Michael Servetus

Michael Servetus (29 September, 1511 – 27 October , 1553), (Miguel Servet in Spanish; Miquel Servet in Catalan) was a theologian, physician and humanist. His interests included many sciences: astronomy and meteorology; geography, jurisprudence, study of the Bible, mathematics, anatomy and medicine. He is renowed in the history of several of these fields, particularly medicine and theology.

Early life and education

Servetus was born in Villanueva de Sijena, Huesca, Spain in 1511 (some sources give an earlier date based on Servetus' own claim of 1509). At the age of 13, in 1524, his father Antonio Servet (alias Revés, i.e. "Reverse"), who was a notary and lawyer, sent young Michael to college, probably at the University of Zaragoza or Lérida. Servetus had two brothers: one who became a notary like their father, and another who was a Catholic priest. Servetus was very gifted in languages and studied Latin, Greek and Hebrew. At the age of fifteen, Michael entered the service of a Franciscan friar by the name of Juan de Quintana, an Erasmian, and read the entire Bible in its original languages from the manuscripts that were available at that time. He later attended Toulouse University in 1526 where he studied law. There he became suspect of participating in secret meetings and activities of Protestant students.

In 1529, Servetus travelled through Germany and Italy with Quintana, who was then Charles V's confessor in the imperial retinue. In October 1530 he visited Johannes Oecolampadius in Basel, staying there for about ten months, and probably supporting himself as a proofreader for a local printer. By this time, he was already spreading his beliefs. In May 1531 he met Martin Bucer and Fabricius Capito in Strasbourg. Then two months later, in July 1531, he published De trinitatis erroribus ("On the Errors of the Trinity"). The next year he published Dialogorum de Trinitate ("Dialogues on the Trinity") (1532) and De Iustitia Regni Christi ("On the Justice of Christ's Reign").

In these books, Servetus built a theology which maintains that the belief of the Trinity is not based on biblical teachings but rather on what he saw as deceiving teachings of (Greek) philosophers. He saw himself as leading a return to the simplicity and authenticity of the Gospels and the early Church Fathers. In part he hoped that the dismissal of the Trinitarian dogma would also make Christianity more appealing to Judaism and Islam, which had remained as strictly monotheistic religions.

Servetus affirmed that the divine Logos, which was a manifestation of God and not a separate divine Person, was united to a human being, Jesus, when God's spirit came into the womb of the Virgin Mary. Only from the moment of conception, the Son was actually generated. Therefore the Son was not eternal. For this reason, Servetus always rejected that Christ was the "eternal Son of God", but rather that he was simply "the Son of the eternal God". This theology, although totally original, has often been compared to Adoptionism and to Sabellianism or Modalism, which were old Christian heresies. Under severe pressure from Catholics and Protestants alike, Servetus somehow modified this explanation in his second book, Dialogues, to make the Logos coterminous with Christ. This made it nearly identical with the Pre-Nicene view, but he was still accused of heresy because of his insistence on denying the dogma of the Trinity and the individuality of three divine Persons in one God.

He took on the pseudonym Michel de Villeneuve (i.e., "Michael from Villanueva"), in order to avoid persecution by the Church because of these religious works. He studied at the College Calvi in Paris in 1533. After an interval, he returned to Paris to study medicine in 1536. In Paris, his teachers included Sylvius, Fernel, and Guinter, who hailed him with Vesalius as his most able assistant in dissections.

Career

After his studies in medicine he started a medical practice. He became personal physician to Archbishop Palmier of Vienne, and was also physician to Guy de Maugiron, the lieutenant governor of Dauphiné. While he practiced medicine near Lyon for about fifteen years, he also published two other works dealing with Ptolemy's Geography. Servetus dedicated his first edition of Ptolemy and his edition of the Bible to his patron Hugues de la Porte, and dedicated his second edition of Ptolemy's Geography to his other patron, Archbishop Palmier. While in Lyon, Symphorien Champier, a medical humanist, had been Servetus' patron, and the pharmacological tracts which Servetus wrote there were written in defense of Champier against Leonard Fuchs.

While also working as a proofreader, he published a couple more books which dealt with medicine and pharmacology. In 1553 he published another religious work with antitrinitarian views entitled Christianismi restitutio. He had a copy sent to John Calvin, initiating a correspondence between the two. In this correspondence Servetus initially used the pseudonym "Michael Villeneuve." 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 correspondences grew more heated until Calvin ended it.[1] He developed a bitter hatred based not only on the unorthodox views of Servetus but also on Servetus's tone of superiority not unmixed with personal abuse.[2]

Imprisonment and execution

On 16 February 1553, Servetus, while in Vienne, was denounced as an heretic by Guillaume Trie, a rich merchand who took refuge in Geneva and a very good friend of Calvin, in a letter sent to a parent, Antoine Arneys, living in Lyon. On the behalf of the Fench inquisitor Matthieu Ory, Servetus as well as Arnollet, the printer of Christianismi Restitutio, were questionned, but they denied all charges and were released for lack of evidence. Antoine Arneys was asked by Ory to write back to Guillaume Trie, demanding proof.

On 26 March 1553, the book and the letters sent by Servetus to Calvin were forwarded to Lyon by Guillaume Trie.

On 4 April 1553 Servetus was arrested by the Roman Catholic authorities, and imprisoned in Vienne. He escaped from prison on 7 April 1553. On the 17 June 1553, he would be convicted of heresy by the French inquisition, "thanks to the 17 letters sent by Jehan Calvin, preacher in Geneva" and sentenced to be burned with his books. An effigy and his book were burned in his absence.

Meaning to flee to Italy, Servetus stopped in at Geneva, where Calvin and his Reformers had denounced him. On 13 August 1553 he attended a sermon by Calvin at Geneva. He was immediately recognized and arrested after the service (The Heretics, p. 326.) and was again imprisoned and had all his property confiscated.

Unfortunately for Servetus, at this time Calvin was fighting to maintain his weakening power in Geneva. Calvin's delicate health and usefulness to the state meant he did not personally appear against Servetus.[3] Also Calvin's opponents used Servetus as a pretext for attacking the Geneva Reformer's theocratic government. It became a matter of prestige for Calvin to be the instigator of Servetus's prosecution. "He was forced to push the condemnation of Servetus with all the means at his command." (The Heretics, p. 326.) However Nicholas de la Fontaine played the more active role in Servetus's prosecution and the listing of points that condemned him.

At his trial, Michael Servetus was condemned on two counts, for spreading and preaching anti-Trinitarian and anti-paedobaptism (infant baptism). (Roland H. Bainton, Hunted Heretic, The Beacon Press, 1953, p. 207.) Of paedobaptism Michael Servetus had said, "It is an invention of the devil, an infernal falsity for the destruction of all Christianity" (Ibid., p. 186.) Whatever the cause of them, be it irritation or mistreatment, his statements that common Christian traditions were "of the devil" severely harmed his ability to make allies. Nevertheless, Sebastian Castellio denounced his execution and became a harsh critic of Calvin due to the whole affair.

In the case the Procureur General, who was not Nicholas, 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." More offensive to modern ears might be the question "whether he did not know that his doctrine was pernicious, considering that he favors 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."(Hanover website)

On 27 October 1553 Michael Servetus was burned at the stake just outside Geneva. Despite disputes over the level of his participation it is clear that by 1553 Calvin strongly supported Servetus being executed, although he did remain open to the idea that Servetus could be spared death if he converted. In this regard he was within the mainstream of sixteenth century Christian theologians. As Servetus was not a citizen of Geneva they had consulted with other Swiss cantons who universally favored his death. In the Protestant world Basel banned the sale of his book. Martin Luther condemned his writing in strong terms. Servetus and Philip Melancthon had strongly hostile views of each other. Most Protestant Reformers saw Servetus as a dangerous radical and the concept of religious freedom did not really exist yet. The Catholic world had also imprisoned him. Those who went against the idea of his execution, the party called "Libertines," drew the ire of much of Christendom. Still most sources, including Encyclopedia Americana, indicate Calvin was among the most vehement concerning Servetus. Calvin stated of Servetus, when writing to his friend Farel on 13 February 1546. (seven years prior to Servetus being arrested in Geneva): "If he [Servetus] comes [to Geneva], I shall never let him go out alive if my authority has weight." (Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (Baker Book House, 1950), p. 371.) During Servetus' heresy trial, Calvin also wrote: "I hope that the verdict will call for the death penalty." (Walter Nigg, The Heretics (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1962), p. 328.) As mentioned he had also been the one to notify the authorities of Servetus' being in Geneva, and he also provided letters as evidence for the prosecution. Calvin did this because he felt that Servetus had attacked his friends in the Reformation, and so the evidence he provided often concerned defending these friends as much as attacking Servetus. Further Calvin pleaded with the Geneva City Council to execute Servetus by means of decapitation because it was more humane than burning at the stake. He also expressed hopes to the end that Servetus would convert from "his blasphemy," so possibly be spared. These hopes proved illusory as Servetus held to his position and the council rejected Calvin's plea concerning decapitation.

Modern relevance

Due to his theological beliefs and eventual execution by burning for heresy, he is regarded by modern Unitarian Universalists as the first Unitarian martyr. Many historians question how closely his ideas really fit modern Unitarian Universalism. A few scholars insist he had more in common with Sabellianism or Arianism or that he even had a theology unique to himself. Nevertheless Unitarian Universalist churches and societies named after him exist in the United States.

Servetus was the first European to describe pulmonary circulation, although it 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. Further, most copies of the book were burned shortly after its publication in 1553. Three copies survived, but these remained hidden for decades. It was not until William Harvey's dissections in 1616 that the function of pulmonary circulation was widely accepted by physicians.

Michael Servetus

Early life and education

Career

Imprisonment and execution

Modern relevance

External links

Other Reading