Michael Servetus

Michael Servetus (29 September, 1511 – 27 October, 1553), (Miguel Servet or, as it was originally, Serveto in Spanish) 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 renowned in the history of several of these fields, particularly medicine and theology.

Early life and education

Michael Servetus was born in Villanueva de Sijena, Huesca, Spain in 1511 (some sources give an earlier date based on Servetus' own claim of 1509). His paternal ancestors came from the hamlet of Serveto, in the Aragonian Pyrenees, which gave the family their surname. The maternal line descended from convert Jews from the Monzón area. At the age of 13, in 1524, his father Antonio Servet (alias Revés, i.e. "Reverse"), who was a notary at the royal monastery of Sijena nearby, 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.

Related Topics:
Villanueva de Sijena - Huesca - Spain - 1511 - 1509 - Aragonian - Pyrenees - Convert - Jews - 1524 - Reverse - Notary - Catholic priest - Latin - Greek - Hebrew - Franciscan - Juan de Quintana - Erasmian - Bible - Toulouse University - 1526 - Protestant

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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").

Related Topics:
1529 - Germany - Italy - Charles V - 1530 - Johannes Oecolampadius - Basel - 1531 - Martin Bucer - Fabricius Capito - Strasbourg - 1532

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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.

Related Topics:
Trinity - Biblical - Philosophers - Church Fathers - Judaism - Islam

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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.

Related Topics:
Logos - Virgin Mary - Eternal - Son of God - Adoptionism - Sabellianism - Modalism - Nicene - Heresy

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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.

Related Topics:
College Calvi - Paris - 1533 - 1536 - Fernel - Guinter - Vesalius

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