 On his way to Italy , Servetus stopped in Geneva to visit " d 'Espeville " , where he was recognized and arrested . Calvin 's secretary Nicholas de la Fontaine composed a list of accusations that was submitted before the court . The prosecutor was Philibert Berthelier , a member of a libertine family and son of a famous Geneva patriot , and the sessions were led by Pierre Tissot , Perrin 's brother @-@ in @-@ law . The libertines allowed the trial to drag on in an attempt to harass Calvin . The difficulty in using Servetus as a weapon against Calvin was that the heretical reputation of Servetus was widespread and most of the cities in Europe were observing and awaiting the outcome of the trial . This posed a dilemma for the libertines , so on 21 August the council decided to write to other Swiss cities for their opinions , thus mitigating their own responsibility for the final decision . While waiting for the responses , the council also asked Servetus if he preferred to be judged in Vienne or in Geneva . He begged to stay in Geneva . On 20 October the replies from Zurich , Basel , Bern , and Schaffhausen were read and the council condemned Servetus as a heretic . The following day he was sentenced to burning at the stake , the same sentence as in Vienne . Some scholars claim that Calvin and other ministers asked that he be beheaded instead of burnt , knowing that burning at the stake was the only legal recourse . This plea was refused and on 27 October , Servetus was burnt alive at the Plateau of Champel at the edge of Geneva . 
