New Servetus Biography by Uwe Bimstein

A new book about Michael Servetus' life has been published by German author Uwe Bimstein. Titled Toleranz und Scheiterhaufen: Das Leben des Michael Servet (Tolerance and the Stake: The life of Michael Servetus), the book is a biography which also speaks to Michael's theology from a current viewpoint. 

Cover of Tolerance and the Stake

I am happy to see more information published about Michael's life. Because he spent time in Germany and Switzerland with Protestant leaders after leaving the Catholic Church, I am hopeful Mr. Bimstein has included new information on Michael's time in Basel and Strasbourg. At this pivotal juncture in his life, he was rebuffed by the Protestant leaders. With the knowledge that neither the Catholics nor the Protestants were willing to allow changes in their doctrines, Michael decided to publish his ideas in the book On the Errors of the Trinity. This act set the course for the rest of his life. More information about what the Protestant leaders said to him or about him would shed light on his fateful decision.

I congratulate Mr. Bimstein on his publication and hope to see an English version soon. More information on the book is available at:

Tolerance and the Stake

Son of Gonzalez Echeverria Visits The Servetus Project

The son of Servetus researcher Gonzales Echeverria has commented to a post about my book, Rebel With A Cause. Although his purpose seems to be to contradict the prior comment of Jaume de Marcos, The Servetus Project welcomes the first Echeverria supporter to this website who almost identifies himself. So, welcome, Son of Gonzales, AKA "Michael Servetus Res". "Boston Clifford Center" and "Unitarian Dome", my readers still wonder who you are.

I would encourage everyone who wishes to comment here to identify yourself in your Google profile if you are using an assumed name. This simple act, as obvious as it may seem, gives some immediate credibility to your statements. I would also encourage future posters to comment on my book or my screenplay, the purpose of this blog. If you want to debate historical evidence for various theories about Michael's life, there must be more suitable places for that. If there are not suitable places, it is easy to start one.

No New Ground Broken

I have reviewed Mr. Dome's comments to my last post, I appreciate his return to explain his position. I believe now that I have misunderstood his statement. When he said, "Stated in inspected documents", I thought he meant documents he, or some other researcher, had inspected. I imagined from this that others, even you and I, could inspect them. After my review of his comments and the resources he directed me to view, I now believe he meant documents that French officials in the 1500s inspected that are no longer extant. There is, as I  now understand, no document that shows Michael had a father named De Villanueva. Just the same as there is no document that shows Michael had a father named Serveto.

The documents referred to my Mr. Dome , from my understanding, are documents viewed by registrars of the University of Paris when Michael matriculated there, Tagault, head of the medical school, when he was tried for teaching astrology, and the officials who conferred citizenship on him while he was living in Vienne.

If only any one of these officials would have saved a copy of the documents they viewed.

I extend my apologies to Mr. Dome for misunderstanding his words and I appreciate him showing me sources to help me recognize my misunderstanding.

'Unitarian Dome' Makes Groundbreaking Announcement

Unitarian Dome (See comments on 'About this Book' page) has just posted that documented evidence exists for the alternate theory of where Michael Servetus was born and who his father is. I consider this to be big news in the Servetus Studies world. This debate has been going on for centuries primarily because of two different stories Michael told the courts in Vienne and Geneva. UD's quote, "What do we know? That he is miguel de Villanueva, born in Tudela, and that his father is Villanueva. Stated in inspected documents.". I have asked about this documentation and what it consists of. Although Unitarian Dome has repeatedly said he was leaving the discussion, I am hoping he will favor me with a return to explain this groundbreaking discovery. It would be exciting to have this evidence revealed on my website. As I said in my earlier post, "New research is always welcome. One of the greatest benefits of a big hit movie about Michael is that it will spur research of all kinds".

If someone has done the groundbreaking research necessary to solve this riddle of the ages, I hope we can see the results soon. That way other scholars can confirm the accuracy of the evidence or debunk it. But it has to be revealed to an eager world first. If we can't see it, we can't accept or reject it.

Where Michael was born does not affect my script. What he said about his past in Vienne and in Geneva is a matter of record and I won't change that in the scenes of the script. The script begins with Michael in Quintana's service (the second time) and follows him until his death. He speaks of missing his home and family without naming individuals.  He is introduced to Charles V as Michael Servetus by Quintana. And, later in the story, he does admit to friends that he changed his name to Villenueve when he moved to Paris and adopted a secret identity. But these are minor things that can be changed easily if this newly announced discovery proves to be legitimate.

Stimulating Discussion Continues

In case you have not been to the 'About This Book' page recently, there are interesting posts there about  the birthplace of Michael Servetus. On January 2, 2012 'Boston Clifford Center' posted about the research of Gonzalez Echiverriria and his book E Amor a la Verdad (For Love of Truth). On the same day 'Unitarian Dome' wrote another comment about the same thing. Since I had not heard of any of this research in my graduate school research, I was intrigued. I always welcome new academic research on the life of this great man. I immediately set about to search for a way to buy this book that Boston Clifford said "is becoming very important in the USA". I couldn't find a place to buy this book online and I still have not. I have since been assured it is available in the Spanish edition. I wondered, "How can a book be important in the USA and not be available"? 

I decided to find out who Boston Clifford Center and Unitarian Dome are. By clicking to their Blogger profiles, I thought I would be able to contact them for more information on the book. Neither profile had information about who they were, nor did they have any blog writings on Blogger. Hmmm, I got curious then. I posted replies to each on February 19, 2012 trying to open the door to a response with some questions and inquiring about the book. So far there has been no reply to either of my replies from either poster.

On August 14, 2012, Jaume de Marcos Andreu responded to the assertions by Boston Clifford and Unitarian Dome. Since then Unitarian Dome and Mr. Marcos have been explaining their positions in a stimulating discourse. I encourage you to click over to the page and read some of it. By the way, Unitarian Dome has given me his name privately, but wishes to remain anonymous publicly.

You can also read a broader discussion of the issue of Michael's birthplace and the reasearch of Mr. Echiverria by going to the Wikipedia article on Michael Servetus and clicking on the 'Talk' button at the top (beside the 'Article' button). Down a bit and to the right is an icon for Archives, under it click on 'March 2005-August 2012'. You will be transported to a discussion of this issue that has been going on for years. Actually, the disagreement over whether Michael was born in Sijena de Villaneuva or Tudela, Spain has been going on for centuries.

The Servetus Project has as it's mission the production of a dramatic feature film about the remarkable life of Michael Servetus. I depend on research from scholars over the centuries to learn about Michael and the context of his times in order to make the best film script possible. New research is always welcome. One of the greatest benefits of a big hit movie about Michael is that it will spur research of all kinds. I use the example of the movie Titanic as an example. The movie production itself did a huge amount of research. The revived interest in society caused research by historians, resulting in documentaries and written history. In addition to historical research, it will be more likely that Michael's religious ideas will get long deserved discourse from theological scholars. 

That said, all new research should expect to be subjected to rigorous academic review. Supporters of new research and new theories about Michael's life should expect to be patient while this review goes forth. Defenders of traditional ideas should expect to have some new information survive the review and some to fail on further examination. It is my hope that we can all remain focused on the life and legacy of this great man and the promotion of his contribution to our freedom of conscience, which makes academic discourse possible.