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B. SANZ PÉREZ ANAL. REAL ACAD. NAC. FARM.

was fluent in Latin, Greek and Hebrew and spoke correctly German, French, Italian and
Catalonian.

Servetus was enrolled in several European universities among them Tolouse,
Lyon, Paris, Strasbourg and Basel, where he was a respected and distinguished intellec-
tual for the greater part of the community. However some people disliked his unorthodox
views and theories and his teachings led to his condemnation as a heretic by both Roman
Catholics and Protestants and to his execution by Calvinists from Geneva. John Calvin
had once declared that if Servetus ever came to Geneva he would not allow him to leave
alive. The persecution instigated by Calvin was ignominious and disgraceful, and
Servetus was found guilty of heresy and burned alive at Champel near Geneva.

In this review only the Servetus contributions to Medicine – with special cita-
tion of his discovery of pulmonary blood circulation- and to Food Science are studied.
Attention is also paid to the influence of the classic Greek-Roman physicians (mainly
Galenus), the Arabic ones and to the Servetus’ professors and colleagues; Champier,
Andernach, Sylvius, Versalio, etc. Finally the theories of Servetus on the different types
of syrups and on their preparation and uses – as described in the Syruporum- are ana-
lysed.

Key words: Servetus, Renaissance food, Food Science, Syroporum.

1. Introducción

Miguel Servet nació en un tiempo de cambio en el que España, recién
terminada la Reconquista con la toma de Granada e iniciada la coloniza-
ción del Nuevo mundo, reclama su papel de gran potencia.

El Renacimiento es un tiempo de aventuras, de descubrimientos y ex-
ploraciones de nuevas tierras en el que se sustituye la astronomía de Co-
pérnico por la de Ptolomeo y en el que una sucesión de descubrimientos
(papel, imprenta, pólvora, etc) permitirán pasar del largo periodo oscuran-
tista del Medioevo a un verdadero renacer del pensamiento en general. En
el aspecto científico se busca una nueva interpretación de los fenómenos
naturales y en el filosófico una explicación racional, realista y humana del
papel del hombre en el universo.

Servet vivió y murió violentamente en ese mundo cambiante en el
que la vuelta a los saberes clásicos se acompañaba de un despertar vigoro-
so de todas las formas del pensamiento humano. Fue un genuino repre-

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