and so wholly identified himself with his cause that he took attacks upon himself as equivalent to attacks upon the Christian religion; and when one had seemed to him to commit an offense against the honor of God, or to endanger the salvation of immortal souls, he would never forgive nor make allowances, but would pursue his opponent vindictively, relentlessly, and without pity. This should help us to explain, if not to excuse, his attitude toward Servetus, and even his willingness so treacherously to betray him to the authorities at Vienne. Servetus, on the other hand, was in controversy selfconceited, obstinate, fanatical, insulting, and exasperating to the last degree, and by his own manner brought upon himself no small part of what he suffered.1 Though a man of brilliant and versatile talents, he held, along with the most advanced ideas, others that bordered on the superstitious and made some think him half mad. Yet at bottom he was a sincere and reverent Christian, prizing the Bible far above all other books, devoutly attached to Jesus, who to him was all in all, and willing for the sake of what he held true to be faithful even unto death. Three centuries and a half have squared accounts between him and Calvin. Persecution has been condemned and toleration vindicated. Servetus's heresy has steadily gained upon Calvin's orthodoxy until at Geneva itself Calvin's creed has long since been laid aside, and an expiatory monument has been erected by Calvin's followers near the spot where Servetus perished 2; while in four cities of Europe where in 1553 he would not have been permitted to live, statues of him now stand to honor his memory. 3 1 Coleridge wrote, "If ever any poor fanatic thrust himself into the flames, that man was Servetus." 2 Dedicated on the 350th anniversary of his death. 3 Paris, Vienne, Annemasse near Geneva, Madrid. CHAPTER XIII ANTITRINITARIANISM AT GENEVA AFTER It might naturally be supposed that after the execution of Servetus opposition to the doctrine of the Trinity would have been at an end in Switzerland, or at all events at Geneva, and that any still entertaining doubts of that doctrine would have kept them profoundly to themselves. Such did not at all prove to be the case. Calvin and his sympathizers soon discoverd that they had only "scotched the snake, not killed it." There was, as we have seen, a growing sentiment in favor of religious toleration, and the death of Servetus had without doubt caused persons of independent mind to inquire more widely and deeply than before whether the doctrine of the Trinity were true or not; and of all places it was right at Geneva itself, under Calvin's very nose, that while the ashes of Servetus were still warm the discussion again broke out. This new outbreak took place among the Italian refugees, who were somewhat protected from Calvin's observation by the fact that they formed a community more or less separate from the native Genevese, and that they spoke a foreign tongue. When Ochino escaped from Italy to Geneva in 1542 he found already there a considerable number of his countrymen, refugees who had been kindly received by Calvin, and he preached to them in Italian until he left Geneva in 1545. The sermons were followed by free discussion on the part of the members, and this must have opened dangerous opportunities for any heretic to express his mind. A few years later an Italian church was regularly organized. Though most of its members were strictly orthodox, some of them were inclined to be liberal; and during and after the trial of Servetus several of them leaned to his side and denounced his execution. These latter were of course cautious about expressing their views too openly; but they did not conceal them when in conversation with trusted friends. Their general objection to the doctrine of the Trinity was that it was incomprehensible and unreasonable, and that it was self-contradictory. There were four persons who were prominent above the others in this movement, Gribaldo, Biandrata, Alciati, and Gentile; and we shall have separately to see what they did and what befel them. Matteo Gribaldo was regarded by Calvin as the source of the heresies in the Italian church at Geneva. He was a native of Piedmont, and of his early life nothing is known; but in mature life he was a noted jurist, who lectured upon law at various universities of France and Italy, and especially at the University of Padua. Though he embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, he managed for some years to keep them to himself enough to escape the eye of the Inquisition. At length in 1555 he found the heresy-hunters on his trail, and resisting every inducement of honor and distinction offered him if he would only conform to the Church, he gave up his profession at Padua and withdrew to Switzerland, where he had some years before purchased an estate at Farges near Geneva, which he had often visited in the summers. He was at Geneva, as we have seen, while the trial of Servetus was in progress, and had then frankly expressed his disapproval of capital punishment for heresy, and had in vain sought an interview on the subject with Calvin which the latter, suspicious of Gribaldo's orthodoxy, declined. Being at Geneva again the following summer, at the Italian church he expressed his views as to the Trinity so freely as to cause no little offense, for it was clear that he was practically an Arian. Upon his withdrawal from Padua, a year later, Gribaldo had no sooner arrived in Switzerland than he was invited to the chair of law at the University of Tübingen. On his way thither he again visited his friends at Geneva, and this time it was Calvin who sought a conference with him in the presence of some of the church officers; but when Calvin refused to shake hands with him, as a man under suspicion of heresy, Professor Gribaldo at once left the room in anger. He was required, however, to make a statement of his views before the Council, and in this, despite his care not to compromise himself, he let fall some words which were construed as heretical. Enough. He was forthwith expelled from the city. Upon going to Tübingen he was received with great distinction; but the relentless Calvin pursued him thither, warning one of his colleagues against him as a conceited and dangerous enemy of the faith, and Beza did the same. Complaint was made to his ruler, the Duke of Württemberg, and Gribaldo was brought to answer for his errors before the university senate. He asked for three weeks in which to prepare his answer, but used the time to make good his escape. He fled to his home at Farges, but the Duke got the authorities of Bern, in whose territory it lay, to arrest him. At length, as the less of two evils, he consented to subscribe an orthodox creed and abjure his errors, after which he was required to leave the city within half a year. Meanwhile his wife died, and he besought the government to allow him to remain with his seven motherless children. The re quest was granted, on condition that he keep quiet. A year or two later he was lecturing again at Grenoble, but it was only a short time before religious persecution drove him also from here; and after a few more troubled years he was carried off by the plague at Farges in 1564, the same year in which Calvin also died. While Gribaldo had been only an occasional and brief visitor at Geneva, Biandrata, Alciati, and Gentile were residents there and members of the Italian church. They agreed substanitally with Gribaldo and with one another in holding that the doctrine of the Trinity accords with neither Scripture nor reason, and they seem to have derived their views from Servetus. Of these three the one by far the most distinguished in the history of Unitarianism was Dr. Giorgio Biandrata.1 He was born of noble family at Saluzzo in Piedmont about 1515, studied medicine and taught it at the Universities of Montpellier and Pavia, and was renowned as one of the best medical writers of his time. While yet a comparatively young man, his reputation was such that he was chosen court physician to the Italian Queen Bona Sforza of Poland, and later served her daughter, Princess Isabella of Transylvania, in the same capacity. He was a very clever and crafty man, and won great personal influence at both courts. Returning from Poland to Italy in 1551 he practiced his profession for a time at Pavia, and later on in the Grisons he met Renato.2 But having become infected with the ideas of the Reformation he had in 1556 to flee from the Inquisition, and came to Geneva, where he joined the Italian church and for a time lived quietly. The discussion then in progress as to the Trinity seemed to trouble him, and he often 1 The Latin form of the name, Blandrata, is also used. 2 See pages 76–77. |