Michael Servetus
Michael Servetus was a Spanish doctor who was trained in Paris. He
is best known for his religious beliefs - he did not believe in the
idea of the Holy Trinity, a revolutionary idea in 16th century Europe!
He published a book in which he explained his ideas, and this made him
unpopular with Protestants and Catholics alike. John Calvin, one of
the most powerful of the early Protestants, was especially angry with
Servetus's ideas and ordered his capture. Servetus fled for Italy, travelling
through Geneva, which was under Calvin's control. He was arrested and
Calvin condemned him to burn at the stake.
| Besides the heretic theological views
presented in his book, Servetus also wrote about medical matters
he had observed as a doctor. He suggested that the blood travelled
from the heart through the pulmonary artery and back through the
pulmonary vein, without actually passing through the septum in the
middle of the heart. Unfortunately Servetus's views on circulation,
although based on his observations, were written about as part of
his religious arguments. Lost in the other material, they were ignored
until Harvey extended the ideas later. |
The title page of the book which lead eventually to the death of
Servetus. |
Servetus met a grisly fate. First he was burned to death by Calvin
and his Protestants as a heretic. A few months later he was executed
again by the Catholic Inquisition in France for the same heretic views.
As he was actually already dead, they executed an effigy of him!
Ancient China
Galen of Pergamum
Ibn al-Nafis
William Harvey
|
ctivity
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