• Overview
• Staging information
• Translations
• Sample translations
• Production history

Titles

English title: Blood and Ash
Notable variations on Spanish title: M.S.V., o La sangre y la ceniza, La sangre y la ceniza: Diálogos de Miguel Servet, M.S.V. o tragicomedia de La sangre y la ceniza
Date written: from 1960 to 1965
First publication date: 1967
First production date: 1977
Keywords: power > use and abuse, history, history > change/revolution, ideology, ideology > religion and faith, power, ideology > politics, violence, violence > torture, violence > social
Genre and type: tragicomedy

Title information

The initials ‘M.S.V.’ that appear in some versions of the title of the play refer to the signature that Miguel Servet used to sign his more contentious works in order not to be recognised by the authorities.

Pitch

Let us leave things in their place, but not as they were …

Synopsis

La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash) dramatises aspects of the life and eventual execution of the sixteenth-century Spanish theologian and physician, Miguel Servet. It opens on a scene of destruction, as men in Nazi uniforms destroy a statue of the play’s protagonist, Miguel Servet, while a Nazi chorus plays in the background. Only then are we taken back in time to the sixteenth century, where a mysterious stranger calling himself Miguel arrives in Lyon to call on the bookseller, Monsieur Frellon. Miguel does not reveal his real name to Frellon, nor does he mention that he is the author of several contentious theological tracts. Instead, he introduces himself as Miguel de Villanueva and explains that he is a doctor who has written a number of scientific books which have been censored by the Inquisition. This knowledge greatly concerns Frellon. Perhaps the Inquisition authorities – who are known to hide microphones in the walls – will punish him for associating with a censored author? Perhaps this unfamiliar visitor is himself a spy? Eventually, however, he is reassured that Miguel wishes him no harm. He has simply come to Lyon in search of work. Taking pity on Miguel, Frellon offers him a job as a proof-reader.

Some time later Frellon falls ill. Doctor Sanguino is called out to perform a blood-letting since, as everyone knows, blood corrupted by Satan must be expelled from the body. Miguel, however, disputes that devilry has anything to do with Frellon’s illness; all he needs is rest. Frellon is convinced by Miguel’s arguments and entrusts himself to his proof-reader’s care. In turn, Miguel earns himself an invaluable friend in Frellon, something which he will desperately need as the play progresses and he is subjected to religious oppression from all sides.

This oppression begins to make itself felt in scene 3 of Part One. Miguel conducts a secret autopsy in front of a small band of followers. It is a dangerous lesson for all present, since experiments on dead bodies are illegal. Suddenly, the group hears sirens and must flee from the forces of the Inquisition. However, despite the obvious risks, Miguel continues to strive to express his religious freedom. He joins the ill-fated Anabaptists. John the Anabaptist baptises him, and then goes into great detail about the horrors suffered by Anabaptists at the hands of the Inquisition’s soldiers. Miguel shivers – but not, he claims, out of terror. He is standing in his striped bathing suit. Very fetching, but not very warm.

After the baptism, Miguel learns first-hand how the Anabaptists are treated. Soldiers - in Nazi uniforms – descend on the scene of the baptism, beating those gathered with rifle butts. Miguel is arrested and imprisoned. In his cell, Miguel meets Sebastian Castellión, a friend of Monsieur Frellon. Sebastian tells Miguel that Frellon has secured his release. With this news, things seem to be looking up for Miguel – he even shares a laugh with Sebastian at the sight of the huge-headed dwarf who releases him from his cell. The laughter soon dies, however, when Miguel returns to Frellon’s house. Here, he rants about his hatred for John Calvin and his religious beliefs. Sebastian adroitly notes that Miguel’s theological arguments have already appeared in a book that caused such a scandal it was burnt. It was written by Miguel Servet who, Sebastian muses, has since disappeared. Miguel admits he knows the book but does not reveal that he himself is in the author in question. Instead, he informs Frellon and Sebastian that he is leaving Lyon to go to Vienne, despite the fact that it is a city riddled with plague. Sebastian wishes him a safe trip, telling him to look out for his namesake and countryman, Miguel Servet.

In Vienne Miguel finds that his medical expertise is much needed. As he walks among the plague victims he happens upon Daniel, one of the students who used to attend his clandestine anatomy lessons. Daniel is dying, having been tortured in Geneva for allegedly spreading anti-Calvinist propaganda. Before Daniel dies he tells Miguel that Calvin now rules supreme in the Geneva, spreading terror with his draconian laws and oppressive surveillance. He has convinced his subjects that there is no escape from his gaze – even their innermost thoughts will be exposed by his army of microphones and projector screens. Shocked, Miguel resolves to travel to Geneva to assess the state of affairs for himself, but before he leaves Vienne he meets with Baltasar Arnoullet, a printer who has agreed to publish his latest theological attack on Calvin. Aware of the danger of publishing such a book, Miguel simply signs the book with the initials M.S.V. Unfortunately, the precaution is too late, as he has already been denounced to the Inquisition authorities. The identity of the denouncer is unknown – for an instant Miguel wonders if the staunchly-Protestant Calvin would have gone to the lengths of co-operating with his Catholic enemies just to silence him. But he decides that this cannot be the case, only to learn during his heresy trial that Calvin did indeed supply incriminating letters to the Catholic court. He is accused of being Miguel Servet, author of a number of heretical books on theology. Miguel denies that he is Miguel Servet, but the court is not convinced. In fact, he is told that he might as well elaborate on his blasphemous beliefs, since his sentence has already been decided. Not needing to be prompted twice, Miguel accepts, and rants and raves about the evils of things such as infant baptism. Outraged, the court erupts in chaos and Miguel is sent back to his cell – his outburst almost certainly securing his death sentence. Thankfully, however, before any harm comes to him, Miguel is rescued from his prison cell by his faithful servant Benito. Thus, as Part One ends, the court must content itself with burning an effigy of Miguel, rather than the man himself.

In Part Two Miguel arrives in Geneva. He assumes the name Micaele Vilamonti and finds a room in a guesthouse run by Rosa. She was once a prostitute, but was forced to change profession because prostitution is among a whole range of practices now banned in Geneva, such as playing games, going to the theatre, smiling during a baptism, eating foie gras. As Miguel listens to this litany of prohibitions, an Agent appears on stage. He tells the audience that Miguel will soon be arrested. His prediction is followed by a ballad, sung by a gypsy, that warns Miguel to take great care of himself in Geneva. The gypsy’s portentous ballad is a precursor to the beginning of the end for Miguel. While he is in Geneva he attends a sermon given by his arch-enemy, Calvin. As Calvin preaches, someone in the congregation laughs mockingly. It is Miguel, who identifies himself to Calvin and embarks on a lengthy tirade against his rival. At this point the Agent’s prediction comes true: Miguel is arrested once again, this time thrown into a jail cell in Geneva.

In Part Three Miguel stands trial for blasphemy against the Protestant church in Geneva. The accusations against him are manifold. He is condemned for being an Anabaptist, for rejecting the doctrine of original sin and for leading a sexually suspicious life as an unmarried man and possible homosexual. At this last accusation poor Miguel is forced to declare that he is impotent, leading to much laughter in the court.  Miguel is also threatened with extradition to Vienne where more charges await him relating to his transgressions against the Inquisition. Languishing in jail as the trial drags on for weeks, Miguel writes a number of letters to the council of Geneva begging them not to send him back to Vienne, asking for an audience, for justice, for mercy. His letters are not answered. However, all is not yet lost. A ‘Liberation Committee’ of supporters gathers to talk about how they can help Miguel. But talk is all they do. They arrange meetings about meetings, they discuss the poor wording of letters sent to the court, they argue over the spelling of pro-Miguel graffiti. And so, with no effective support from his followers, and with Calvin manipulating the Protestant council of Geneva like puppets, Miguel is sentenced to be burnt at the stake.

Miguel’s final moment arrives. He is taken from his prison cell to the execution site in Champel near Geneva. He pleads for the executioner to have mercy, to kill him quickly using an axe. But the sentence has been already been decided. Screaming, Miguel is tied to a pyre and burnt.

In the epilogue Sebastian Castellión tells the audience what happened at the execution. Miguel suffered for two hours before he finally expired. Sebastian leaves the audience with one final thought – that they should always strive, like Miguel, ‘to leave things in their place, but not as they were’. This call to challenge the status quo, Sebastian tells us, is what the author believes to be the mission of all theatre.

Sources

Epigraph

The play has an epigraph which reads in English ‘Let us leave things in their place, but not as they were’. This quotation by Sastre is a call to challenge the status quo. At the end of the play, Sebastian uses the phrase, adding that the ‘author of the play’ believes the sentiment should apply to all theatre.

General

La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash) is a play that references a considerable number of literary, historical and political sources. It is set in the sixteenth century, but there are allusions to more recent time periods, such as twentieth-century Spain. The play’s main sources can be divided up into the following sections:

Aspects of the Life, Trial and Execution of Miguel Servet

The main character of the play is Miguel Servet, a fictional rendering of the Spanish theologian and physician, Miguel Servet (1511-53). Servet also went under the names Miguel Servetus; Miguel Serveto; Michael Villanovanus; Miguel Serveto y Conesa. He also had an alias, Reves or Revés (meaning ‘Reverse’ in Spanish). Because of the contentious nature of his published works, he often only signed his books ‘M.S.V.’. Servet came into conflict with the Protestant French theologian, John Calvin (1509-64), when he argued against predestination and the concept of the Holy Trinity. His conflict with Calvin was marked by heated exchanges in letters. Their theological disagreements were a factor in Servet’s eventual execution. However, Servet’s repudiation of infant baptism and his insistence on the unity of the Holy Trinity also ran counter to Catholic doctrine at the time. He was convicted of heresy by the Inquisition with the help of letters supplied by Calvin to the court. While Miguel escaped sentencing by the Inquisition, he was tried in Geneva by the Protestant courts on the basis of accusations made by Calvin’s servant, Nicholas de la Fontaine. Servet was burnt at the stake just outside Geneva on 27 October 1553.

In scene 5 of Part Two the stage directions state that the words ‘It was 14 August 1553 …' are projected on a screen. This is the date on which Calvin’s servant, Nicholas de la Fontaine, set out his accusations of heresy against Miguel.

In scene 1 of Part Three Calvin refers to the Corpus Juris Civilis or the Justinian Code, a collection of jurisprudence texts that date back to the sixth century by the order of Justinian I, the ancient Byzantine Emperor. This Code deemed the rejection of the Trinity and infant baptism both heretical actions punishable by death.

Throughout the trial of Miguel in Part Three there are excerpts from actual letters written by Miguel Servet to the Council of Geneva during the time of his imprisonment for heresy.

In scene 2 of Part Three Ami Perrin appears as a member of the Council of Geneva. Ami Perrin did indeed lead a meeting of the Council on 26 October 1553 in which he opposed the death penalty being conferred on Miguel Servetus.

Although Sastre dramatises elements of Servet’s life and death, there are differences between historical accounts and the fictional play. In scene 4 of Part One Servet is baptised as an Anabaptist. There is no record that this actually took place. In the play Vienne is in a state of plague. Again, there is no record of plague in Vienne at this time. In scene 5 of Part One, Miguel Servet has an ‘imaginary intellectual conversation’ with the French theologian, Sebastian Castellión (1515-63). In fact, they never actually met, although Castellión did oppose Servet’s execution.

Works by Miguel Servet

There are references to several works by Miguel Servet in the play:

• De Trinitatis Erroribus (The Error of the Trinity) printed 1531 by Hans Setzer. This book puts forward Servet’s argument against the idea of the Holy Trinity.
• Dialogorum de Trinitate(Dialogues on the Trinity) was published in 1532 by Johann Setzer. This book was an attempt by Miguel Servet to clarify his argument in The Error of the Trinity.
• Christianismi Restitutio (Restoration of Christianity) was published in 1553 by Baltasar Arnoullet. This work was Miguel Servet’s most inflammatory. In it he attacks the Church openly. The title recalls Calvin’s Institutio Christianae Religionis (Institutes of the Christian Religion). Calvin had sent a copy of a volume of this multi-volume work to Servet, who had subsequently rubbished it and sent it back to Calvin with caustic notes in the margins.
• Ptolomaei geographicae enarrationis libri octo (Ptolemy’s Geography), published 1535, was one of Miguel Servet’s works on geography.
• Pagnini Bible. In scene 1 of Part Three Miguel Servet instructs Calvin to read his edition of the Latin Bible of Santes Pagnini,which he published in 1542.

Names from the Sixteenth Century

La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash) is set in France and Switzerland at the time of the Catholic Inquisition and the Protestant Reformation. Many of the characters who appear in the play are historical figures from this period. In addition, names of abbots, booksellers and publishers from this time are mentioned in the course of the play.

John Calvin (1509-64) was a French theologian and major figure of the Protestant Reformation. His religious beliefs became the foundation of Calvinism. Calvin often wrote under the pseudonym of ‘Charles Despeville’, as mentioned by Miguel in scene 7 of Part One.

In scene 2 of Part One, Miguel tells the doctor who is treating Frellon of his academic background in medicines. He mentions Winterius, a reference to the anatomist Johannes Winter von Andernach (c1505-74) under whom Miguel Servet studied in Paris. Miguel also mentions a Professor named ‘Sylvius’ which refers to Jacques Dubois (1478-1555), a French anatomist and also one of Miguel Servet’s teachers. Miguel also speaks about a colleague during his studies in Paris, Andreas Vesalius (1514-64), who was an anatomist from Belgium. His anatomical research was so important that he is known by many as the founder of modern anatomy.

The names of booksellers/editors mentioned in the play are authentic. The character of Frellon is based on Jean Frellon, a printer and seller of books in Lyon who was a mutual acquaintance of both Miguel Servet and John Calvin. Other names mentioned – the Treschel brothers; Conrad Rouss; Johann Setzer; Marrinus – were printers and publishers. Baltasar Arnoullet, with whom Miguel converses in scene 7 of Part One, was a bookseller/publisher in Vienne who agreed to publish Christianismi Restitutio (Restoration of Christianity) in 1553.

The character of Farel in the play has a factual basis in the figure of the French Protestant, William Farel (1489-1565). William Farel was for a time a close ally of John Calvin. He is described in the play as a ‘red-bearded terrorist’.

Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) was the leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. He is mentioned in scene 4 of Part One by John the Anabaptist, as is Martin Butzer (1491-1551), another Protestant Reformer.

Sebastian Castellión refers to ‘Don Erasmo’ in scene 5 of Part One. This is Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (c.1469-1536), a Catholic Theologian whose work influenced that of Miguel Servet. In this scene Miguel mentions Nicolas Cop’s inflammatory speech of 1533. Trained in medicine, Cop was Rector of the University of Paris and his ideas were influenced by those of Calvin. Miguel also tells Sebastian in this scene that he is going to Vienne to join Pierre Paulmier, who was at that time Archbishop of Vienne.

The character named Maugiron in the play is based on Guy de Maugiron, Lieutenant Governor of the Dauphine of Vienne. He was a friend of Servet who acted as physician to his family.

Matthieu Ory (1492-1557), who is omitted from some cast lists, was a French theologian and member of the French Inquisition. He presides over the first trial of Miguel Servet.

During his first trial in scene 8 of Part One, Servet mentions a figure called ‘Socinus’. This refers to the Italian Lelio Sozzini (Laelius Socinus, 1525-62) a fellow opponent of Trinitarianism.

In scene 5 of Part Two, during Miguel’s second trial, Calvin mentions Philbert Berthelier and Perrin. Ami Perrin and Philbert Berthelier were prominent members of the libertine group that opposed Calvin and his repressive theocratic rule in Geneva. Calvin proposes to those gathered for Miguel’s hearing that Berthelier be excommunicated from the church.

In scene 5 of Part Two a large screen projects quotations from Martin Luther (1483-1546) and Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560) – both key figures in the Protestant Reformation. The quotation attributed to Martin Luther is an attack on the heliocentrism of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) and is generally rendered in English as, ‘The fool [Copernicus] wants to turn the whole art of astronomy upside-down. However, as Holy Scripture tells us, so did Joshua bid the sun to stand still and not the earth’. The quotation by Philipp Melanchthon is also a rejection of Copernicus and his revolutionary astronomy. It is translated as ‘Some think it a distinguished achievement to construct such a crazy thing as that Prussian astronomer who moves the earth and fixes the sun. Verily, wise rulers should tame the unrestraint of men's minds’ (Kesten 1945: 309). In the play the quotation on screen is dated as 16 October 1541, which is in fact the date of the letter in which it is found.

Anachronistic References and Allusions to Contemporary Events and Individuals

In scene 4 of Part One John the Anabaptist tells Miguel of the horrors of the Münster Rebellion (1534-5). He names some of the leading figures from the Münster Rebellion, such as the Bishop Franz von Waldek (1491-1553), who was a leading opponent of the Anabaptists. He also laments the brutal treatment of the Anabaptist leaders, Jan Matthys and John of Leiden, both murdered during the rebellion. John the Anabaptist’s tale is full of anachronisms, as he refers to the electric torture visited on the Anabaptists as well as the mass shootings of the captured. The fusion of modern methods of execution/torture and a sixteenth-century atrocity invites parallels between the Münster Rebellion and the siege of Madrid (1936-9).

Throughout the play Sastre implies a correlation between John Calvin and his regime of terror in Geneva, and General Franco and Spanish society under the Franco dictatorship. In the prologue of Part One men in uniforms destroy a statue while a Nazi chorus is heard. The uniforms and chorus are symbolic of the anti-individualistic and anti-intellectual policies of authoritarian states such as Nazi Germany, or indeed Franco’s Spain. In scene 1 of Part One Frellon refers to the Abott Ortiz. Sastre writes that this is a deliberate reference to José María Ortiz, who was responsible for theatre censorship (Sastre 2006: 386). In scene 2 of Part Three the Council of Geneva puppets raise their arms in a manner reminiscent of a Fascist salute when voting to sentence Miguel to be burnt at the stake. In scene 5 of Part One Sebastian refers to the prison in which Miguel has been detained as a ‘carabanchel’. This is an explicit reference to Carabanchel Prison in Madrid, constructed by political prisoners after the Spanish Civil War. Sastre himself was imprisoned in Carabanchel Prison in 1966.

In scene 5 of Part One Miguel mentions an editor called Carolo Barralius. This name seems to allude anachronistically to the editor and publisher, Carlos Barral (1928-89) of the publishing house Seix Barral. Miguel notes that Barralius used the motto ‘Biblioteca brevis, ars longa, experientia falax’ (‘Library limited, skill extensive, experience unreliable’). This motto is a modification of an aphorism attributed to the Greek Hippocrates, rendered in Latin as ‘Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experientia falax, iudicium difficile’, (‘Art is long, life is short, opportunity fleeting, experience unreliable, judgment difficult’). There is, perhaps, in the modification ‘Biblioteca brevis’ an allusion to the Biblioteca Breve Prize, awarded annually to novels and established 1958 by Seix Barral. In the play, Miguel explains that Carolo Barralius died in poverty after his livelihood – publishing – was taken from him. In reality, the novels published by Carlos Barral were subject to censorship, but not to such an extreme.

Sastre includes references to various oppressive arms of the Inquisition in France and of the theocracy in Geneva. The names of these groups are reminiscent (if exaggerated) of those of many that existed in Franco’s Spain. Some of the organisations that Rosa lists in scene 2 of Part Two are worth mentioning, in that they recall the names of religious, political and military groups that operated under Franco’s regime. They include:

• La Secreta: Referencing the Secret Police (La secreta) in Franco’s Spain
• Los Somatenes: Paramilitary Organisations that sprang up in the region of Catalonia in Spain (‘somaten’ is a Catalan word). The Somaten was a group that concentrated on maintaining public order.
• La Santa Hermandad de los Caminos (Holy Brotherhood of the Roads): The Santa Hermandad or Holy Brotherhood was established in fifteenth-century Spain with the responsibility for social control. In the nineteenth century it was replaced by the Guardia Civil (Civil Guard).
• La Falange de Amor: The Falange was a political party established in 1933 that became associated with General Franco’s traditionalist and repressive regime. Sastre associates the Falange in the play with love through the expression ‘La Falange de Amor’, suggesting the state’s intrusion (both in sixteenth-century Geneva and in twentieth-century Spain) into individuals’ private affairs.

Notable Literary References or Allusions

In scene 4 of Part One the character John the Anabaptist quotes from the Gospel of Mark 1:3 when he cries ‘The voice of one crying in the desert’. In the Bible these words are spoken by John the Baptist and refer to Jesus Christ.

In scene 1 of Part Two, Miguel and Benito escape Vienne. The former rides a horse, the latter a donkey. Their travel arrangements explicitly reference those of the fictional questing knight Don Quijote and his manservant Sancho Pancha from Don Quijote de la Mancha (1605; 1615) by Miguel Cervantes Saavedra.

Latin Phrases

There are a number of Latin Phrases used during the play. Most are left untranslated in the Spanish text. Some of the most notable quotations are listed below.

In scene 8 of Part One Miguel claims ‘Nostrum peccatum incipit quando scientia incipit’ which can be translated as ‘Sin begins with knowledge’. This maxim reflects Miguel’s rejection of infant baptism in favour of adult baptism, since he believes that individuals only gain the knowledge to discern right from wrong when they reach adulthood.

In scene 1 of Part Three Miguel recites the following lines during his heresy trial:

Bestiam bestiarum sceleratissimam!
meretricem impudentissimam!
draco ille magnus!
Serpens antiquus!
diabolus et Sathanas!
seductor orbis terrarum!

This quotation is attributed to the actual Miguel Servet who called the Roman Church the ‘most beastly of beasts and the most impudent of harlots’ (‘Bestiam … impudentissimam’). The second part of the quotation echoes Latin translations of Revelation 12:9: ‘projectus est draco ille magnus, serpens antiquus, qui vocatur diabolus, et Satanas, qui seducit universum orbem’ which means in English ‘And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world’. Such tirades against the Roman Church contributed to Miguel Servetus’s heresy conviction.

Again, in scene 1 of Part Three Miguel recites the following Latin:

Fides est ostium
Charitas est perfectio
Nec fides sine charitate
Nec charitas sine fide.

These lines express the sentiment that through faith one arrives at charity, but only in charity is perfection found. There is no faith without charity; no charity without faith.

• Kesten, Hermann. 1945. Copernicus and His World. New York, Roy Publishers

• Sastre, Alfonso. 2006. ‘M.S.V.; o La sangre y la ceniza’. In Teatro escogido, vol. I, pp. 373-514. Madrid, Asociación de Autores de Teatro (in Spanish)

Critical response

La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash) was first performed in Madrid in 1977 by the non-professional theatre company El Búho. When El Búho’s production was put on in Madrid between November 1977 and January 1978 it received favourable reviews. In fact, this production (which subsequently toured South America) was so successful it led some to criticise Madrid’s theatre scene for not having given such an important play the attention it deserved: it had not yet been produced by a professional theatre company, nor had it received any attention from any of Madrid’s more prestigious theatres (Sastre 1979: 60). The distinguished theatre director Ricard Salvat writes in his introduction to a 2006 edition of the text that it is ‘unacceptable’ that the play is still being ignored by public theatres (Sastre 2006: 378).

• Sastre, Alfonso. 1979. La sangre y la ceniza; Crónicas romanas, ed. Magda Ruggieri Marchetti. Madrid, Cátedra (in Spanish)

• Sastre, Alfonso. 2006. ‘M.S.V.; o La sangre y la ceniza’. In Teatro escogido, vol. I, pp. 373-514. Madrid, Asociación de Autores de Teatro (in Spanish)

Further information

Sastre began early drafts of La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash)in 1960. It was eventually finished in 1965. However, it was subject to the Spanish censors, so that the first version of the play was published in Italian in 1967. The Spanish edition of the play was not published until 1976, a year after Franco’s death.

A television series consisting of eight episodes was produced between 1988 and 1989. Each episode lasted one hour and the series was titled Miguel Servet, la sangre y la ceniza. It was directed by José María Forqué.

As well as dramatising Miguel Servet’s later life and execution in this play, Alfonso Sastre’s interest in the life of the Spanish theologian led him to publish a biography entitled Flores rojas para Miguel Servet (Red Flowers for Miguel Servet).

• Sastre, Alfonso. 1967. Il sangue e la cenere: dialoghi di Miguel Serveti, trans. M. Luisa Aguirre D’Amico. Milan, Feltrinelli (in Italian)

• Sastre, Alfonso. 1997. Flores rojas para Miguel Servet. Hondarribia, Hiru Narratvia (in Spanish)

Editions

• Sastre, Alfonso. 1967. Il sangue e la cenere: dialoghi di Miguel Serveti, trans. M. Luisa Aguirre D’Amico. Milan, Feltrinelli (in Italian)

• Sastre, Alfonso. 1976. ‘M.S.V (o La sangre y la ceniza)’, Pipirijaina, 1

• Sastre, Alfonso. 1979. La sangre y la ceniza; Crónicas romanas, ed. Magda Ruggieri Marchetti. Madrid, Cátedra

• Sastre, Alfonso. 1990. La sangre y la ceniza. Madrid, Cátedra

• Sastre, Alfonso. 2006. M.S.V. o tragicomedia de La sangre y la ceniza. Hondarribia, Hiru

• Sastre, Alfonso. 2006. ‘M.S.V.; o La sangre y la ceniza’. In Teatro escogido, vol. I, pp. 373-514. Madrid, Asociación de Autores de Teatro

• Sastre, Alfonso. 2007. M.S.V. o La sangre y la ceniza. Alicante, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/FichaObra.html?Ref=25439&portal=0 [accessed February 2010]. This is a virtual edition of the 2006 version of the play published by the Asociación de Autores de Teatro. (Online Publication)

Information about the editions

Sastre began early drafts of La sangre y la ceniza (Blood and Ash)in 1960. It was eventually finished in 1965. However, it was subject to the Spanish censors, so that the first version of the play was published in Italian in 1967. The Spanish edition of the play was not published until 1976, a year after Franco’s death.

Useful readings and websites

• More information on the life and work of Miguel Servet can be found by clicking on the Servetus website at http://www.miguelservet.org/servetus/life.htm [accessed March 2010] (Online Publication)

• Sastre, Alfonso. 1997. Flores rojas para Miguel Servet. Hondarribia, Hiru Narratvia (in Spanish)

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 5 October 2010.

Tag this play

You must be logged in to add tags. Please log in or sign up for a free account.

Post a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment. Please log in or sign up for a free account.