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Giovanni Valentino Gentile (c.1520 in Scigliano – 10 September 1566 in
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , websit ...
) was an Italian humanist and non-trinitarian. As a young man he was influenced by Giorgio Siculo's teaching against paedobaptism and transubstantiation. In Naples he was exposed to Waldensian teachings, and those of
Juan de Valdés Juan de Valdés (c.1490 – August 1541) was a Spanish religious writer and Catholic reformer. He was the younger of twin sons of Fernando de Valdés, hereditary ''regidor'' of Cuenca in Castile, where Valdés was born. He has been confuse ...
, and was part of the Accademia Cosentina. In 1546 he took part in the Collegia Vicentina in Vicenza, adopting the Unitarian view of
Lelio Sozzini Lelio Francesco Maria Sozzini, or simply Lelio Sozzini (Latin: ''Laelius Socinus''; 29 January 1525 – 4 May 1562), was an Italian Renaissance humanist and theologian and, alongside his nephew Fausto Sozzini, founder of the Non-trinitarian Chr ...
. After the 1550 Anabaptist
Council of Venice The Council of Veneto or Synod at Venice 1550 was a meeting in Venice of the anabaptist radicals of Northern Italy. History The Council had been preceded by the antitrinitarian ''Collegia Vicentina'' (Lat. ''Vicenza colloquia'') in Vicenza in wh ...
antitrinitarians were persecuted by the
Council of Ten The Council of Ten ( it, Consiglio dei Dieci; vec, Consejo de i Diexe), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to i ...
and in 1557 Gentile fled with Apollonio Merenda to Geneva – already home to
Giorgio Biandrata Giorgio Biandrata or Blandrata (15155 May 1588) was an Italian-born Transylvanian physician and polemicist, who came of the De Biandrate family, powerful from the early part of the 13th century. He was a Unitarian. Biandrata was born at Saluzzo ...
, Nicola Gallo, Giovanni Paolo Alciati and Matteo Gribaldi, and there, in 1558, he aligned with Alciati and Biandrata against
Jean Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
. On May 18, 1558 Calvin required all the Italian exiles in Geneva to affirm a Trinitarian statement, which Gentile first refused to sign, but then following the others, did so. At this period the Italian exiles in Geneva were forming the idea of Christ as a person subordinate to God, the Father, and of the Holy Spirit as simply God's power. In June Gentile and Nicola Gallo were denounced and tried for heresy and blasphemy by Calvin himself
Paul Helm Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
, ''John Calvin's Ideas'' 2006 p41
with the result that Gentile was sentenced to beheading. The charge was commuted when Gentile agreed to go through the city barefoot in a shirt, the heralds ahead of him, recanting his heresy, and to burn his own writings. The bailiff of Bern he managed to incense by dedicating a booklet to him. Gentile and Giovanni Paolo Alciati della Motta then followed Biandrata to safety in Pinczòw, the "Sarmatian Athens", 1562–66. During this period cardinal
Giovanni Francesco Commendone Giovanni Francesco Commendone (17 March 1523 – 26 December 1584) was an Italian cardinal and papal nuncio. Life Commendone was born at Venice. After an education in the humanities and in jurisprudence at the University of Padua, he came ...
succeeded in persuading John II Sigismund to implement the ''Edict of Parczòw'' 1564, expelling all the Italian and German Calvinists and Antitrinitarians. Gentile,
Bernardino Ochino Bernardino Ochino (1487–1564) was an Italian, who was raised a Roman Catholic and later turned to Protestantism and became a Protestant reformer. Biography Bernardino Ochino was born in Siena, the son of the barber Domenico Ochino, and at the ...
and Alciati set out for
Slavkov u Brna Slavkov u Brna (; historically known in German as Austerlitz) is a town in Vyškov District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,000 inhabitants. The town gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz which took place sev ...
in Moravia, where Nicola Paruta was, and where Ochino died in 1565. Gentile returned to Bern, but challenged the French Protestants to a public debate on the Trinity. Before any debate could take place, he was arrested, imprisoned, and
Théodore de Bèze Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformat ...
and
Heinrich Bullinger Heinrich Bullinger (18 July 1504 – 17 September 1575) was a Swiss Reformer and theologian, the successor of Huldrych Zwingli as head of the Church of Zürich and a pastor at the Grossmünster. One of the most important leaders of the Swiss Re ...
urged the bailiff to take the strictest sentence. He was executed 10 September 1566.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentile, Giovanni Valentino 1520s births 1566 deaths Italian Unitarians People from the Province of Cosenza People executed for heresy