Giordano Bruno - (1548-1600)
was born at Nola,
near Naples in 1548.
An Italian
representative of the late Renaissance thought; his
teachings and writings, encompassing philosophy,
cosmology, theology, mathematics and creative
literature, constantly brought him into collision
with orthodox opinion and led him to a heretic's
death.
On becoming a
Dominican friar he assumed the name Giordano. In the
convent he began to develop theological doubts and to
profess the necessity of Christian liberty, which led
to trouble with the monastic authorities. He had read
two forbidden books by Erasmus and freely discussed
the theory which denied the divinity of Jesus.
A trial of heresy
was prepared against him so in 1576 Giordano fled to
Rome. There he was involved in a murder case and had
to flee again, first to Liguria and then to Venice.
In 1579 he adhered
to Calvinism but after publishing a broadsheet
against a Calvinist professor he was imprisoned. On
his retracting he was freed and went to Toulouse,
where he was granted the degree of Master of Arts.
In 1583 he moved to
London giving lectures on the Copernican theory of
the movement of the earth but the reception he
received was hostile. He moved back to France but
continued on to Germany when he found the religious
position had changed.
He was to return to
Italy when offered the Chair of Mathematics at Padua
by the Venetian patrician, Giovanni Mocenigo.
In autumn of 1592
Mocenigo denounced him to the inquisition for his
heretical theories. Arrested he was transferred to
Rome in 1593 where he remained imprisoned for seven
years.
Bruno argued that
his ideas were not theological but philosophical. The
Church did not accept this. He was twice given 40
days to recant. After a long trial Pope Clement VIII
ordered Bruno to be sentenced as an impenitent and
pertinacious heretic.
He was burned at the
stake on 17th February 1600.
The importance of
Giordano Bruno's books was acknowledged by being
placed on the forbidden list on August 7, 1603!
Quotes
"This entire
globe, this star, not being subject to death, and
dissolution and annihilation being impossible
anywhere in Nature, from time to time renews itself
by changing and altering all its parts. There is no
absolute up or down, as Aristotle taught; no absolute
position in space; but the position of a body is
relative to that of other bodies. Everywhere there is
incessant relative change in position throughout the
universe, and the observer is always at the centre of
things."
from his book "De la Causa, principio et
uno" ("On Cause, Principle, and
Unity")
"It is proof of
a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the
masses or majority, merely because the majority is
the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or
is not, believed by a majority of the people."
"Who so itcheth
to Philosophy must set to work by putting all things
to the doubt."
