Schaff - History of the Christian Church Vol. 8 - Media Sabda Org

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This letter, and two others of Trie which followed, look very much as if
they had been dictated or inspired by Calvin. Servetus held him
responsible. f1153 But Calvin denied the imputation as a calumny. f1154 At the
same time he speaks rather lightly of it, and thinks that it would not have
been dishonorable to denounce so dangerous a heretic to the proper
authorities. He also frankly acknowledges that he caused his arrest at
Geneva. f1155 He could see no material difference in principle between doing
the same thing, indirectly, at Vienne and, directly, at Geneva. He simply
denies that he was the originator of the papal trial and of the letter of Trie;
but he does not deny that he furnished material for evidence, which was
quite well known and publicly made use of in the trial where Servetus’s
letters to Calvin are mentioned as pieces justificatives. There can be no
doubt that Trie, who describes himself as a comparatively unlettered man,
got his information about Servetus and his book from Calvin, or his
colleagues, either directly from conversation, or from pulpit denunciations.
We must acquit Calvin of direct agency, but we cannot free him of indirect
agency in this denunciation. f1156
Calvin’s indirect agency, in the first, and his direct agency in the second
arrest of Servetus admit of no proper justification, and are due to an excess
of zeal for orthodoxy.
Arneys conveyed this information to the Roman Catholic authorities. The
matter was brought to the knowledge of Cardinal Tournon, at that time
archbishop of Lyons, a cruel persecutor of the Protestants, and Matthias
Ory, a regularly trained inquisitor of the Roman see for the kingdom of
France. They at once instituted judicial proceedings.
Villeneuve was summoned before the civil court of Vienne on the 16th of
March. He kept the judges waiting for two hours (during which he
probably destroyed all suspicious papers), and appeared without any show
of embarrassment. He affirmed that he had lived long at Vienne, in frequent
company with ecclesiastics, without incurring any suspicion for heresy, and
had always avoided all cause of offence. His apartments were searched, but
nothing was found to incriminate him. On the following day the printing
establishment of Arnoullet was searched with no better result. On the
return of Arnoullet from a journey he was summoned before the tribunal,
but he professed ignorance.
Inquisitor Ory now requested Arneys to secure additional proof from his
cousin at Geneva. Trie forwarded on the 26th of March several autograph