‘The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there’.
This famous first line by L.P. Hartley (1895–1972) in his novel The Go-Between (1953) has long been a favourite maxim that orients my teaching of history, for it is notoriously difficult to treat former eras of history with the degree of empathy that they need to make them understandable.
Servetus
A classic example is afforded by what has been called the Servetus Affair in Geneva in 1553, when John Calvin (1509–1564) was embroiled in the trial and execution by burning of Michael Servetus (c.1511–1553), who was adamant in his denial of the Trinity. Calvin’s involvement in this gruesome incident has given rise to his posthumous reputation as a bloody tyrant who ran Geneva like a gulag.
