Did Jean Calvin kill Servetus?

Did Jean (John) Calvin kill Michael Servetus? The answer requires more than a slogan. Follow the evidence behind the 1553 trial: the theological dispute, the earlier prosecution at Vienne, Geneva's civil council, Calvin's own letters, the sentence, and Sebastian Castellio's challenge to religious persecution. This illustrated documentary distinguishes legal authority, personal involvement and moral responsibility. It explains the sixteenth-century context without using that context to excuse execution for religious dissent. Historical portraits, book pages, modern location photographs, animated maps and clearly labeled reconstructions accompany the story. CHAPTERS 00:00 The question 01:01 The man behind the name 02:40 The world of the trial 03:51 The correspondence 05:02 Vienne: the first prosecution 06:32 The arrest in Geneva 07:38 Who held the power? 08:48 Inside the trial 10:00 Did Calvin try to save him? 11:06 The sentence 12:14 The defense after the death 13:27 A voice from the same century 14:36 What the evidence can answer 15:46 What this means for readers today 16:53 The question we leave with KEY SOURCES Calvin, Letters, vol. II — letters to Farel, 13 February 1546, 20 August and 26 October 1553: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45463... Genevan complaint against Servetus, 1553 (Hanover College): https://history.hanover.edu/texts/com... Sentence reproduced in Schaff, History of the Christian Church VIII: https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc8/hcc... Francis Higman, Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, Michel Servet: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/01... Castellio Memorial, the toleration controversy: https://en.castellio-memorial.org/die... IMAGE CREDITS Historical public-domain portraits: Calvin (anonymous, Museum Catharijneconvent); Servetus (Christian Fritzsch); Castellio (anonymous). Public-domain book pages: De Trinitatis erroribus (1531, McGill copy) and De haereticis (1554), via Wikimedia Commons. St Pierre Cathedral photograph: Nilington, 2004, public domain. Natural Earth map data: public domain; connections are schematic and boundaries modern. Expiatory monument photograph: Retlolo, 2011, CC BY-SA 3.0. Changes: rotation, sizing, framing and animated reveal. Adapted photographic material shared under the same license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Reconstructions and illustrative scenes: Bible Academy. These are not archival photographs. English narration uses the synthetic Lewis voice. Can we learn from a theologian while refusing to defend his gravest wrongs? Tell us which document or distinction most changed your understanding. Like, share and subscribe to Bible Academy for carefully sourced journeys through the Bible, theology and Christian history. #JohnCalvin #MichaelServetus #ChurchHistory