Editing Giordano Bruno (section)

==Life==
{{Hermeticism|expand=Historical figures}}

===Early years, 1548–1576===
Born Filippo <!-- please do not change to 'Giordano', which was the monastic name he took later --> Bruno in [[Nola]] (a ''[[comune]]'' in the modern-day [[province of Naples]], in the Southern Italian region of [[Campania]], then part of the [[Kingdom 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 to [[Naples]] to be educated. He was tutored privately at the Augustinian monastery there, and attended public lectures at the [[Studium Generale]].{{sfn|Singer|1968}} At the age of 17, he entered the [[Dominican Order]] at the monastery of [[San Domenico Maggiore]] in Naples, taking the name Giordano, after Giordano Crispo, his metaphysics tutor. He continued his studies there, completing his [[novitiate]], and [[Ordination|ordained]] a [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|priest]] in 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 his [[mnemonic]] system before [[Pope Pius V]] and [[Scipione Rebiba|Cardinal Rebiba]]. In his later years, Bruno claimed that the Pope accepted his dedication to him of the lost work ''On The Ark of Noah'' at this time.<ref>This is recorded in the diary of one Guillaume Cotin, librarian of the Abbey of St. Victor, who recorded recollections of a number of personal conversations he had with Bruno. Bruno also mentions this dedication in the Dedicatory Epistle of ''The Cabala of Pegasus'' (''Cabala del Cavallo Pegaseo'', 1585).</ref>

While Bruno was distinguished for outstanding ability, his taste for [[Freethought|free thinking]] and 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 a [[crucifix]], and for having recommended controversial texts to a novice.{{sfn|Aquilecchia|Montano|Bertrando|2007|p=11}} Such behavior could perhaps be overlooked, but Bruno's situation became much more serious when he was reported to have defended the [[Arianism|Arian heresy]], and when a copy of the banned writings of [[Erasmus]], annotated by him, was discovered hidden in the monastery [[latrine]]. When he learned that an [[indictment]] was being prepared against him in Naples he fled, shedding his [[religious habit]], at least for a time.<ref>Gosselin has argued that Bruno's report that he returned to Dominican garb in Padua suggests that he kept his tonsure at least until his arrival in Geneva in 1579. He also suggests it is likely that Bruno kept the tonsure even after this point, showing a continued and deep religious attachment contrary to the way in which Bruno has been portrayed as a martyr for modern science. Instead, Gosselin argues, Bruno should be understood in the context of reformist Catholic dissenters. Edward A. Gosselin, "A Dominican Head in Layman's Garb? A Correction to the Scientific Iconography of Giordano Bruno", in ''[[The Sixteenth Century Journal]]'', Vol. 27, No. 3 (Autumn, 1996), pp. 673–678.</ref>

===First years of wandering, 1576–1583===
Bruno first went to the Genoese port of [[Noli]], then to [[Savona]], [[Turin]] and finally to [[Venice]], where he published his lost work ''On the Signs of the Times'' with the permission (so he claimed at his trial) of the Dominican [[Remigio Nannini Fiorentino]]. From Venice he went to [[Padua]], where he met fellow Dominicans who convinced him to wear his [[religious habit]] again. From Padua he went to [[Bergamo]] and then across the Alps to [[Chambéry]] and [[Lyon]]. His movements after this time are obscure.<ref>{{harvnb|Singer|1968|p={{page needed|date=June 2024}}}}: "Following the northern route back through Brescia, Bruno came to Bergamo where he resumed the monastic habit. He perhaps visited Milan, and then leaving Italy he crossed the Alps by the Mont Cenis pass, and came to Chambéry. He describes his hospitable reception there by the Dominican Convent, but again he received no encouragement to remain, and he journeyed on to Lyons. Bruno's next movements are obscure. In 1579 he reached Geneva."</ref>

[[File:Earlierbruno.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The earliest depiction of Bruno is an engraving published in 1715 in Germany, presumed based on a lost contemporary portrait.<ref name="Salvestrini-1958">{{cite book |first=Virgilio |last=Salvestrini |title=Bibliografia di Giordano Bruno |publisher=Firenze |year=1958 |language=it}}</ref>]]

In 1579, Bruno arrived in [[Geneva]]. 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."{{sfn|Singer|1968|p=12}} 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 the [[University of Geneva]] in May 1579.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|p=42}} But in keeping with his personality he could not long remain silent. In August he published an attack on the work of {{interlanguage link|Antoine de La Faye|fr}}, a distinguished professor. Bruno and the printer, Jean Bergeon, were promptly arrested.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=44–45}} Rather than apologizing, Bruno insisted on continuing to defend his publication. He was refused the right to take [[sacrament]].{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=46–47}} Though this right was soon restored, he left Geneva.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|p=48–49}}

He went to France, arriving first in [[Lyon]], and thereafter settling for a time (1580–1581) in [[Toulouse]], where he took his doctorate in theology and was elected by students to lecture in philosophy.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=49–52}} He also attempted at this time to return to Catholicism, but was denied absolution by the Jesuit priest he approached.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|p=51}} When religious strife broke out in the summer of 1581, he moved to Paris.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|p=53}} There he held a cycle of thirty lectures on theological topics and also began to gain fame for his prodigious memory.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=56–57}} His talents attracted the benevolent attention of the king [[Henry III of France|Henry III]]; Bruno subsequently reported: <blockquote>"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, entitled ''The Shadows of Ideas'', which I dedicated to His Majesty. Forthwith he gave me an Extraordinary Lectureship with a salary."{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=57–58}}</blockquote>

In Paris, Bruno enjoyed the protection of his powerful French patrons. During this period, he published several works on mnemonics, including ''[[De umbris idearum]]'' (''On the Shadows of Ideas'', 1582), ''{{Ill|Ars memoriae (Giordano Bruno)|lt=Ars memoriae|it|Ars memoriae}}'' (''The Art of Memory'', 1582), and ''Cantus circaeus'' (''Circe's Song'', 1582; described at {{section link|Circe 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 of [[Petrus Ramus]] then becoming popular.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} Bruno also published a comedy summarizing some of his philosophical positions, titled ''Il 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, Sir [[Philip Sidney]], [[Michel de Castelnau]] (French Ambassador to England), and possibly [[Pope Pius V]], it is apparent that this wanderer had risen sharply in status and moved in powerful circles.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

===England, 1583–1585===
[[File:GiordanoBrunomnemonic.gif|thumb|Woodcut illustration of one of Giordano Bruno's less complex mnemonic devices]]
In April 1583, Bruno went to England with letters of recommendation from [[Henry III of France|Henry III]] as a guest of the French ambassador, [[Michel de Castelnau]]. Bruno lived at the French embassy with the lexicographer [[John Florio]]. There he became acquainted with the poet [[Philip Sidney]] (to whom he dedicated two books) and other members of the Hermetic circle around [[John Dee (mathematician)|John Dee]], though there is no evidence that Bruno ever met Dee himself. He also lectured at [[Oxford University|Oxford]], and unsuccessfully sought a teaching position there. His views were controversial, notably with [[John Underhill, Bishop of Oxford|John Underhill]], Rector of [[Lincoln College, Oxford|Lincoln College]] and subsequently bishop of Oxford, and [[George Abbot (Archbishop of Canterbury)|George Abbot]], who later became [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. Abbot mocked Bruno for supporting "the opinion of [[Nicolaus Copernicus|Copernicus]] that 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",<ref>{{cite journal |first=Andrew D. |last=Weiner |title=Expelling the Beast: Bruno's Adventures in England |journal=[[Modern Philology]] |volume=78 |issue=1 |year=1980 |pages=1–13 |jstor=437245 |doi=10.1086/391002|s2cid=161642786 }}</ref> and found Bruno had both plagiarized and misrepresented [[Marsilio Ficino|Ficino]]'s work, leading Bruno to return to the continent.<ref>Hannam, James. ''[[God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science]]''. [[Icon Books]] Ltd, 2009, 312, {{ISBN|978-1848310704}}</ref>

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 the [[cosmological tract]]s ''La 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 as ''Lo spaccio de la bestia trionfante'' (''The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast'', 1584) and ''{{ill|De gli eroici furori|it}}'' (''On the Heroic Frenzies'', 1585). Some of these were printed by [[John Charlewood]]. Some of the works that Bruno published in London, notably ''The 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 Bossy]] has advanced the theory that, while staying in the French Embassy in London, Bruno was also spying on Catholic conspirators, under the pseudonym "Henry Fagot", for [[Sir Francis Walsingham]], [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth]]'s Secretary of State.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bossy |first=John | author-link = John Bossy |title=Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |date=1991 |isbn=978-0-300-04993-0 }}</ref>

Bruno is sometimes cited as being the first to propose that the universe is infinite, which he did during his time in England, but an [[English people|English]] [[scientist]], [[Thomas Digges]], put forth this idea in a published work in 1576, some eight years earlier than Bruno.<ref>[[John Gribbin]] (2009). ''In Search of the Multiverse: Parallel Worlds, Hidden Dimensions, and the Ultimate Quest for the Frontiers of Reality'', {{ISBN|978-0470613528}}. p. 88</ref> An infinite universe and the possibility of alien life had also been earlier suggested by [[Germans|German]] [[Catholic Cardinal]] [[Nicholas of Cusa]] in "On Learned Ignorance" published in 1440 and Bruno attributed his understanding of multiple worlds to this earlier scholar, who he called "the divine Cusanus".<ref>{{cite book |last=Sgarbi|first=Marco |title=Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy |location=New York |publisher=Springer International Publishing |date=2022 |isbn=978-3-319-141695}}. p. 255</ref>

===Last years of wandering, 1585–1592===
In October 1585, Castelnau was recalled to France, and Bruno went with him.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=112–113}} In Paris, Bruno found a tense political situation. Moreover, his 120 theses against [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] natural science soon put him in ill favor. In 1586, following a violent quarrel over these theses, he left France for Germany.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=189–194}}

[[File:Unnamed Figures.jpg|thumb|left|Woodcut from "Articuli centum et sexaginta adversus huius tempestatis mathematicos atque philosophos", [[Prague]] 1588]]
In Germany he failed to obtain a teaching position at [[Marburg]], but was granted permission to teach at [[University of Halle-Wittenberg|Wittenberg]], where he lectured on [[Aristotle]] for two years.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=196–197}} However, with a change of intellectual climate there, he was no longer welcome, and went in 1588 to [[Prague]], where he obtained 300 [[Thaler|taler]] from [[Rudolf II]], but no teaching position.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=207–213}} He went on to serve briefly as a professor in [[University of Helmstedt|Helmstedt]], but had to flee again in 1590 when he was [[excommunication|excommunicated]] by the [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]].{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=214–219}}

During this period he produced several [[Latin]] works, dictated to his friend and secretary Girolamo Besler, including ''De Magia'' (''On Magic''), ''Theses De Magia'' (''Theses on Magic'') and ''De Vinculis in Genere'' (''A General Account of Bonding''). All these were apparently transcribed or recorded by Besler (or Bisler) between 1589 and 1590.{{sfn|Bruno|1998|p=xxxvi}} He also published ''De Imaginum, Signorum, Et Idearum Compositione'' (''On the Composition of Images, Signs and Ideas'', 1591).

In 1591 he was in [[Frankfurt]], where he received an invitation from the [[Venice|Venetian]] patrician [[Mocenigo family|Giovanni Mocenigo]], who wished to be instructed in the art of memory,{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=224–225}} and also heard of a vacant chair in mathematics at the [[University of Padua]]. At the time the [[Inquisition]] seemed to be losing some of its strictness, and because the [[Republic of Venice]] was the most liberal state in the [[Italian Peninsula]], Bruno was lulled into making the fatal mistake of returning to Italy.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/82258/Giordano-Bruno/883/Final-years|title=Giordano Bruno|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=8 May 2014|quote=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.}}</ref>

He went first to [[Padua]], where he taught briefly, and applied unsuccessfully for the chair of mathematics, which was given instead to [[Galileo Galilei]] one year later. Bruno accepted Mocenigo's invitation and moved to Venice in March 1592.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|p=249}} For about two months he served as an in-house tutor to Mocenigo, to whom he let slip some of his heterodox ideas.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=253–257}} Mocenigo denounced him to the [[Venetian Holy Inquisition|Venetian Inquisition]], which had Bruno arrested on 22 May 1592.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=257–258}} Among the numerous charges of [[blasphemy]] and [[heresy]] brought against him in Venice, based on Mocenigo's denunciation, was his belief in the [[cosmic pluralism|plurality of worlds]], as well as accusations of personal misconduct.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|p=259}} 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.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|pp=287–288}} After several months of argument, the Venetian authorities reluctantly consented and Bruno was sent to Rome in January 1593.{{sfn|Boulting|1914|p=292}}

===Imprisonment, trial and execution, 1593–1600===
During the seven years of his trial in Rome, Bruno was held in confinement, lastly in the [[Tower 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.<ref>"II Sommario del Processo di Giordano Bruno, con appendice di Documenti sull'eresia e l'inquisizione a Modena nel secolo XVI", edited by Angelo Mercati, in ''Studi e Testi'', vol. 101.</ref> 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 Firpo]] speculates the charges made against Bruno by the Roman Inquisition were:{{sfn|Firpo|1993}}

* holding opinions contrary to the [[Catholicism|Catholic faith]] and speaking against it and its ministers;
* holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith about the [[Trinity]], the [[divinity of Christ]], and the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]];
* holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith pertaining to Jesus as the [[Christ (title)|Christ]];
* holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith regarding the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|virginity of Mary, mother of Jesus]];
* holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith about both [[Transubstantiation]] and the [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]];
* claiming the existence of a [[cosmic pluralism|plurality of worlds]] and [[Eternity of the world|their eternity]];
* believing in [[metempsychosis]] and in the [[Transmigration of the soul|transmigration]] of the human soul into brutes;
* dealing in magics and divination.

[[File:Relief Bruno Campo dei Fiori n1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|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 Cardinal [[Robert Bellarmine|Bellarmine]], who demanded a full recantation, which Bruno eventually refused. On 20 January 1600, [[Pope Clement VIII]] declared Bruno a heretic, and the Inquisition issued a sentence of death. According to the correspondence of [[Caspar Schoppe|Gaspar Schopp]] of [[Breslau]], 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").<ref>{{harvnb|Singer|1968|loc=ch. 7}}: "A gloating account of the whole ritual is given in a letter written on the very day by a youth named Gaspar Schopp of Breslau, a recent convert to Catholicism to whom Pope Clement VIII had shown great favor, creating him Knight of St. Peter and Count of the Sacred Palace. Schopp was addressing Conrad Rittershausen. He recounts that because of his heresy Bruno had been publicly burned that day in the Square of Flowers in front of the Theatre of Pompey. He makes merry over the belief of the Italians that every heretic is a Lutheran. It is evident that he had been present at the interrogations, for he relates in detail the life of Bruno and the works and doctrines for which he had been arraigned, and he gives a vivid account of Bruno's final appearance before his judges on 8 February. To Schopp we owe the knowledge of Bruno's bearing under judgement. When the verdict had been declared, records Schopp, Bruno with a threatening gesture addressed his judges: "Perchance you who pronounce my sentence are in greater fear than I who receive it." Thus he was dismissed to the prison, gloats the convert, "and was given eight days to recant, but in vain. So today he was led to the funeral pyre. When the image of our Savior was shown to him before his death he angrily rejected it with averted face. Thus my dear Rittershausen is it our custom to proceed against such men or rather indeed such monsters."</ref>

He was turned over to the secular authorities. On 17 February 1600, in the [[Campo de' Fiori]] (a central Roman market square), naked, with his "tongue imprisoned because of his wicked words", he was [[Death by burning|burned alive at the stake]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Fitzgerald|first=Timothy|title=Discourse on Civility and Barbarity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b67p1VdF_OoC&pg=PA239|access-date=11 May 2017|date= 2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-804103-0|page=239}}</ref><ref>"Il Sommario del Processo di Giordano Bruno, con appendice di Documenti sull'eresia e l'inquisizione a Modena nel secolo XVI", edited by Angelo Mercati, in ''Studi e Testi'', vol. 101; the precise terminology for the tool used to silence Bruno before burning is recorded as ''una morsa di legno'', or "a vise of wood", and not an iron spike as sometimes claimed by other sources.</ref> His ashes were thrown into the [[Tiber]] river.

All of Bruno's works were placed on the ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' in 1603. The inquisition cardinals who judged Giordano Bruno were [[Robert Bellarmine|Cardinal Bellarmino (Bellarmine)]], [[Carlo Gaudenzio Madruzzo|Cardinal Madruzzo (Madruzzi)]], Camillo Cardinal Borghese (later [[Pope Paul V]]), Domenico Cardinal Pinelli, Pompeio Cardinal Arrigoni, [[Paolo Emilio Sfondrati|Cardinal Sfondrati]], [[Pedro de Deza|Pedro Cardinal De Deza Manuel]] and [[Giulio Antonio Santorio|Cardinal Santorio]] (Archbishop of Santa Severina, Cardinal-Bishop of Palestrina).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Valentinuzzi|first=Max E.|date=4 October 2019|title=Giordano Bruno: Expander of the Copernican Universe|journal=IEEE Pulse|volume=10|issue=5|pages=23–27|doi=10.1109/MPULS.2019.2937244|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The measures taken to prevent Bruno continuing to speak have resulted in his becoming a symbol for free thought and [[free speech]] in present-day Rome, where an annual memorial service takes place close to the spot where he was executed.{{sfn|Rowland|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=C-q8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT8 8]}}

===Physical appearance===
The earliest likeness of Bruno is an engraving published in 1715<ref>Edward A. Gosselin, "A Dominican Head in Layman's Garb? A Correction to the Scientific Iconography of Giordano Bruno", in ''The Sixteenth Century Journal'', Vol. 27, No. 3 (Autumn, 1996), p. 674</ref> and cited by Salvestrini as "the only known portrait of Bruno". Salvestrini suggests that it is a re-engraving made from a now lost original.<ref name="Salvestrini-1958"/> 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 by [[George Abbot (Archbishop of Canterbury)|George Abbot]] indicates 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...".<ref>Robert McNulty, "Bruno at Oxford", in Renaissance News, 1960 (XIII), pp. 300–305</ref>