such as his Complete Explanation of Syrups and his study on syphilis in his Apology against Leonhart Fuchs, among others.[63]

References in literature

Serveto vor Pilatus. Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1982

Servet in Genf. Genf, 1931

Miguel Servet in Basel; Alfonsus Lyncurius und Pseudo-Servet. In: Ders.: Spanien und der Basler Buchdruck bis 1600. Helbing & Lichtenhahhn, Basel und Frankfurt a.M. 1985, pp. 277–298; 298–326. (PDF; 64,1 MiB)

Honours

Geneva

In Geneva, remembering Servetus was still a controversial issue 350 years after his execution. In 1903, supporters of Servetus formed a committee to erect a monument in his honour. The group was led by a French Senator, Auguste Dide, the author of a book on heretics and revolutionaries which was published in 1887. The committee commissioned a local sculptor, Clotilde Roch, to execute a statue showing a suffering Servetus. The work was three years in the making and was finished in 1907. However, by then, supporters of Calvin in Geneva, having heard about the project, had already erected a simple stele in memory of Servetus in 1903, the main text of which served more as an apologetic for Calvin:

Duteous and grateful followers of Calvin our great Reformer, yet condemning an error which was that of his age, and strongly attached to liberty of conscience according to the true principles of his Reformation and gospel, we have erected this expiatory monument. Oct. 27, 1903
About the same time, a short street close by the stele was named after him.[65] The city council then rejected the request of the committee to erect the completed statue, on the grounds that there was already a monument to Servetus. The committee then offered the statue to the neighbouring French town of Annemasse, which in 1908 placed it in front of the city hall, with the following inscriptions:
"The arrest of Servetus in Geneva, where he did neither publish nor dogmatize, hence he was not subject to its laws, has to be considered as a barbaric act and an insult to the Right of Nations". Voltaire
"I beg you, shorten please these deliberations. It is clear that Calvin for his pleasure wishes to make me rot in this prison. The lice eat me alive. My clothes are torn and I have nothing for a change, nor shirt, only a worn out vest".Servetus, 1553
In 1942, the Vichy Government took down the statue, as it was a celebration of freedom of conscience, and melted it. In 1960, having found the original molds, Annemasse had it recast and returned the statue to its previous place.[66]

Finally, on 3 October 2011, Geneva erected a copy of the statue which it had rejected over 100 years before. It was cast in Aragon from the molds of Clotilde Roch's original statue. Rémy Pagani, former mayor of Geneva, inaugurated the statue. He previously had described Servetus as "the dissident of dissidence."[67] Representatives from the Roman Catholic Church in Geneva and the Director of Geneva's International Museum of the Reformation attended the ceremony. A Geneva newspaper noted the absence of officials from the National Protestant Church of Geneva, the church of John Calvin.[68]

Aragon

In 1984, the Zaragoza public hospital changed its name from José Antonio to Miguel Servet. Since 1999, this hospital has been known as the Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, in recognition of its association with Servetus' own University of Zaragoza[69]

Works

Only the dates of the first editions are included.

Servetus's anonymous editions

In 1553, Lyonese printer Jean Frellon confessed to the French Inquisition that Michael Servetus had been working at his print shop, and had translated for him, among other works, several Latin grammar treatises to Spanish, and a  "somme espagnole". New studies reveal Servetus as the author of an additional set of anonymous editions of grammatical, medical and Biblical works – exactly like his Biblia cum glossis from 1545 – which came from that print shop. These works were not completely original, but enriched and commented editions of previous works by other authors, much like what Servetus had done with his Geography of Ptolemy (1535). These works were anonymous due to four reasons: (the main one) the strong penalty Servetus got from the University of Paris, through its Medicine, Law and Theology Faculties; the fact that these works had references to authors who were forbidden in the Spanish Empire, and opposed by the Sorbonne Faculty of Theology, such as Erasmus and Robert Estienne; the fact that some other authors mentioned by these works, such as Mathurin Cordier and Robert Estienne, were at the same time very close to John Calvin; the prohibition of any Biblical translation into any common language, pushed by the Spanish Empire.[96] The main  works which Servetus edited at Jean Frellon’s print shop were:

See also

Further reading

Historiography

Primary sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/servetus "Servetus"
  2. See a discussion on the date in Angel Alcalá's introduction to the first Spanish translation of Christianismi Restitutio (La restitución del cristianismo, Fundación Universitaria Española, Madrid, 1980, p. 16, note 7.
  3. Book: Drummond, William H. . The Life of Michael Servetus: The Spanish Physician, Who, for the Alleged Crime of Heresy, was Entrapped, Imprisoned, and Burned, by John Calvin the Reformer, in the City of Geneva, October 27, 1553 . 1848 . John Chapman . London . 2.
  4. Echeverría. Francisco Javier González. Chandía. María Teresa Ancín. September 2002. Miguel Servet o Villanueva, documentalmente, navarro de Tudela. Grupos sociales en la historia de Navarra, relaciones y derechos: Actas del V Congreso de Historia de Navarra. 1. Ediciones Eunate. 425–438. 9788477681304.
  5. Servetian González Echeverría is the main defender of this theory, González Echeverría, Amor a la verdad. Vida y obra de Miguel Servet, Navarro y Navarro, Zaragoza, 2011, p. 69.
  6. See J. Barón, Miguel Servet: Su Vida y Su Obra, Espasa-Calpe, Madrid, 1989, pp. 37–39.
  7. Barón, p. 31.
  8. González Ancín, Miguel & Towns, Otis. (2017) Miguel Servet en España (1506–1527). Edición ampliada, pp. 97–104.
  9. See Calvini Opera Quae Supersunt Omnia, Vol. VIII, Brunsvigae, 1870, p. 767.
  10. Ernestro Fernández-Xesta, "Los Zaporta de Barbastro", in Emblemata: Revista aragonesa de emblemática, Vol. #8, 2002, pp. 103–150.
  11. http://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/28/98/03nicolas.pdf
  12. Gonzalez Echeverría," Andrés Laguna and Michael Servetus: two converted humanist doctors of the XVI century" in: Andrés Laguna International Congress. Humanism, Science and Politics in the Renaissance Europe, García Hourcade y Moreno Yuste, coord., Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid, 1999 pp. 377–389
  13. González Echeverría " Michael Servetus belonged to the famous converted Jewish family The Zaporta", Pliegos de Bibliofilia, nº 7, Madrid pp. 33–42. 1999
  14. González Echeverría" On the Jewish heritage of Michael Servetus" Raíces. Jewish Magazine of Culture, Madrid, nº 40, pp. 67–69. 1999
  15. There are several documents referring to people called Revés in Villanueva in the 15th century, as shown in Juan Manuel Palacios Sánchez, "A propósito del lugar de nacimiento y origen familiar de Miguel Servet" ("Regarding Michael Servetus' birth place and family origins"), Argensola, Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses,, #87, Huesca, 1979, pp. 266–67.
  16. González Ancín, Miguel & Towns, Otis. (2017) Miguel Servet en España (1506–1527). Edición ampliada, pp. 107–252, 331–423.
  17. M. González Ancín & O. Towns, "Miguel Servet: su educación y los médicos con los que convivió a través de nuevos documentos", Revista de la Reial Acadèmia de Medicina de Catalunya, vol. 33, nº1 (March 2018), pp. 30–32.
  18. Servetus' name was included at the top of a list of 40 heretics issued by the Inquisition in Toulouse on 17 June 1532; see Bourrilly, V.L. and Weiss N., "Jean du Bellay, les protestants et la Sorbonne" in Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire du Protestantisme Français, LIII, 103, 1904.
  19. Barón, p. 55.
  20. Bainton, Hunted Heretic, pp. 10–11.
  21. Krendal, Eric. 2011 Ongelmat Michael yliopistossa Pariisissa historioitsija painoksia Medicine, pp 34–38
  22. D'artigny- Judgement at Vienne Isère against Michel de Villeneuve.
  23. The text of the letter of French naturalisation was first published by F. Rude, "La naturalisation française de Michel Servet", in B. Becker (Ed.), Autour de Michel Servet et de Sebastien Castellion, H.D. Tjeenk Willink & Zoon N.V., Haarlem, 1953, pp. 133–141. The "royal letters" and an extract of one of the depositions had been previously published by Gustave Vellein, "Quelques mots sur Michel Servet: sa naturalisation durant son séjour à Vienne", in Petite revue des bibliophiles dauphinois, Allier, 1921, pp. 13–29. Servetians had been wrongly referring this document for the last 50 years, it was considered lost by French indexers. It was located again by scholar Gonzalez Echeverria in the archives of Grenoble, after contacting a descendant of Vellein. Finally, after correcting some mistakes carried out by Rude's transcription, the whole 21 pages of the process (double verification in the Chamber of Finances of France, double registry in the Parlement de Grenoble, and Royal counsellors verification) was published in Prince of Viana Dep of Culture Journal of Navarre, N 255. It was also studied recently by the French Society for the History of Medicine, and the French Royal Law section of the Ancien Régime of France in Sorbone See La véritable identité de Servet, par le roi de France -Premier prix de thèse de Paris Lellouch Prologue by G. Echeverria N 2013 (b) Sorbone Journal Historique Le Sorbone pp 45–70
  24. Downton, An Examination of the Nature of Authority, Chapter 3.
  25. Will Durant The Story of Civilization: The Reformation Chapter XXI, p. 481
  26. Bainton, Hunted Heretic, p. 103.
  27. Hunted Heretic, p. 164.
  28. Hugonnard-Roche, H. (2009), Michael Servetus in Vienne (France): the arrest, the trial, the sentence., The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 60(1), 25-43.
  29. The Heretics, p. 326.
  30. Web site: Complaint Against Servetus. history.hanover.edu.
  31. http://history.hanover.edu/texts/comserv.html Whitcomb, Merrick. "The Complaint of Nicholas de la Fontaine Against Servetus, 14 August, 1553", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, vol. 3 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania History Department, 1898–1912)
  32. Hunted Heretic, p. 141.
  33. Book: Reyburn, Hugh Young . John Calvin: His Life, Letters, and Work . 1914 . Hodder and Stoughton . New York . 175 .
  34. Book: Owen, Robert Dale . The debatable Land Between this World and the Next . 1872 . G.W. Carleton & Co. . New York . 69, notes .
  35. Calvin to William Farel, 20 August 1553, Bonnet, Jules (1820–1892) Letters of John Calvin, Carlisle, Penn: Banner of Truth Trust, 1980, pp. 158–159. .
  36. Schaff, Philip: History of the Christian Church, Vol. VIII: Modern Christianity: The Swiss Reformation, William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1910, p. 780.
  37. Schaff, Philip: History of the Christian Church, Vol. VIII: Modern Christianity: The Swiss Reformation, William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1910, p. 706.
  38. Dr. Vollmer, Philip: 'John Calvin: Man of the Millennium,' Vision Forum, Inc., San Antonio, Texas, 2008, p. 87
  39. Verdict and Sentence for Michael Servetus (1533) in A Reformation Reader eds. Denis R. Janz; 268–270
  40. Book: McGrath, Alister E. . Alister McGrath . A Life of John Calvin . . 1990 . Oxford. 978-0-631-16398-5 . 118–120.
    Book: Cottret, Bernard . Calvin: A Biography . Wm. B. Eerdmans . 2000 . Grand Rapids, Michigan. 978-0-8028-3159-0. Calvin: Biographie. 1995. fr. Translated by M. Wallace McDonald . 222–225. ; Book: Parker, T. H. L. . John Calvin: A Biography . Lion Hudson plc . 2006 . Oxford. 978-0-7459-5228-4. 150–152.
  41. http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2002/11/12/goldstone/index.html "Out of the Flames" by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone –Salon.com
  42. See Stanislas Kot, "L'influence de Servet sur le mouvement atitrinitarien en Pologne et en Transylvanie", in B. Becker (Ed.), Autour de Michel Servet et de Sebastien Castellion, Haarlem, 1953.
  43. http://godglorified.com/errors_of_the_trinity.htm 'De trinitatis erroribus'
  44. Andrew M. T. Dibb, Servetus, Swedenborg and the Nature of God, University Press of America, 2005, p. 93. Online at Google Book Search
  45. Book: Servetus, Michael. The Restoration of Christianity – An English Translation of Christianismi restitutio, 1553, Translated by Christopher A. Hoffman and Marian Hillar. 1553. Edwin Mellen Press. Lewiston, New York. 978-0-7734-5520-7. 75.
  46. Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, Out of the Flames, Broadway Books, NY NY, 2002, pp. 71–72
  47. Servetus, Restitución del Cristianismo, Spanish edition by Angel Alcalá and Luis Betés, Madrid, Fundación Universitaria Española, 1980, p. 119.
  48. See Restitución, p. 137.
  49. Restitución, p. 148, 168.
  50. Restitución, p. 169.
  51. Book VII, Out of the Flames, Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, Broadway Books, NY, NY, p. 72
  52. http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/michaelservetus.html Hughes, Peter. "Michael Servetus", Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography
  53. Book: Reasons for Faith: Making a Case for the Christian Faith. Norman L.. Geisler. Chad V.. Meister. 16 February 2018. Crossway Books. Google Books. 9781581347876.
  54. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Ch10.htm Bernard, D. K., The Oneness of God
  55. Web site: Michael Servetus—A Solitary Quest for the Truth – Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY. wol.jw.org.
  56. Servetus, M., De Trinitatis Erroribus, 59b (quoted in Bainton, R.H., Hunted Heretic, Blackstone Editions, 2005, p30
  57. Bernard, D. K. (1986). The Oneness of God (Series in Pentecostal Theology, Vol 1). Pentecostal Publishing House., p242.
  58. Andrew M. T. Dibb, Servetus, Swedenborg and the Nature of God, University Press of America, 2005. Online at Google Book Search
  59. Andrew M. T. Dibb, Servetus, Swedenborg and the Nature of Salvation, online at newchurchhistory.org
  60. A. Alcalá, "Los dos grandes legados de Servet: el radicalismo como método intelectual y el derecho a la libertad de conciencia", in Turia, #63–64, March 2003, Teruel (Spain), pp. 221–242.
  61. M. Hillar & C.S. Allen, Michael Servetus: Intellectual Giant, Humanist, and Martyr (University Press of America, Inc., Lanham, MD, and New York 2002); M. Hillar, The Case of Michael Servetus (1511–1553) – The Turning Point in the Struggle for Freedom of Conscience (Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1997); M. Hillar, 'The Legacy of Servetus: Humanism and the Beginning of Change in the Social Paradigm. On the Occasion of the 450th Anniversary of His Martyrdom', in A Journal from the Radical Reformation. A Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Winter 2003), pp. 34–41; M. Hillar, 'The Legacy of Servetus. Humanism and the Beginning of Change in the Social Paradigm: from Servetus to Thomas Jefferson,' in R.D. Finch and M. Hillar (eds), Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism (American Humanist Association, Houston 2004), Vol. 12, pp. 60–75.
  62. Book: Servetus . Michael . Christianismi restitutio …. 1553 . Baltasar Arnoullet . Vienne, France . 170 . la. Available at: Biblioteca Digital Hispánica – Biblioteca Nacional de España From p. 170: "Fit autem communicatio hæc non per parietem cordis medium, ut vulgo creditur, sed magno artificio a dextro cordis ventriculo, longo per pulmones ductu, agitatur sanguis subtilis: a pulmonibus præparatur, flavus efficatur: et a vena arteriosa, in arteriam venosam transfunditur." (However this communication [of blood from the right to the left ventricle] occurs not through the middle wall of the heart, as is commonly believed, but by a great mechanism, the subtle blood is driven from the right ventricle of the heart, [and] at length led through the lungs; it is made ready in the lungs, is made yellowish, and is [thus] transferred from the pulmonary artery into the pulmonary vein.)
  63. 2011 Samalways, Edmund. From Alchemy to Chemotherapy. Hermes Press, page 121-122
  64. Web site: Galileo Galilei/Vesalius and Servetus. Robert Lalonde. Internet Archive.
  65. https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=rue+servet+geneve+suisse&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=41.903538,92.724609&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Rue+Michel+Servet,+Gen%C3%A8ve,+Switzerland&ll=46.193304,6.152043&spn=0.008972,0.022638&z=16 Rue Michel Servet, Genéve, Switzerland
  66. Book: Goldstone, Nancy Bazelon . Goldstone, Lawrence . Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World . Broadway . New York . 2003 . 0-7679-0837-6 . pp. 313-316
  67. Web site: Tribune de Geneve . 11 October 2011 . 2 October 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111002045906/http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu/brule-fois-servet-aura-statue-geneve-pagani-2011-09-30 . dead .
  68. Tribune de Genève, 4 October 2001, p. 23
  69. Web site: Historia del Miguel Servet. 19 March 2015.
  70. Wilbur, E.M. (1969) The two treatises of Servetus on the Trinity, New York, Kraus Reprint Co., pp. vii–xviii
  71. "According to the version of Bilibaldo Pirckheimer, and revised by Michel de Villeneuve, on the primitive Greek copies." Michel de Villeneuve, geography. "Claudii Ptolemaeii Alexandrinii Geographicae." printed by the Trechsel, 1535, Lyon.
  72. O'Malley, C.D. (1953), 'Michael Servetus: A Translation Of His Geographical, Medical And Astrological Writings With Introductions And Notes, Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society, pp. 15–37.
  73. O'Malley, C.D. (1953), Michael Servetus: A Translation of His Geographical, Medical and Astrological Writings , pp. 38–54.
  74. O'Malley, C.D. (1953), Michael Servetus: A Translation of His Geographical, Medical and Astrological Writings , pp. 55–167.
  75. 2008 Krendal, Erich. Tähtitiede ja renessanssi historioitsija painoksia Medicine
  76. O'Malley, C.D. (1953), Michael Servetus: A Translation of His Geographical, Medical and Astrological Writings , pp. 168–200.
  77. Baudrier J. "Michel Servet, ses relations avec les libraires et les impremeus lyonnais", in: Mélanges offerts a M. Emile Picot, I, pp. 54–56
  78. Baron-Miguel Serveto. Su vida y su obra. Ed. Austral (1987) Madrid p. 195
  79. A.Alcalá Obra Completas (2003) Tratado I. Vida, muerte y obra, p. 365
  80. González Echeverría Love for Truth. Life and work of Michael Servetus. Navarro y Navarro, Zaragoza, collaboration with the Government of Navarra, Department of Institutional Relations and Education of the Government of Navarra, 2011 pp. 209–211
  81. Baron- Miguel Serveto. Su vida y su obra. Ed. Austral (1987) Madrid p. 196
  82. Marian Hillar & Claire S. Allen, Michael Servetus: Intellectual Giant, Humanist, and Martyr, Lanham, MD, and New York: University Press of America, Inc., 2002. p. 266
  83. A. Alcalá Obra Completas (2003) Tratado I. Vida, muerte y obra, p. xcii
  84. Baudrier J."Michel Servet, ses relations avec les libraires et les impremeus lyonnais", in: Mélanges offerts a M. Emile Picot, I, pp 41–56
  85. González Echeverría Love for Truth. Life and work of Michael Servetus. Navarro y Navarro, Zaragoza, collaboration with the Government of Navarra, Department of Institutional Relations and Education of the Government of Navarra, 2011 pp. 215–222
  86. Gonzalez Echeverria, "New discoveries on the work of Michael de Villanueva (Michael Servetus)" in : VI International Meeting for the History of Medicine. Programme book, Barcelona, 7–10 September 2011, pp. 24, 109–111.
  87. José Barón(1973), "Miguel Servet"Espasa calpe, Madrid, p. 189 y 192 José Barón Fernández,(1973)(" Historia de la circulación de la sangre", ed. Austral, Madrid, pp. 118, 125. really extended study
  88. José Barón Fernández (1989), " Miguel Servet. Su vida y su obra" austral, ed., Madrid, p. 280.
  89. Ángel Alcalá "Miguel Servet. Restitución del cristianismo" (1980), Fundación universitaria española, Madrid, 1980, pp. 50–55 .
  90. Ronald Bainton (1953) Michel Servet. Hérétique et martyr, 1553–1953", ed. Droz, Genève, p. 134.
  91. M. Hillar (2002), Michael Servetus. Intellectual Giant, Humanist, and Martyr, ed. University Press of America, Lanham, p. 95.
  92. Alcalá" Miguel Servet. Obras completas (2003)", Publicaciones de la universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Tomo I, XCVIII
  93. 2012 González Echeverría, Francisco Javier "The discovery of Lesser Circulation and Michael Servetus's Galenism," in: 43rd Congress of the International Society for the History of Medicine, Programme Book, Padua-Albano Terme (Italy) 12–16 September 2012, pp. 35 & 66.
  94. Love for Truth. Life and work of Michael Servetus. Navarro y Navarro, Zaragoza, collaboration with the Government of Navarra, Department of Institutional Relations and Education of the Government of Navarra, 2011 pp. 164–171
  95. 1999 Mari Mar Rodriguez Ruiz Association of Andalucia's Archives & Gema Trujillo Martin Andalucia's Institute of Statistics and Cartography
  96. González Echeverría, Francisco Javier (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, PhD dissertation on Modern History, Spanish National Distance University (UNED). Dissertation director: Carlos Martínez Shaw, Modern History prof. at UNED & Numerary member at the Spanish Royal Academy of History, chair #32. Qualification: unanimous Cum Laude. Madrid: Spanish National Distance University (UNED), pp. 263–267.
  97. González Echeverría (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, pp. 185–192, 276, 370.
  98. González Echeverría (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, pp. 175–184, 274–275, 366.
  99. (2001) González Echeverría, Francisco Javier Portraits or figures from the stories of the Old Testament. Spanish Summary. Government of Navarre, Pamplona 2001. Double edition: facsimile (1543) & critical edition. Prologue by Julio Segura Moneo.
  100. (2000) González Echeverría, Francisco Javier "Discovery of new editions of Bibles and of two 'lost' grammatical works of Michael Servetus" and "The doctor Michael Servetus was a descendant of Jews" in: Abstracts, 37th International Congress on the History of Medicine, 10–15 September 2000, Galveston, Texas, pp. 22–23.
  101. (2002) González Echeverría, Francisco Javier "Spanish summary of the Old Testament," González Echeverría in: Roots, Jewish Magazine of Culture, Madrid, pp. 54–55.
  102. González Echeverría (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, pp. 133–140, 365.
  103. 2001 González Echeverría, Francisco Javier "A Spanish work attributable to Michael Servetus: 'The Dioscorides of Sesma'". Varia Histórico-Médica. Edition coordinated by: Jesús Castellanos Guerrero (coord.), Isabel Jiménez Lucena, María José Ruiz Somavilla y Pilar Gardeta Sabater. In: Minutes from the X Congress on History of Medicine, February 1996, Málaga. Printed by Imagraf, Málaga, pp. 37–55.
  104. 1997 González Echeverría, Francisco Javier Michael Servetus, editor of the Dioscorides. Institute of Sijenenses Studies "Michael Servetus" ed, Villanueva de Sijena, Larrosa ed. and "Ibercaja," Zaragoza.)
  105. González Echeverría (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, pp. 140–146, 318–319, 372.
  106. González Echeverría (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, pp. 136, 221, 230, 327–328.
  107. 1998 González Echeverría, Francisco Javier "The book of work of Michael Servetus for his Dioscorides and his Dispensarium" (Le livre de travail de Michel Servet pour ses Dioscorides et Dispensarium) and "The Dispensarium or Enquiridion, complement of the Dioscorides of Michael Servetus" (Enquiridion, L’oeuvre Le Dispensarium ou Enquiridion complémentaire sur le Dioscorides de Michel Servet) González Echeverría in: Book of summaries, 36th International Congress on the History of Medicine, Tunis (Livre des Résumés, 36ème Congrès International d' Histoire de la médicine, Tunis), 6–11 September 1998 (two communications), pp. 199, 210.
  108. González Echeverría (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, pp. 146–160, 277–285, 366.
  109. (1998) González Echeverría, Francisco Javier "The 'Dispensarium' or 'Enquiridion,' the complementary work of the Dioscorides, both by Servetus" and "The book of work of Michael Servetus for his 'Dioscorides' and his 'Dispensarium'" in: Program of the congress and abstracts of the communications, XI National Congress on History of Medicine, Santiago de Compostela, University of Santiago de Compostela, pp. 83–84.
  110. González Echeverría (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, pp. 204–211, 306, 368.
  111. González Echeverría (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, pp. 161–171, 307–310, 368.
  112. González Echeverría (2017). Miguel Servet y los impresores lioneses del siglo XVI, pp. 116–118, 373.

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