Michael Servetus | |
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| Born | c. 1509-1511; possibly 29 September 1511 |
| Died | 27 October 1553 (aged 42) |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Title | Theologian, physician, editor, translator |
| Theological work | |
| Era | Renaissance |
| Tradition or movement | Renaissance humanism |
| Main interests | Theology, medicine |
| Notable ideas | Nontrinitarian Christology, pulmonary circulation |
Michael Servetus (/sərˈviːtəs/;[1] Spanish: Miguel Servet; French: Michel Servet; also known as Michel Servetus, 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.