Up to Philosophers in Disgrace and Demand

Bruno

(Burnt)

b. 1548, Nola, near Naples
d. Feb. 17, 1600, Rome
original name FILIPPO BRUNO, byname IL NOLANO, Italian philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, and occultist whose theories anticipated modern science. The most notable of these were his theories of the infinite universe and the multiplicity of worlds, in which he rejected the traditional geocentric (or Earth-centred) astronomy and intuitively went beyond the Copernican heliocentric (Sun-centred) theory, which still maintained a finite universe with a sphere of fixed stars. Bruno is, perhaps, chiefly remembered for the tragic death he suffered at the stake because of the tenacity with which he maintained his unorthodox ideas at a time when both the Roman Catholic and the Reformed churches were reaffirming rigid Aristotelian and Scholastic principles in their struggle for the evangelization of Europe.

Copyright � 1994-2001 Encyclop�dia Britannica, Inc.

More about Bruno's philosophical work.

A Fatal Error

In August 1591, things started to go wrong. At the invitation of the Venetian patrician Giovanni Mocenigo, member of one of the most renowned patrician families of the Venetian Republic, to which it supplied military leaders, scholars, churchmen, diplomats, and statesmen, including seven doges, Bruno made the fatal move of returning to Italy. At the time such a move did not seem to be too much of a risk: Venice was by far the most liberal of the Italian states; the European tension had been temporarily eased after the death of the intransigent pope Sixtus V in 1590; the Protestant Henry of Bourbon was now on the throne of France, and a religious pacification seemed to be imminent. Furthermore, Bruno was still looking for an academic platform from which to expound his theories, and he must have known that the chair of mathematics at the University of Padua was then vacant. Indeed, he went almost immediately to Padua and, during the late summer of 1591, started a private course of lectures for German students and composed the Praelectiones geometricae ("Lectures on Geometry") and Ars deformationum ("Art of Deformation").

At the beginning of the winter, when it appeared that he was not going to receive the chair (it was offered to Galileo in 1592), he returned to Venice, as the guest of Mocenigo, and took part in the discussions of progressive Venetian aristocrats who, like Bruno, favoured philosophical investigation irrespective of its theological implications. Bruno's liberty came to an end when Mocenigo--disappointed by his private lessons from Bruno on the art of memory and resentful of Bruno's intention to go back to Frankfurt to have a new work published--denounced him to the Venetian Inquisition in May 1592 for his heretical theories.

Bruno was arrested and tried. He defended himself by admitting minor theological errors, emphasizing, however, the philosophical rather than the theological character of his basic tenets. The Venetian stage of the trial seemed to be proceeding in a way that was favourable to Bruno; then, however, the Roman Inquisition demanded his extradition, and on Jan. 27, 1593, Bruno entered the jail of the Roman palace of the Sant Uffizio (Holy Office). During the seven-year Roman period of the trial, Bruno at first developed his previous defensive line, disclaiming any particular interest in theological matters and reaffirming the philosophical character of his speculation. This distinction did not satisfy the inquisitors, who demanded an unconditional retraction of his theories. Bruno then made a desperate attempt to demonstrate that his views were not incompatible with the christian conception of God and creation. The inquisitors rejected his arguments and pressed him for a formal retraction.

Bruno finally declared that he had nothing to retract and that he did not even know what he was expected to retract. At that point, Pope Clement VIII ordered that he be sentenced as an impenitent and pertinacious heretic. On Feb. 8, 1600, when the death sentence was formally read to him, he addressed his judges, saying: "Perhaps your fear in passing judgment on me is greater than mine in receiving it." Not long after, he was brought to the Campo de Fiori, his tongue in a gag, and burned alive.