Giordano Bruno

This article is about the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno. For other uses, seeGiordano Bruno (disambiguation).

Not to be confused withBruno Giordano.

Giordano Bruno(/dʒɔːrˈdɑːnoʊˈbruːnoʊ/;Italian:[dʒorˈdaːnoˈbruːno];Latin:Iordanus Brunus Nolanus;bornFilippo Bruno,January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italianphilosopher,poet,alchemist,astrologer,cosmologicaltheorist, andesotericist.He is known for his cosmological theories, which conceptually extended to include the then-novelCopernican model.He practicedHermeticismand gave a mystical stance to exploring the universe. He proposed that the stars were distant suns surrounded by their own planets (exoplanets), and he raised the possibility that these planets might foster life of their own, a cosmological position known ascosmic pluralism.He also insisted that the universe isinfiniteand could have no center.

Giordano Bruno
Portrait fromOpere di Giordano Bruno,published in 1830
Born	Filippo Bruno January or February 1548 Nola,Kingdom of Naples
Died	17 February 1600 (aged 51–52) Rome,Papal States
Cause of death	Execution by burning at the stake
Era	Renaissance
School	Renaissance humanism Neopythagoreanism
Main interests	Cosmology
Notable ideas	Cosmic pluralism

Bruno was tried forheresyby theRoman Inquisitionon charges of denial of several core Catholic doctrines, includingeternal damnation,theTrinity,thedivinity of Christ,thevirginity of Mary,andtransubstantiation.Bruno'spantheismwas not taken lightly by the church,nor was his teaching ofmetempsychosisregarding thereincarnationof thesoul.TheInquisitionfound him guilty, and he wasburned at the stakein Rome'sCampo de' Fioriin 1600. After his death, he gained considerable fame, being particularly celebrated by 19th- and early 20th-century commentators who regarded him as a martyr for science. Some historians are of the opinion his heresy trial was not a response to his cosmological views but rather a response to his religious andafterlifeviews,while others find the main reason for Bruno's death was indeed his cosmological views.Bruno's case is still considered a landmark in the history offree thoughtand the emerging sciences.

In addition to cosmology, Bruno also wrote extensively on theart of memory,a loosely organized group ofmnemonictechniques and principles. HistorianFrances Yatesargues that Bruno was deeply influenced by the presocraticEmpedocles,Neoplatonism,Renaissance Hermeticism, andBook of Genesis-like legends surrounding the Hellenistic conception ofHermes Trismegistus.Other studies of Bruno have focused on his qualitative approach to mathematics and his application of the spatial concepts of geometry to language.

Life

Early years, 1548–1576

Born Filippo Bruno inNola(acomunein the modern-dayprovince of Naples,in the Southern Italian region ofCampania,then part of theKingdom of Naples) in 1548, he was the son of Giovanni Bruno (1517 – c. 1592), a soldier, and Fraulissa Savolino (1520–?). In his youth he was sent toNaplesto be educated. He was tutored privately at the Augustinian monastery there, and attended public lectures at theStudium Generale.At the age of 17, he entered theDominican Orderat the monastery ofSan Domenico Maggiorein Naples, taking the name Giordano, after Giordano Crispo, his metaphysics tutor. He continued his studies there, completing hisnovitiate,andordainedapriestin 1572 at age 24. During his time in Naples, he became known for his skill with the art of memory and on one occasion traveled to Rome to demonstrate hismnemonicsystem beforePope Pius VandCardinal Rebiba.In his later years, Bruno claimed that the Pope accepted his dedication to him of the lost workOn The Ark of Noahat this time.

While Bruno was distinguished for outstanding ability, his taste forfree thinkingand forbidden books soon caused him difficulties. Given the controversy he caused in later life, it is surprising that he was able to remain within the monastic system for eleven years. In his testimony to Venetian inquisitors during his trial many years later, he says that proceedings were twice taken against him for having cast away images of the saints, retaining only acrucifix,and for having recommended controversial texts to a novice.Such behavior could perhaps be overlooked, but Bruno's situation became much more serious when he was reported to have defended theArian heresy,and when a copy of the banned writings ofErasmus,annotated by him, was discovered hidden in the monasterylatrine.When he learned that anindictmentwas being prepared against him in Naples he fled, shedding hisreligious habit,at least for a time.

First years of wandering, 1576–1583

Bruno first went to the Genoese port ofNoli,then toSavona,Turinand finally toVenice,where he published his lost workOn the Signs of the Timeswith the permission (so he claimed at his trial) of the DominicanRemigio Nannini Fiorentino.From Venice he went toPadua,where he met fellow Dominicans who convinced him to wear hisreligious habitagain. From Padua he went toBergamoand then across the Alps toChambéryandLyon.His movements after this time are obscure.

The earliest depiction of Bruno is an engraving published in 1715 in Germany, presumed based on a lost contemporary portrait.

In 1579, Bruno arrived inGeneva.During his Venetian trial, he told inquisitors that while in Geneva he told the Marchese de Vico of Naples, who was notable for helping Italian refugees in Geneva, "I did not intend to adopt the religion of the city. I desired to stay there only that I might live at liberty and in security."Bruno had a pair of breeches made for himself, and the Marchese and others apparently made Bruno a gift of a sword, hat, cape and other necessities for dressing himself; in such clothing Bruno could no longer be recognized as a priest. Things apparently went well for Bruno for a time, as he entered his name in the Rector's Book of theUniversity of Genevain May 1579.But in keeping with his personality he could not long remain silent. In August he published an attack on the work ofAntoine de La Faye,a distinguished professor. Bruno and the printer, Jean Bergeon, were promptly arrested.Rather than apologizing, Bruno insisted on continuing to defend his publication. He was refused the right to takesacrament.Though this right was soon restored, he left Geneva.

He went to France, arriving first inLyon,and thereafter settling for a time (1580–1581) inToulouse,where he took his doctorate in theology and was elected by students to lecture in philosophy.He also attempted at this time to return to Catholicism, but was denied absolution by the Jesuit priest he approached.When religious strife broke out in the summer of 1581, he moved to Paris.There he held a cycle of thirty lectures on theological topics and also began to gain fame for his prodigious memory.His talents attracted the benevolent attention of the kingHenry III;Bruno subsequently reported:

"I got me such a name that King Henry III summoned me one day to discover from me if the memory which I possessed was natural or acquired by magic art. I satisfied him that it did not come from sorcery but from organized knowledge; and, following this, I got a book on memory printed, entitledThe Shadows of Ideas,which I dedicated to His Majesty. Forthwith he gave me an Extraordinary Lectureship with a salary. "

In Paris, Bruno enjoyed the protection of his powerful French patrons. During this period, he published several works on mnemonics, includingDe umbris idearum(On the Shadows of Ideas,1582),Ars memoriae(The Art of Memory,1582), andCantus circaeus(Circe's Song,1582; described atCirce in the arts § Reasoning beasts). All of these were based on his mnemonic models of organized knowledge and experience, as opposed to the simplistic logic-based mnemonic techniques ofPetrus Ramusthen becoming popular.Bruno also published a comedy summarizing some of his philosophical positions, titledIl Candelaio(The Candlemaker,1582). In the 16th century dedications were, as a rule, approved beforehand, and hence were a way of placing a work under the protection of an individual. Given that Bruno dedicated various works to the likes of King Henry III, SirPhilip Sidney,Michel de Castelnau(French Ambassador to England), and possiblyPope Pius V,it is apparent that this wanderer had risen sharply in status and moved in powerful circles.

England, 1583–1585

Woodcut illustration of one of Giordano Bruno's less complex mnemonic devices

In April 1583, Bruno went to England with letters of recommendation fromHenry IIIas a guest of the French ambassador,Michel de Castelnau.Bruno lived at the French embassy with the lexicographerJohn Florio.There he became acquainted with the poetPhilip Sidney(to whom he dedicated two books) and other members of the Hermetic circle aroundJohn Dee,though there is no evidence that Bruno ever met Dee himself. He also lectured atOxford,and unsuccessfully sought a teaching position there. His views were controversial, notably withJohn Underhill,Rector ofLincoln Collegeand subsequently bishop of Oxford, andGeorge Abbot,who later becameArchbishop of Canterbury.Abbot mocked Bruno for supporting "the opinion ofCopernicusthat the earth did go round, and the heavens did stand still; whereas in truth it was his own head which rather did run round, and his brains did not stand still ",and found Bruno had both plagiarized and misrepresentedFicino's work, leading Bruno to return to the continent.

Nevertheless, his stay in England was fruitful. During that time Bruno completed and published some of his most important works, the six "Italian Dialogues", including thecosmological tractsLa cena de le ceneri(The Ash Wednesday Supper,1584),De la causa, principio et uno(On Cause, Principle and Unity,1584),De l'infinito, universo et mondi(On the Infinite, Universe and Worlds,1584) as well asLo spaccio de la bestia trionfante(The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast,1584) andDe gli eroici furori(On the Heroic Frenzies,1585). Some of these were printed byJohn Charlewood.Some of the works that Bruno published in London, notablyThe Ash Wednesday Supper,appear to have given offense. Once again, Bruno's controversial views and tactless language lost him the support of his friends.John Bossyhas advanced the theory that, while staying in the French Embassy in London, Bruno was also spying on Catholic conspirators, under the pseudonym "Henry Fagot", forSir Francis Walsingham,Queen Elizabeth's Secretary of State.

Bruno is sometimes cited as being the first to propose that the universe is infinite, which he did during his time in England, but anEnglishscientist,Thomas Digges,put forth this idea in a published work in 1576, some eight years earlier than Bruno.An infinite universe and the possibility of alien life had also been earlier suggested byGermanCatholic CardinalNicholas of Cusain "On Learned Ignorance" published in 1440 and Bruno attributed his understanding of multiple worlds to this earlier scholar, who he called "the divine Cusanus".

Last years of wandering, 1585–1592

In October 1585, Castelnau was recalled to France, and Bruno went with him.In Paris, Bruno found a tense political situation. Moreover, his 120 theses againstAristoteliannatural science soon put him in ill favor. In 1586, following a violent quarrel over these theses, he left France for Germany.

Woodcut from "Articuli centum et sexaginta adversus huius tempestatis mathematicos atque philosophos",Prague1588

In Germany he failed to obtain a teaching position atMarburg,but was granted permission to teach atWittenberg,where he lectured onAristotlefor two years.However, with a change of intellectual climate there, he was no longer welcome, and went in 1588 toPrague,where he obtained 300talerfromRudolf II,but no teaching position.He went on to serve briefly as a professor inHelmstedt,but had to flee again in 1590 when he wasexcommunicatedby theLutherans.

During this period he produced severalLatinworks, dictated to his friend and secretary Girolamo Besler, includingDe Magia(On Magic),Theses De Magia(Theses on Magic) andDe Vinculis in Genere(A General Account of Bonding). All these were apparently transcribed or recorded by Besler (or Bisler) between 1589 and 1590.He also publishedDe Imaginum, Signorum, Et Idearum Compositione(On the Composition of Images, Signs and Ideas,1591).

In 1591 he was inFrankfurt,where he received an invitation from theVenetianpatricianGiovanni Mocenigo,who wished to be instructed in the art of memory,and also heard of a vacant chair in mathematics at theUniversity of Padua.At the time theInquisitionseemed to be losing some of its strictness, and because theRepublic of Venicewas the most liberal state in theItalian Peninsula,Bruno was lulled into making the fatal mistake of returning to Italy.

He went first toPadua,where he taught briefly, and applied unsuccessfully for the chair of mathematics, which was given instead toGalileo Galileione year later. Bruno accepted Mocenigo's invitation and moved to Venice in March 1592.For about two months he served as an in-house tutor to Mocenigo, to whom he let slip some of his heterodox ideas.Mocenigo denounced him to theVenetian Inquisition,which had Bruno arrested on 22 May 1592.Among the numerous charges ofblasphemyandheresybrought against him in Venice, based on Mocenigo's denunciation, was his belief in theplurality of worlds,as well as accusations of personal misconduct.Bruno defended himself skillfully, stressing the philosophical character of some of his positions, denying others and admitting that he had had doubts on some matters of dogma. The Roman Inquisition, however, asked for his transfer to Rome.After several months of argument, the Venetian authorities reluctantly consented and Bruno was sent to Rome in January 1593.

Imprisonment, trial and execution, 1593–1600

During the seven years of his trial in Rome, Bruno was held in confinement, lastly in theTower of Nona.Some important documents about the trial are lost, but others have been preserved, among them a summary of the proceedings that was rediscovered in 1940.The numerous charges against Bruno, based on some of his books as well as on witness accounts, included blasphemy, immoral conduct, and heresy in matters of dogmatic theology, and involved some of the basic doctrines of his philosophy and cosmology.Luigi Firpospeculates the charges made against Bruno by the Roman Inquisition were:

• holding opinions contrary to theCatholic faithand speaking against it and its ministers;
• holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith about theTrinity,thedivinity of Christ,and theIncarnation;
• holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith pertaining to Jesus as theChrist;
• holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith regarding thevirginity of Mary, mother of Jesus;
• holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith about bothTransubstantiationand theMass;
• claiming the existence of aplurality of worldsandtheir eternity;
• believing inmetempsychosisand in thetransmigrationof the human soul into brutes;
• dealing in magics and divination.

The trial of Giordano Bruno by the Roman Inquisition; bronze relief by Ettore Ferrari,Campo de' Fiori,Rome

Bruno defended himself as he had in Venice, insisting that he accepted the Church's dogmatic teachings, but trying to preserve the basis of his cosmological views. In particular, he held firm to his belief in the plurality of worlds, although he was admonished to abandon it. His trial was overseen by the Inquisitor CardinalBellarmine,who demanded a full recantation, which Bruno eventually refused. On 20 January 1600,Pope Clement VIIIdeclared Bruno a heretic, and the Inquisition issued a sentence of death. According to the correspondence ofGaspar SchoppofBreslau,he is said to have made a threatening gesture towards his judges and to have replied:Maiori forsan cum timore sententiam in me fertis quam ego accipiam( "Perhaps you pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it" ).

He was turned over to the secular authorities. On 17 February 1600, in theCampo de' Fiori(a central Roman market square), naked, with his "tongue imprisoned because of his wicked words", he wasburned alive at the stake.His ashes were thrown into theTiberriver.

All of Bruno's works were placed on theIndex Librorum Prohibitorumin 1603. The inquisition cardinals who judged Giordano Bruno wereCardinal Bellarmino (Bellarmine),Cardinal Madruzzo (Madruzzi),Camillo Cardinal Borghese (laterPope Paul V), Domenico Cardinal Pinelli, Pompeio Cardinal Arrigoni,Cardinal Sfondrati,Pedro Cardinal De Deza ManuelandCardinal Santorio(Archbishop of Santa Severina, Cardinal-Bishop of Palestrina).

The measures taken to prevent Bruno continuing to speak have resulted in his becoming a symbol for free thought andfree speechin present-day Rome, where an annual memorial service takes place close to the spot where he was executed.

Physical appearance

The earliest likeness of Bruno is an engraving published in 1715and cited by Salvestrini as "the only known portrait of Bruno". Salvestrini suggests that it is a re-engraving made from a now lost original.This engraving has provided the source for later images.

The records of Bruno's imprisonment by the Venetian inquisition in May 1592 describe him as a man "of average height, with a hazel-coloured beard and the appearance of being about forty years of age". Alternately, a passage in a work byGeorge Abbotindicates that Bruno was of diminutive stature: "When that Italian Didapper, who intituled himself Philotheus Iordanus Brunus Nolanus, magis elaboratae Theologiae Doctor, &c. with a name longer than his body...".

Cosmology

Contemporary cosmological beliefs

See also:Celestial spheres § History

Illuminated illustration of the Ptolemaic geocentric conception of the universe. The outermost text reads "The heavenly empire, dwelling of God and all the elect."

In the first half of the 15th century,Nicholas of Cusachallenged the then widely accepted philosophies ofAristotelianism,envisioning instead an infinite universe whose center was everywhere and circumference nowhere, and moreover teeming with countless stars.He also predicted that neither were the rotational orbits circular nor were their movements uniform.

In the second half of the 16th century, the theories of Copernicus (1473–1543) began diffusing through Europe. Copernicus conserved the idea of planets fixed to solid spheres, but considered the apparent motion of the stars to be an illusion caused by the rotation of the Earth on its axis; he also preserved the notion of an immobile center, but it was the Sun rather than the Earth. Copernicus also argued the Earth was a planet orbiting the Sun once every year. However he maintained thePtolemaic hypothesisthat the orbits of the planets were composed of perfect circles—deferentsandepicycles—and that the stars were fixed on a stationary outer sphere.

Despite the widespread publication of Copernicus' workDe revolutionibus orbium coelestium,during Bruno's time most educated Catholics subscribed to the Aristoteliangeocentricview that the Earth was thecenter of the universe,and that all heavenly bodies revolved around it.The ultimate limit of the universe was theprimum mobile,whose diurnal rotation was conferred upon it by atranscendentalGod, not part of the universe (although, as thekingdom of heaven,adjacent to it), a motionlessprime moverandfirst cause.The fixed stars were part of this celestial sphere, all at the same fixed distance from the immobile Earth at the center of the sphere.Ptolemyhad numbered these at 1,022, grouped into 48constellations.Theplanetswere each fixed to a transparent sphere.

Fewastronomersof Bruno's time acceptedCopernicus's heliocentric model.Among those who did were the GermansMichael Maestlin(1550–1631),Christoph Rothmann,Johannes Kepler(1571–1630); the EnglishmanThomas Digges(c. 1546–1595), author ofA Perfit Description of the Caelestial Orbes;and the ItalianGalileo Galilei(1564–1642).

Cosmological claims

Main article:Heliocentrism

In 1584, Bruno published two important philosophical dialogues (La Cena de le CeneriandDe l'infinito universo et mondi) in which he argued against the planetary spheres (Christoph Rothmanndid the same in 1586 as didTycho Brahein 1587) and affirmed the Copernican principle.

In particular, to support the Copernican view and oppose the objection according to which the motion of the Earth would be perceived by means of the motion of winds, clouds etc., inLa Cena de le CeneriBruno anticipates some of the arguments of Galilei on the relativity principle.Note that he also uses the example now known asGalileo's ship.

Theophilus – [...] air through which the clouds and winds move are parts of the Earth, [...] to mean under the name of Earth the whole machinery and the entire animated part, which consists of dissimilar parts; so that the rivers, the rocks, the seas, the whole vaporous and turbulent air, which is enclosed within the highest mountains, should belong to the Earth as its members, just as the air [does] in the lungs and in other cavities of animals by which they breathe, widen their arteries, and other similar effects necessary for life are performed. The clouds, too, move through accidents in the body of the Earth and are in its bowels as are the waters. [...] With the Earth move [...] all things that are on the Earth. If, therefore, from a point outside the Earth something were thrown upon the Earth, it would lose, because of the latter's motion, its straightness as would be seen on the ship [...] moving along a river, if someone on point C of the riverbank were to throw a stone along a straight line, and would see the stone miss its target by the amount of the velocity of the ship's motion. But if someone were placed high on the mast of that ship, move as it may however fast, he would not miss his target at all, so that the stone or some other heavy thing thrown downward would not come along a straight line from the point E which is at the top of the mast, or cage, to the point D which is at the bottom of the mast, or at some point in the bowels and body of the ship. Thus, if from the point D to the point E someone who is inside the ship would throw a stone straight up, it would return to the bottom along the same line however far the ship moved, provided it was not subject to any pitch and roll. "

Bruno's infinite universe was filled with a substance—a "pure air",aether,orspiritus—that offered no resistance to the heavenly bodies which, in Bruno's view, rather than being fixed, moved under their ownimpetus(momentum). Most dramatically, he completely abandoned the idea of ahierarchicaluniverse.

The universe is then one, infinite, immobile... It is not capable of comprehension and therefore is endless and limitless, and to that extent infinite and indeterminable, and consequently immobile.

Bruno's cosmology distinguishes between "suns" which produce their own light and heat, and have other bodies moving around them; and "earths" which move around suns and receive light and heat from them.Bruno suggested that some, if not all, of the objects classically known asfixed starsare in fact suns.According to astrophysicistSteven Soter,he was the first person to grasp that "stars are other suns with their own planets."

Bruno wrote that other worlds "have no less virtue nor a nature different from that of our Earth" and, like Earth, "contain animals and inhabitants".

During the late 16th century, and throughout the 17th century, Bruno's ideas were held up for ridicule, debate, or inspiration.Margaret Cavendish,for example, wrote an entire series of poems against "atoms" and "infinite worlds" inPoems and Fanciesin 1664. Bruno's true, if partial, vindication would have to wait for the implications and impact ofNewtoniancosmology.

Bruno's overall contribution to the birth of modern science is still controversial. Some scholars follow Frances Yates in stressing the importance of Bruno's ideas about the universe being infinite and lacking geocentric structure as a crucial crossing point between the old and the new. Others see in Bruno's idea of multiple worlds instantiating the infinite possibilities of a pristine, indivisible One,a forerunner ofEverett'smany-worlds interpretationof quantum mechanics.

While many academics note Bruno's theological position aspantheism,several have described it aspandeism,and some also aspanentheism.Physicist and philosopherMax Bernhard Weinsteinin hisWelt- und Lebensanschauungen, Hervorgegangen aus Religion, Philosophie und Naturerkenntnis( "World and Life Views, Emerging From Religion, Philosophy and Nature" ), wrote that the theological model ofpandeismwas strongly expressed in the teachings of Bruno, especially with respect to the vision of a deity for which "the concept of God is not separated from that of the universe."However,Otto Kerntakes exception to what he considers Weinstein's overbroad assertions that Bruno, as well as other historical philosophers such asJohn Scotus Eriugena,Nicholas of Cusa,Mendelssohn,andLessing,were pandeists or leaned towards pandeism.DiscovereditorCorey S. Powellalso described Bruno'scosmologyas pandeistic, writing that it was "a tool for advancing an animist or Pandeist theology",and this assessment of Bruno as a pandeist was agreed with by science writer Michael Newton Keas,andThe Daily Beastwriter David Sessions.

Retrospective views

The monument to Bruno in the place he was executed,Campo de' Fioriin Rome

Monument to Giordano Bruno at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany, referencing his burning at the stake while tied upside down

Late Vatican position

The Vatican has published few official statements about Bruno's trial and execution. In 1942, CardinalGiovanni Mercati,who discovered a number of lost documents relating to Bruno's trial, stated that the Church was perfectly justified in condemning him.On the 400th anniversary of Bruno's death, in 2000, CardinalAngelo Sodanodeclared Bruno's death to be a "sad episode" but, despite his regret, he defended Bruno's prosecutors, maintaining that the Inquisitors "had the desire to serve freedom and promote the common good and did everything possible to save his life".In the same year, PopeJohn Paul IImade a general apology for "the use of violence that some have committed in the service of truth".

A martyr of science

See also:Conflict thesis

Some authors have characterized Bruno as a "martyr of science", suggesting parallels with theGalileo affairwhich began around 1610."It should not be supposed," writes A. M. Paterson of Bruno and his "heliocentric solar system", that he "reached his conclusions via some mystical revelation... His work is an essential part of the scientific and philosophical developments that he initiated."Paterson echoesHegelin writing that Bruno "ushers in a modern theory of knowledge that understands all natural things in the universe to be known by the human mind through the mind's dialectical structure".

Ingegno writes that Bruno embraced the philosophy ofLucretius,"aimed at liberating man from the fear of death and the gods."Characters in Bruno'sCause, Principle and Unitydesire "to improve speculative science and knowledge of natural things," and to achieve a philosophy "which brings about the perfection of the human intellect most easily and eminently, and most closely corresponds to the truth of nature."

Other scholars oppose such views, and claim Bruno's martyrdom to science to be exaggerated, or outright false. For Yates, while "nineteenth century liberals" were thrown "into ecstasies" over Bruno's Copernicanism, "Bruno pushes Copernicus' scientific work back into a prescientific stage, back into Hermeticism, interpreting the Copernican diagram as a hieroglyph of divine mysteries."

According to historian Mordechai Feingold, "Both admirers and critics of Giordano Bruno basically agree that he was pompous and arrogant, highly valuing his opinions and showing little patience with anyone who even mildly disagreed with him." Discussing Bruno's experience of rejection when he visited Oxford University, Feingold suggests that "it might have been Bruno's manner, his language and his self-assertiveness, rather than his ideas" that caused offence.

Theological heresy

In hisLectures on the History of Philosophy,Hegelwrites that Bruno's life represented "a bold rejection of allCatholicbeliefs resting on mere authority. "

Alfonso Ingegno states that Bruno's philosophy "challenges the developments of the Reformation, calls into question the truth-value of the whole of Christianity, and claims that Christ perpetrated a deceit on mankind... Bruno suggests that we can now recognize the universal law which controls the perpetual becoming of all things in an infinite universe."A. M. Paterson says that, while we no longer have a copy of the official papal condemnation of Bruno, his heresies included "the doctrine of the infinite universe and the innumerable worlds" and his beliefs "on the movement of the earth".

Michael White notes that the Inquisition may have pursued Bruno early in his life on the basis of his opposition toAristotle,interest inArianism,reading ofErasmus,and possession of banned texts.White considers that Bruno's later heresy was "multifaceted" and may have rested on his conception of infinite worlds. "This was perhaps the most dangerous notion of all... If other worlds existed with intelligent beings living there, did they too have their visitations? The idea was quite unthinkable."

Frances Yatesrejects what she describes as the "legend that Bruno was prosecuted as a philosophical thinker, was burned for his daring views on innumerable worlds or on the movement of the earth." Yates however writes that "the Church was... perfectly within its rights if it included philosophical points in its condemnation of Bruno's heresies" because "the philosophical points were quite inseparable from the heresies."

According to theStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,"in 1600 there was no official Catholic position on the Copernican system, and it was certainly not a heresy. When [...] Bruno [...] was burned at the stake as a heretic, it had nothing to do with his writings in support of Copernican cosmology."

The website of theVatican Apostolic Archive,discussing a summary of legal proceedings against Bruno in Rome, states:

In the same rooms where Giordano Bruno was questioned, for the same important reasons of the relationship between science and faith, at the dawning of the new astronomy and at the decline of Aristotle's philosophy, sixteen years later,Cardinal Bellarmino,who then contested Bruno's heretical theses, summoned Galileo Galilei, who also faced a famous inquisitorial trial, which, luckily for him, ended with a simple abjuration.

Cultural legacy

Illustration of Bruno by GermansymbolistartistFidus(1900)

In art

Following the 1870Capture of Romeby the newly createdKingdom of Italyand the end of the Church'stemporal powerover the city, the erection of amonument to Brunoon the site of his execution became feasible. The monument was sharply opposed by the clerical party, but was finally erected by the Rome Municipality and inaugurated in 1889.

A statue of a stretched human figure standing on its head, designed byAlexander Polzinand depicting Bruno's death at the stake, was placed inPotsdamer Platzstation inBerlinon 2 March 2008.

Retrospective iconography of Bruno shows him with a Dominicancowlbut nottonsured.Edward Gosselin has suggested that it is likely Bruno kept his tonsure at least until 1579, and it is possible that he wore it again thereafter.

An idealized animated version of Bruno appears in the first episode of the 2014 television seriesCosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.In this depiction, Bruno is shown with a more modern look, without tonsure and wearing clerical robes and without his hood.Cosmospresents Bruno as an impoverished philosopher who was ultimately executed due to his refusal to recant his belief in other worlds, a portrayal that was criticized by some as simplistic or historically inaccurate.Corey S. Powell, ofDiscovermagazine, says of Bruno, "A major reason he moved around so much is that he was argumentative, sarcastic, and drawn to controversy... He was a brilliant, complicated, difficult man.

In poetry

Poems that refer to Bruno include:

• "The Monument of Giordano Bruno" (1889) byAlgernon Charles Swinburne,written when the statue of Bruno was constructed in Rome.
• "Campo Dei Fiori" (1943) byCzesław Miłosz,which draws parallels between indifference to the fate of Bruno and indifference to the victims of the then-ongoingOccupation of Poland.
• "The Emancipators" (1958) byRandall Jarrell,which addresses Bruno, along with Galileo and Newton, as an originator of the modern scientific-industrial world.
• "What He Thought" (1994) byHeather McHugh,a (possibly autobiographical) poem about a group of American poets who visit Italy and are lectured about Bruno and the nature of poetry by a local arts administrator. The poem was published in the collectionHinge & Sign,a nominee for theNational Book Award.

In fiction

Bruno and his theory of "the coincidence of contraries" (coincidentia oppositorum) play an important role inJames Joyce's 1939 novelFinnegans Wake.Joyce wrote in a letter to his patroness,Harriet Shaw Weaver,"His philosophy is a kind of dualism – every power in nature must evolve an opposite in order to realise itself and opposition brings reunion".Amongst his numerous allusions to Bruno in his novel, including his trial and torture, Joyce plays upon Bruno's notion ofcoincidentia oppositorumthrough applying his name to word puns such as "Browne and Nolan" (the name of Dublin printers) and ' "brownesberrow in nolandsland".

In 1973 the biographical dramaGiordano Brunowas released, an Italian/French movie directed byGiuliano Montaldo,starringGian Maria Volontéas Bruno.

Bruno is a major character in the four-novelAegyptsequence (1987–2007) byJohn Crowley.Historical episodes from Bruno's life are fictionalized in the novels, and his philosophical ideas are key to the novels’ themes.

The Last Confession(2000) byMorris Westis an unfinished, posthumously published fictional autobiography of Bruno, ostensibly written shortly before Bruno's execution.

In the 2008 novelChildren of GodbyMary Doria Russell,several characters travel on an interstellar spaceship namedGiordano Bruno.

Bruno features as the hero of theGiordano Brunoseries (2010–2023) of historical crime novels by S. J. Parris (a pseudonym ofStephanie Merritt).

In music

Hans Werner Henzeset his large scale cantata for orchestra, choir and four soloists,Novae de infinito laudesto Italian texts by Bruno, recorded in 1972 at the Salzburg Festival reissued on CD Orfeo C609 031B.

The Italian composerFrancesco Filideiwrote an opera, based on a libretto by Stefano Busellato, titledGiordano Bruno.The premiere took place on 12 September 2015 at theCasa da Músicain Porto, Portugal.

The 2016 song "Roman Sky" by heavy metal bandAvenged Sevenfoldfocuses on the death of Bruno.

Bruno is the central character inRoger Doyle’sHeresy – an electronic opera(2017).

Legacy

Giordano Bruno Foundation

Main article:Giordano Bruno Foundation

The Giordano Bruno Foundation (German: Giordano-Bruno-Stiftung) is a non-profit foundation based in Germany that pursues the "Support ofEvolutionary Humanism".It was founded by entrepreneur Herbert Steffen in 2004. The Giordano Bruno Foundation is critical ofreligious fundamentalismand nationalism.

Giordano Bruno Memorial Award

TheSETI Leaguemakes an annual award honoring the memory of Giordano Bruno to a deserving person or persons who have made a significant contribution to the practice ofSETI(the search for extraterrestrial intelligence). The award was proposed by sociologist Donald Tarter in 1995 on the 395th anniversary of Bruno's death. The trophy presented is called a Bruno.

Astronomical objects named after Bruno

The 22 km impact craterGiordano Brunoon the far side of the Moon is named in his honor, as are the main beltAsteroids5148 Giordanoand13223 Cenaceneri;the latter is named after his philosophical dialogueLa Cena de le Ceneri( "The Ash Wednesday Supper" ) (see above).

Works

• De umbris idearum(On the Shadows of Ideas,Paris, 1582)
• Cantus circaeus(The Incantation of CirceorCirce's Song,Paris, 1582)
• Ars memoriae(The Art of Memory,Paris, 1582)
• De compendiosa architectura et complento artis Lulli(A Compendium of Architecture and Lulli's Art,1582)
• Candelaio(The TorchbearerorThe Candle Bearer,1582; play)
• Ars reminiscendi(The Art of Memory,1583)
• Explicatio triginta sigillorum(Explanation of Thirty Seals,1583)
• Sigillus sigillorum(The Seal of Seals,1583)
• La cena de le ceneri(The Ash Wednesday Supper,1584)
• De la causa, principio, et uno(Concerning Cause, Principle, and Unity,1584)
• On the Infinite Universe and Worlds(De l'infinito universo et mondi,1584)
• Spaccio de la bestia trionfante(The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast,London, 1584)
• Cabala del cavallo Pegaseo(Cabal of the Horse Pegasus,1585)
• De gli eroici furori(The Heroic Frenzies,1585)
• Figuratio Aristotelici Physici auditus(Figures From Aristotle's Physics,1585)
• Dialogi duo de Fabricii Mordentis Salernitani(Two Dialogues of Fabricii Mordentis Salernitani,1586)
• Idiota triumphans(The Triumphant Idiot,1586)
• De somni interpretatione(Dream Interpretation,1586)
• Animadversiones circa lampadem lullianam(Amendments regarding Lull's Lantern,1586)
• Lampas triginta statuarum(The Lantern of Thirty Statues,1586)
• Centum et viginti articuli de natura et mundo adversus peripateticos(One Hundred and Twenty Articles on Nature and the World Against the Peripatetics,1586)
• De Lampade combinatoria Lulliana(The Lamp of Combinations according to Lull,1587)
• De progressu et lampade venatoria logicorum(Progress and the Hunter's Lamp of Logical Methods,1587)
• Oratio valedictoria(Valedictory Oration,1588)
• Camoeracensis Acrotismus(The Pleasure of Dispute,1588)
• De specierum scrutinio(1588)
• Articuli centum et sexaginta adversus huius tempestatis mathematicos atque Philosophos(One Hundred and Sixty Theses Against Mathematicians and Philosophers,1588)
• Oratio consolatoria(Consolation Oration,1589)
• De vinculis in genere(Of Bonds in General,1591)
• De triplici minimo et mensura(On the Threefold Minimum and Measure,1591)
• De monade numero et figura(On the Monad, Number, and Figure,Frankfurt, 1591)
• De innumerabilibus, immenso, et infigurabili(Of Innumerable Things, Vastness and the Unrepresentable,1591)
• De imaginum, signorum et idearum compositione(On the Composition of Images, Signs and Ideas,1591)
• Summa terminorum metaphysicorum(Handbook of Metaphysical Terms,1595)
• Artificium perorandi(The Art of Communicating,1612)

Collections

• Jordani Bruni Nolani opera latine conscripta(Giordano Bruno the Nolan's Works Written inLatin), Dritter Band (1962) / curantibus F. Tocco et H. Vitelli

See also

• Fermi paradox
• List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics

References

Works cited

• Aquilecchia, Giovanni; Montano, Aniello; Bertrando, Spaventa (2007). Gargano, Antonio (ed.).Le deposizioni davanti al tribunale dell'Inquisizione(in Italian). La Citta del Sol.
• Birx, H. James(11 November 1997)."Giordano Bruno".The Harbinger.Mobile, AL. Archived fromthe originalon 16 May 2019.
• Blum, Paul Richard (2012).Giordano Bruno: An Introduction.Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi.ISBN978-90-420-3555-3.
• Boulting, William (1914).Giordano Bruno: His Life, Thought, and Martyrdom.London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner.
• Bruno, Giordano (1998).Cause, Principle and Unity: And Essays on Magic.Translated by Robert de Lucca; Richard J. Blackwell. Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-59658-9.
• Collinge, William J. (2012).Historical Dictionary of Catholicism.Scarecrow Press.ISBN978-0-8108-5755-1.
• DeLeón-Jones, Karen Silvia (1997).Giordano Bruno and the Kabbalah: Prophets, Magicians, and Rabbis.Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-06807-8.
• Firpo, Luigi (1993).Il processo di Giordano Bruno(in Italian). Salerno.ISBN978-88-8402-135-9.
• Gatti, Hilary (2002).Giordano Bruno and Renaissance Science.Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.ISBN978-0-8014-8785-9.
• Rowland, Ingrid D. (2016).Giordano Bruno: Philosopher/Heretic.Farrar, Straus and Giroux.ISBN978-1-4668-9584-3.
• Saiber, Arielle (2005).Giordano Bruno and the Geometry of Language.Ashgate.ISBN978-0-7546-3321-1.
• Singer, Dorothea Waley (1968) [1950].Giordano Bruno: His Life and Thought.New York: Greenwood Press, Publishers.
• White, Michael (2002).The Pope & the Heretic.New York: William Morrow.ISBN978-0-06-018626-5.
• Yates, Frances(1964).Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition.London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.ISBN978-0-7100-2337-7.

Further reading

• Adamson, Robert;Mitchell, John Malcolm (1911)."Bruno, Giordano".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 4 (11th ed.). pp. 686–687.
• Blum, Paul Richard (1999).Giordano Bruno.Munich: Beck Verlag.ISBN978-3-406-41951-5.
• Blum, Paul Richard (2021)."Giordano Bruno".Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Bombassaro, Luiz Carlos (2002).Im Schatten der Diana: Die Jagdmetapher im Werk von Giordano Bruno(in German). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag.
• Bruno, Giordano (2024). Gatti, Hilary (ed.).The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast: Spaccio Della Bestia Trionfante.University of Toronto Press.ISBN978-1-4875-5200-8.
• Culianu, Ioan P.(1987).Eros and Magic in the Renaissance.University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0-226-12315-8.
• Kessler, John (1900).Giordano Bruno: The Forgotten Philosopher.Rationalist Association.
• Knox, Dilwyn (2019)."Giordano Bruno".Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.
• McIntyre, J. Lewis (1997).Giordano Bruno.Kessinger Publishing.ISBN978-1-56459-141-8.
• Mendoza, Ramon G. (1995).The Acentric Labyrinth. Giordano Bruno's Prelude to Contemporary Cosmology.Element Books.ISBN978-1-85230-640-3.
• Michel, Paul Henri (1973).The Cosmology of Giordano Bruno.Translated by R.E.W. Maddison. Paris: Hermann.ISBN0-8014-0509-2.

External links

• Bruno's works:text, concordances and frequency list
• Writings of Giordano Bruno
• Giordano BrunoLibrary of the World's Best Literature Ancient and ModernCharles Dudley WarnerEditor
• Bruno's Latin and Italian works online: Biblioteca Ideale di Giordano Bruno
• Complete works of Bruno as well as main biographies and studies available for free download in PDF format from the Warburg Institute and the Centro Internazionale di Studi Bruniani Giovanni Aquilecchia
• Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma LibrariesHigh resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Giordano Bruno in.jpg and.tiff format.
• Works by Giordano BrunoatProject Gutenberg
• Works by Giordano BrunoatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
• Works by or about Giordano Brunoat theInternet Archive