Translation by A. Fincham,
Executive Member of the Servetus International Society
Only occasionally
do ephemeral celebrations leave behind something of permanence.
The centenary following the first publication of Quixote passed
“without pain nor glory”, as the phrase has it,
since Spain was at that time sunk in a civil war which led to
the shameful enthronement of the first Bourbon. The bi-centenary
was similarly un-noted. It was not until the third, in 1905,
that fertile opportunities arose, and Hispanic institutions
and cities worldwide competed in the organising of conferences
and congresses. Books flooded the marketplace, with contributions
from great writers like Unamuno, and many more from those far
less distinguished. The fourth centenary is now only a few months
ahead, and one is only too well aware of an imminent avalanche
of activity poised to mark the event. Amid this ebb and flow
of interest, the river of time mercifully carries the superficial
out into the sea of forgetfulness, whilst the true works of
merit (which the contentious Rector of Salamanca described as
¨la intrahistoria¨) remain: solid studies, serious investigations,
and innovative readings supported by true perspective and executed
with care.
Something similar may be said of the historical commemorations
of our own Michael Servetus, as ‘official’ Spain
kept him in the background until the last century. Despite the
fact that it took seventy-five years to install a commemorative
plaque upon his birthplace, Spain in 1953 was hardly in a position
to bake an official cake to commemorate the fourth centenary
of his death. People who asked about the identity of the person
represented by that statue placed at the door of the Rector
of Zaragoza University, elbow on the fragile chair with the
hand supporting a pensive head, they got concise words: ¨He
was a heretic, and is in hell - ask no more amid the silence¨.
Respect is due to the worthy city of Tudela (in Navarre) that
dared to mark the event, despite the fact that the celebrations
suffered from the defects we associate with traditional Servetian
enthusiasm. The first ‘national’ tribute to Servetus
was organized in 1975 by the great Julio Arribas Salaberri,
the founder of the Instituto de Estutios Sijenenses (IES). The
memories of most other celebrations (with the shining exceptions
of those of Betés, Ferrer-Benimeli and Gracia Guillén)
have now most happily been consigned to the river bed.
A quien peguntaba quién fue ese hombre pensativo cuya
estatua sigue a la puerta del rectorado de la Universidad de
Zaragoza en posición similar a la que Cervantes describe
de sí mismo -el codo en el sillón frailero y la
mano sosteniendo una cabeza pensativa- se le respondía
escuetamente: ¨Fue un hereje y está en el infierno,
no preguntes más y calla¨. Verdad es que honra a
la ínclita ciudad de Tudela (Navarra) que osara celebrar
esa efemérides con una serie de conferencias, las cuales
sin embargo, lamentablemente adolecen de los mismos defectos
del viejo servetismo de entusiastas aficionados.
The fact remains that in previous centuries, the name Servetus
was linked solely with his contribution to the understanding
of the circulation of the blood. Even in this achievement, which
until recently was regarded as his most glorious, recognition
of Servetus in Spain was under the shadow of criticisms from
of Wotton and Leibnitz, despite the account published by the
ever-vigilant Feijóo at the height of the c.XVIII. For
this reason only does Canon Felix Latassa of Zaragoza mention
Servetus in his 1798 history of writers of Aragon. And Spaniards
remain divided into two groups. The first consists of the doctors,
whose praiseworthy patriotism continues to extol the medical
which either ignores the perennial Servetian contribution to
universal thought or shows contempt for it. Second are those
that dared to test the water and to even dive in the great sea
of his works, but who, on failing to comprehend him, have encouraged
obscurantism in favour of their prejudices. Don Marcelino Menéndez
Pelayo exemplifies this lamentable tendency.
The first important piece of Servetian scholarship is the book
of Allwoerden, 1727, followed a century later by numerous publications
(c.f. Tollin) and more by the end of the c.XIX. In the XX, without
diminishing the effort of the many other investigators and promoters
of Servetus, it must be acknowledged that of all the works that
had international impact at the time of the fourth centenary,
nothing is comparable to the Roland H. Bainton’s ‘Hunted
Heretic’ (1953). This author produced the Spanish translation,
‘Servet, el hereje perseguido’ in 1973. Another
worthy of praise in many ways (accepting the theological deficit)
is the biography published by Dr. Baron in 1970. The debt of
Servetians to both Baron and Bainton (with whose friendship
I was honoured) is truly immense. I am delighted to announce
that not only will a new edition of ‘Hunted’ soon
appear, but also an English translation of ‘Christianismi
Restitutio’. We shall be happy to promote both volumes.
It will not be difficult to understand that after some thirty
years studying Servetus, this writer looked forward to the opportunity
of commemorating the 450th anniversary of the death on 27 October
1553. The event was to serve two main aims: to remove the isolation
of those who study Servetus by holding an international congress
designed to put Spanish students in personal communication with
those outside Spain; and in addition, to impel Servetian studies
towards the goals of serious and unprejudiced research which
was begun by Bainton. At the final hour, the congress was fated
to be postponed, and although it brings no pleasure to recount
this fact, we may perhaps take comfort in the old refrain that
¨there is nothing so bad that no good may come from it¨.
In fact, as this Servetian year has unfolded, the activities
have gone from strength to strength:
Details of some of these items are featured in the news and
commentary in this Third Newsletter. The SIS is expanding every
day, fighting against more than just a lack of understanding.
Its most remarkable characteristic, compared with any other
Servetian organization, arises from the desire to use fast and
cheap diffusion to put information within reach of all who seek
to study Servetian matters, whether new or old, published or
unpublished. In this edition the reader will find important
contributions from, amongst others, Valentine Zuber, Andrew
Fincham and Marian Hillar. Hopefully, this forum will become
the natural place for both free discussion and the interchange
of ideas, and provide a home in which the conclusions of investigations
can be set out.
We prepared to close the Servetian year with acts organized
by the IES in Zaragoza and Villanueva de Sijena on 22nd and
23rd October. The conference programme unites two institutions
in Zaragoza that are named in honour of our hero. Firstly, professors
and students of the Michael Servetus Institute of Secondary
Education have prepared a book of their thoughts, which is nearing
publication. Second, the great Hospital that also takes his
name will is going to unveil a copy of the beautiful statue
of Michael of which the original is in Annemasse, almost at
the doors of Geneva. Details of these events will be in the
following number of our Newsletter.
In the short space remaining I should like to extend my warmest
greetings and welcome to all the members of our Society, to
thank them for their contributions and to wish our SIS an active
and useful role in the task of returning to Servetus the status
he deserves - reinstating his reputation to its rightful position
as a thinker and initiator of ideas from his first letter to
Oeclampadius to the last works before a too-early death. He
contributed greatly to that intellectual motor which drives
the progress of world-wide history: the defence of the freedom
of conscience, on which all the other personal and social liberties
depend for the guarantee and expression of dignity in the human
being, and which make possible ‘La Paz’.
Prof.
Dr. Marian Hillar
President |
Prof.
Dr. Ángel Alcalá
Vice-President |
