Giorgio Biandrata or Blandrata (15155 May 1588) was an
Italian-born
Transylvanian physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
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
Saluzzo (; pms, Salusse ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy.
The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are fo ...
, the youngest son of Bernardino Biandrata. He graduated in arts and medicine at
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...
in 1533, and specialized in the functional and nervous disorders of women. In 1544 he made his first trip to
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...
; in 1553 he was with
Giovanni Paolo Alciati in the
Grisons
The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include:
*german: (Kanton) Graubünden ;
* Romansh:
** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun
** rm, label= Surmiran, (Ca ...
; in 1557 he spent a year at
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
, in constant contact with
Calvin, who distrusted him.
He attended a Jane Stafford, English wife of Count Celso Massimiliano Martinengo, preacher of the Italian church at Geneva, and fostered
anti-trinitarian opinions in that church. In 1558 he found it expedient to move to Poland, where he became a leader of the
heretical party at the synods of
Pińczów (1558) and
Książ Wielkopolski (1560 and 1562). His point was the suppression of extremes of opinion, on the basis of a confession literally drawn from Scripture.
He obtained the position of
court physician to the queen dowager, the Milanese
Bona Sforza
Bona Sforza d'Aragona (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund I the Old, and Duchess of Bari and Rossano by her own right. She was a surviving member of ...
. She had been instrumental in the burning (1539) of
Catharine Weygel, at the age of eighty, for anti-trinitarian opinions; but the writings of
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 t ...
had altered her views, which were now anti-
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
In 1563 Biandrata transferred his services to the Transylvanian court of
John Sigismund Zápolya, where the daughters of his patroness were married to ruling princes. He revisited Poland (1576) in the train of
Stephen Báthory, whose tolerance permitted the propagation of heresies; and when (1579)
Christopher Báthory introduced the Jesuits into Transylvania, Biandrata found means of conciliating them.
Throughout his career he was accompanied by his two brothers, Ludovico and Alphonso, the former being canon of Saluzzo. In Transylvania, Biandrata co-operated with
Francis David (d. 1579), the leader of the Calvinist church, who then became the first anti-trinitarian bishop.
Together, they published some polemical writings against Trinitarian belief, particularly ''De falsa et vera unius Dei Patris, Filii et Spiritus Sancti cognitione'', which is largely a summarized version of
Servetus's ''Christianismi Restitutio''. But in 1578 two circumstances broke the connection. Biandrata was charged with immorality and David renounced the necessity of invoking Christ in prayer.
To influence David, Biandrata sent for
Faustus Socinus from
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
. Socinus was David's guest, but the discussion between them led to no result. At the instance of Biandrata, David was tried and condemned to prison at the
Fortress of Deva on the charge of "innovation", where he died.
Having amassed a fortune, Biandrata returned to the communion of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. His end is obscure. According to the Jesuit,
Jakub Wujek, he was strangled by a nephew (Giorgio, son of Alphonso) at
Gyulafehérvár, in May 1588.
References
*Malacarne, ''Commentario delle Opere e delle Vicende di G. Biandrata'' (Padova, 1814);
*
Robert Wallace, ''Anti-trinitarian Biography'', vol. ii (1850).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biandrata
1510s births
1588 deaths
Italian Unitarians
Antitrinitarians
16th-century Italian physicians
People from Saluzzo
Eastern Hungarian Kingdom