Jordano Bruno - English

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Jordano Bruno - English
Internet Culturali - Italiahttp//www.internetcul
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   Bruno was born in the first half of 1548 in
the hamlet of San Giovanni del Cesco, near Nola,
in the Kingdom of Naples. The son of Giovanni
Bruno, a professional soldier of modest means,
and Fraulissa Savolino, the philosopher was named
Filippo at his baptism. He later preferred the
name Giordano, which he took at the time of
entering the Dominican order.Bruno spent his
childhood in Nola, where he conducted his first
studies. In 1562 he went to Naples to continue
his studies at the city Public Study, where he
attended the philosophy classes on Averroism
given by Giovan Vincenzo Colle, known as Il
Sarnese. At the same time, the Augustinian
Teofilo da Varano, who introduced him to both
ancient and recent fundamental works of the
Platonic tradition, also taught him. It is during
these years that Bruno read some of the texts,
which were to prove extremely important for the
development of his own philosophy, such as works
by the philosopher and theologian Niccolò Cusano
(1401-1464), whose criticism of Aristotelian
logic and reflection on the concept of infinity
he embraced. Both the treaties of combinatory art
by the Catalan Ramon Lull (1232-1316), where the
essential principles of knowledge are reduced to
letters of the alphabet and other symbols, and
the many treaties on the arts of memory, also had
an important role in the philosophers formation
so much so that the combinatory methods inspired
by Lull and the mnemotechnical works would
constitute the main themes of Brunis philosophic
investigations. Finally, it is probable that
during his years in Naples, Bruno became
interested in some heterodox movements,
particularly through the circle that formed
around the doctrines by theologian Juan de Valdés
(1490-1541) which were given a radical
interpretation tending towards the negation of
the Trinity.
On 16 June 1566 Bruno, just over seventeen,
entered the convent of San Domenico Maggiore in
Naples assuming the name Giordano. The convent
was known for its excellence in the quality of
university education offered. Entering the
convent allowed Bruno to follow a regular course
of study between 1566-1570 he attended lessons
in rhetoric, dialectic, metaphysics and natural
philosophy, whereas the years 1570-1577 he
dedicated to the study of theology, in which he
graduated in July 1575. During the time spent at
the Convent, Bruno was able to conduct extensive
reading, supported by the wealth of holdings in
the library annexed to San Domenico Maggiore. His
readings focused especially on works by Aristotle
and by the great Dominican masters, first of all
Thomas of Aquinas, who had taught and lived in
San Domenico Maggiore during the last years of
his life. However, the eleven years Bruno spent
in the convent were also years of deep anxiety,
caused by his doubts concerning Catholic doctrine
(in particular on the cult of saints and on the
dogma of Trinity), clashes with his superiors and
disciplinary problems. At the beginning of 1576,
a trial for heresy was prepared by the provincial
father of the order against Bruno, who travelled
to Rome to clarify his position with the orders
Procurator. However, the discovery in Naples, in
his library, of volumes containing works by the
church fathers with commentary by Erasmus of
Rotterdam (1466-1536) (whom Bruno appreciated but
whose reading was firmly condemned by the Church)
worsened the charges against him and caused his
decision to abandon the religious order and flee
to Rome. This was the beginning of the
philosophers long peregrinations within Italy
and Europe.
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After a brief stay in Liguria in 1577, Bruno
spent a few months in Venice, where (as he
declared himself at his trial hearings) published
the pamphlet De segni de tempi, lost today,
whose content probably revolved around
astrological themes. After wandering in Northern
Italy earning his living with private lessons in
elementary Latin and Astrology, he crossed the
Alps and headed to Chambery in France, where he
spent the winter of 1587. In the spring of 1580
he moved to Geneva where he was welcomed by the
large community of Italian exiles, among whom
Galeazzo Caracciolo, marquis of Vico. On 20 May
he enrolled in the faculty of Theology and
embraced Calvinism. However, his illusion of
achieved security and freedom suffered a serious
blow only a few months later. In August Bruno was
tried for defamation, following his publication
of a broadsheet denouncing the errors made during
a lesson by the theologian Antoine de la Faye, a
mediocre professor, who could notwithstanding
count on the support of Theodore de Beze,
Calvins successor at the head of the Geneva
Church. As a result of the trial, Bruno was
excommunicated and forced to destroy the
defamatory text. Despite his subsequent
rehabilitation, the philosophers disappointment
and bitterness at the discovery of the
intolerance of the Calvinist Church matured his
decision to leave Geneva. After a short period in
Lyon, in the Autumn of 1579 he reached Thoulouse,
seat of one of the most important French
Universities of the time, where he stayed until
the summer of 1581 giving lessons both on
Aristotelian philosophy and Lullian combinatory
art. The increasingly violent clashes between
Catholics and Protestants convinced him to leave
the city and move to Paris.
G. di Sacrobosco, Sphaera mundi (Venice,
1519)During the questioning to which he was
subjected at his trial, Bruno recalled how,
during his peregrinations through Northern Italy,
he had given lessons in Astronomy based on one of
the most renowned and commented treaties of the
Renaissance, the Sphaera mundi by the Dominican
Giovanni di Sacrobosco (XIII century), a text
still firmly anchored to Ptolemys geocentric
tradition.
Portrait of Jean Calvin (engraving, XVI
century)Jean Calvin (1509-1564), of French
origins, introduced a rigid vision of the
Reformation doctrine in Geneva. The intolerant
nature of Calvinism is exemplified in the person
of Miguel Servet, tried and burnt alive in Geneva
in 1553 because of his criticism of the dogma of
the Trinity.
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Portrait of Théodore de Bèze (engraving, XVII
century)After Calvins death, Théodore de Bèze
(1519-1605) took the lead of the city of Geneva
and its Church. In 1554 he had published the
treaty De haereticis a civili magistrato
puniendis, to justify Servets execution. In it
the intolerance of the Calvinist faith is
manifested fully, which Bruno would also
experience personally during his brief sojourn in
Geneva in 1579.
Breviarium Praedicatorum (Venice, 1573)The order
also known as the Order of the Preachers was
founded in 1206 by Saint Domenico of Guzmàn. Of
great tradition in the field of studies, among
the many theologians and philosophers that
flourished there the most notable were, in the
XIII century, Alberto Magno and Thomas of
Aquinas.
Portrait of Erasmus (engraving, XVI
century)Since 1559 the Catholic church had
forbidden the reading and possession of works by
the Dutch humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam, the
advocate of a profound and radical reformation of
religiosity. Such prohibition however did not
stop the clandestine circulation of Erasmuss
works, beginning with Encomium Moriae (The Praise
of Folly) whose fame and availability are
attested by Brunos familiarity with the text
during the years he spent in Naples.
Arriving in Paris in the autumn of 1581, Bruno
then remained in the city for three years, during
which he became associated with the court of the
French king Henry III, where his knowledge of the
techniques of the art of memory won him much
appreciation. The years spent in Paris were
extremely important for the development of his
philosophy in these years, in fact, Bruno
elaborated some of the essential tenets of his
philosophical investigations and conducted
careful readings of texts which would prove
fundamental for him, such as De revolutionibus
orbium coelestium by the Polish astronomer
Niccolò Copernicus (1473-1543), whom he had
already heard about during his studies in Naples.
After a first cycle of 30 lectures revolving
around logic and metaphysics, the philosopher
took part in the group of the extraordinary
readers who taught at the Cambrai College rather
than at the Sorbonne University, an establishment
which they criticised for its traditionally
Aristotelian tendencies.In 1582 Bruno published
four works De umbris idearum containing also
an Ars memoriae, the first example of Brunos
mnemotechnic work - Cantus Circaeus, De
compendiosa architectura et complemento artis
Lullii and a comedy in Italian, Candelaio (The
Candlemaker). In these writings some of his
themes were first outlined, such as for instance,
the question of the soul, the concepts of
substance, vicissitude and infinity. These
would have a decisive role in his future
investigations and constitute the core of the
Nolan philosophy.In the spring of 1583, with
the deterioration of the political and religious
conflicts, Bruno left Paris and moved to London.
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Portrait of the French king Henry III (engraving,
XVI century)His first work published in Paris in
1582, the De umbris idearum was dedicated to the
French king Henry III, to whom, as Bruno said
during his trial, he had publicly demonstrated
his extraordinary skills in the art of memory.
G. Bruno, Cantus Circaeus (Paris,
1582)Comprising an art of memory, the work was
dedicated to Henry of Angoulême, brother of Henry
III, confirming Brunos willingness to maintain
his ties with the Kings court.
N. Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium
coelestium (Basilea, 1566)This work, first
published in Nuremberg in 1543, marked what has
been defined as the Copernican Revolution, the
theory that the planets revolve around the Sun
and not, as in the Ptolemaic conception, around
the Earth. According to Copernicus, however
immense, the universe was still finite. Bruno
went further, supporting the infinity of a
universe made of divine worlds.
G. Bruno, Candelaio (Paris1582)The comedy set in
Naples, the city of Brunos youth and of his
cultural formation, had profound philosophical
implications strongly influenced by the theories
of Pythagoras and the neoplatonic Plotino. The
plot was characterized by constant changes in the
characters roles, which can be interpreted as
metaphors of the transmigration of the soul.
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In the spring of 1583 Bruno arrived in London
with the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau.
He lived there for two and a half years,
developing all the central themes of his
philosophical investigation began in Paris.In
England the philosopher sought to find a place
within the academic circles. After publishing,
soon after his arrival, the Ars reminiscendi, he
went to Oxford in June 1583, where he started a
public debate and subsequently a series of
lectures in which he expounded the fundamental
tenets of his philosophical system. This centred
on the concept of the soul of the world, on a
vision of infinite worlds and of a universe with
no centre or periphery. However he was soon
forced to suspend his lectures because of the
hostile reception that a then strongly
Aristotelian academic circle reserved for him,
which culminated in accusation of plagiarism.
However, this incident and the ensuing polemic
did not interrupt the intense period of
philosophic elaboration that characterized the
English period. In the summer, Bruno published
the Explicatio triginta sigillorum and started
working on some of the most important
philosophical dialogues in Italy, La cena de le
Ceneri (The Ash Wednesday Supper), the De la
causa, principio et uno (Concerning the Cause,
Principle, and One) De linfinito, universo et
mondi (On the Infinite Universe and the Worlds),
all strongly critical towards the then dominant
Aristotelianism and pedantry of the English
doctors, published in 1584 by John Charlewood.
Also in 1584 Bruno wrote the first of his moral
dialogues, Lo Spaccio de la bestia trionfante
(The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast), followed
by the Cabala del cavallo pegaseo (Cabal of the
Horse Pegasus) a harsh criticism of the whole
Jewish-Christian tradition, and finally, the De
gleroici furori (The Heroic Frenzies).Bruno
left London to return to Paris at the beginning
of November 1585.
Portrait of Elisabeth I, Queen of England
(engraving, XVII century)In March 1583, Francis
Walsingham, Secretary of State to Elisabeth I,
received a letter from the English ambassador in
Paris Henry Cobham announcing Brunos arrival in
England, whose opinions in matters of religion
were judged with great suspicion.
G. Bruno, La cena delle Ceneri (London, 1584) In
this work Bruno gave the first systematic
exposition of his natural philosophy, reaffirming
Copernicus heliocentric theory, and offered a
sarcastic representation of English academia.
Brunos anti academic stance underlined his
choice to return, in the composition of all the
works he wrote whilst in London, to the form of
the philosophical dialogue in Italian, in
contrast with the dominating use of Latin.
G. Bruno, De glheroici furori (London,
1585)Central in this work dedicated like the
Spaccio de la bestia trionfante to the writer and
poet Philip Sidney (1554-1586) was the need for
a radical reform in the world of laws and values.
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In the autumn of 1585, again with the ambassador
Michel de Castelnau, Bruno came back to Paris
where he remained until June 1586, in a changed
political and religious atmosphere. His second
and last sojourn in Paris was characterized by
harsh disputes stemming from his strong criticism
of Aristotelian philosophy, as it had already
been evident in England.In the first half of
1586 Bruno published the Figuratio Aristotelici
Physici auditus, in which he commented
Aristotelian physics, and two short dialogues,
the Mordentius and the De Mordentii circino
with an appraisal of the Mathematician Fabrizio
Mordente, also residing in Paris and the inventor
of a special kind of compass. However these two
dialogues were not free of criticism. As a result
of the ensuing polemic, the Nolan philosopher
published two more dialogues, the Idiota
triumphans and the De somnii interpretatione,
this time overtly critical of Mordente.The most
important work published at this time were the
Centum et viginti articuli de natura et mundo
adversus Peripateticos, where Bruno expounded his
natural philosophy theories already proposed and
discussed on 28 May 1586 at the college de
Cambrai. Their content, strongly critical of
Aristotles theories in works such as Fisica and
the De coelo, had provoked such strong protests
that the dispute had to be suspended.The
worsened political and religious tensions (in
July 1585 Henry III had abrogated the edict of
pacification with the Protestants) and the
increasing hostility shown by the academic world
towards Bruno led the philosopher to resume his
peregrinations. Leaving Paris in June 1586, he
headed towards Lutheran Germany..
G. Bruno, Dialogii duo de Fabricii Mordentis
(Paris, 1586)The Differential compass invented
by the Geometrician Fabrizio Mordente, from
Salerno, made many geometric calculations
possible, such as the measurement of the
proportion between two unequal lines and the
division of a circle into grades or minutes.
Although Bruno acknowledged the value of this
tool, he criticised Mordente for limiting his
reflection to the purely empirical and mechanical
aspect of his invention and failing to explore
its theoretical implications.
Scenes from the religious strife in France
(engraving, XVI century)The religious strife
between the Catholics and the Huguenots (French
Protestants), culminated on 24 March 1572 in the
massacre of over 10.000 Huguenots during the
night of Saint Bartholomew, re-ignited in 1584
when the death of Henry IIIs only surviving
brother gave rise to the possibility of the
Calvinist Henry of Navarres accession to the
French throne. .
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Portrait of Aristotle (xylography, XVI
century)Aristotle, whose doctrines are the
foundation of European culture, was the main
target of Brunos criticism. In all of his works,
including in the Figuratio Aristotelici Physici
auditus and the Centum et viginti articuli of
1586, Bruno set out to throw off the heavy yoke
of Aristotelian authority.
After a short stay in Magonce and Würzburg and a
longer permanence in Marburg soon abandoned
because of some contrasts with the University
Rector, Bruno moved to Wittemberg. On 20 August
1586 he was enrolled at the Academy, where he
remained for two years teaching private lessons
in the art of memory and commenting on Aristotle.
This period was perhaps the most serene in his
life and productive as far as his philosophical
production was concerned. In 1587 Bruno wrote the
De lampade combinatoria Lulliana and the De
progressu et lampade venatoria logicorum. The
same year witnessed the writing of the Artificium
perorandi, published posthumously in 1612, the
Animadversiones circa Lampadem Lullianam and the
Lampas triginta statuarum, the latter two
published in the second half of the 19th Century,
along with his commentaries and some works on
physics by Aristotle, written between 1587 and
the beginning of 1588.In 1588 he wrote the
Camoeracensis acrotismus, followed by the Oratio
valedictoria, which Bruno had expounded on 8
March 1588 to the University of Wittenberg
professors, who in 1586 had welcomed him as a man
exiled, fugitive and disgraced. He then left
Wittemberg.In the spring of the same year Bruno
reached Prague to seek the protection of the
emperor Rudolf II of Hapsburg. He remained six
months, during which he published the De
specierum scrutinio et Lampade combinatoria
Raymundi Lullii and the Articuli adversus
mathematicos, with a dedication to Rudolf II
amounting to a proper manifesto in favour of
freedom of thought and religious tolerance.
Portrait of Martin Luther (silografia, sec.
XVI)Fu proprio nella città tedesca di Wittenberg
che Martin Luther (1483-1546) rese pubbliche nel
1517 le sue celebri 95 tesi, dando così avvio
alla Riforma protestante.
G. Bruno, Oratio valedictoria (Wittenberg,
1588)In this vibrant and passionate text Bruno
praised not only the University of Wittenberg and
its learned professors, but also the whole of
German society and its values protecting
philosophy and science as in these times, it
is here that knowledge has built its dwelling
place.
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Camoeracensis AcrotismusThe work was an
extended, amended version of the Centum et
viginti articuli previously published in Paris in
1586. In it Bruno bitterly criticised the
Aristotelian notions of infinity, space, time and
movement.
View of Prague (engraving, XVI century)Several
philosophers artists and men of science were
welcomed and bestowed protection at the court of
Rudolf II of Hapsburg, who had elected Prague as
his residence, where he lived in magnificent,
increasing isolation. Among them was the Danish
astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), to whom Bruno
gave a copy of his Camoeracensis Acrotismus.
Already in the Oratio valedictoria Bruno had
praised Brahes theories in astronomy.
After having left Prague in November 1588 and
spent a short period of time in Tubingen, Bruno
arrived in Helmstedt in the duchy of Braunschweig
in January 1589, where he was to remain until
April 1590. There he attended the Academy Julia,
founded by Duke Giulio. After the latters death
in May 1589, a solemn funeral ceremony was
celebrated at the same academy, and in that
occasion the philosopher pronounced an Oratio
consolatoria, published soon after.Publicly
excommunicated by the local Lutheran Church
superintendent, at Helmstedt Bruno worked
nonetheless on the composition of some works on
natural magic, the De magia, the Theses de magia,
the De rerum principiis, elementis et causis,
which together with the De vinculis in genere,
the Medicina Lulliana and the De magia
mathematica written between 1590 and 1591
were not published until the second half of the
19th century.After a brief sojourn in Magdeburg,
in 1590 the philosopher arrived in Frankfurt, one
of the major contemporary centres of the German
book market. The three poems the De minimo, the
De monade the De immenso published at the Johann
Wechel print shop, constituted the so called
Frankfurt trilogy, rightly defined as Brunos
philosophical testament, focussing on the
elaboration of a proper encyclopaedia of
knowledge. The beginning of 1591 he spent in
Zurich, where he gave a series of lectures on
Aristotelian terminology which were published in
part in 1595 and entirely in 1609 with the title
of Summa terminorum metaphysicorum. In the spring
of 1591 Bruno was back in Frankfurt to publish
the De imaginum compositione, which circulated in
the Autumn, when he had already left the city.
Making a choice that had astounded his German
entourage, Bruno had returned to Italy.
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G. Bruno, De triplici minimo et mensura
(Frankfurt, 1591)The De minimo the first in
the Frankfurt poems to be published -- was
Brunos most widely disseminated text. As was
stated in the dedication by Joahnn Wechel to the
Duke of Brauschweig Enrico Giulio, Bruno himself
had participated to the printing by carving some
of the xylography embellishing the edition.
Map of Frankfurt am Main (XVI century)Every
year, in spring and autumn, two book fairs
renowned across the whole of Europe took place in
Frankfurt. In the one of 1591 the 4 editions (the
three Frankfurt Poems and the De imaginum
compositione) that Bruno had commissioned to the
typographer and printer Johann Wechel were sold.
G. Bruno, De imaginum, signorum, et idearum
compositione (Frakfurt, 1591)In what was his
last work published before his arrest, Bruno
resumed and re-elaborated some of the reflections
begun with the De umbris idearum in 1582,
identifying the faculty of imagination as the
tool that allowed man to develop the ability to
memorize. This work confirmed the continuity of
such themes in his chosen course of philosophical
speculation.
Map of Padua (engraving, XVI century)Among the
German students at his lessons in mathematics at
the University of Padua, Bruno met again
Hieronymus Besler (1566-1632), who had been his
disciple and assistant in Germany. To him we owe
the manuscript copies of the commentaries on
Aristotle written by the philosopher during his
sojourn in Wittenberg.
Venice, Mocenigo Palace (engraving, XVIII
century)Giovanni Mocenigo enclosed with his
letter of accusation some of Brunos works, like
the Cantus circaeus, printed in Paris in1582.
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In the summer of 1591 Bruno received two letters
from the Venetian patrician Giovanni Mocenigo,
who invited him to Venice so that he could teach
him the art of memory. From Venice, where he had
probably arrived at the end of August, Bruno went
to Padua, starting a private course of lectures
there on Geometry and Mathematics for the German
students attending the University. These were
only published under the titles of Praelectiones
geometricae and Ars deformationum in 1964.In
March 1592 Bruno was installed in Giovanni
Mocenigos Venetian house. During the night of 22
May the nobleman locked him in a room of the
house and, the next day, denounced him to the
Inquisition for his heretical theories.
Mocenigos denunciation letter constituted the
key document of the trial against Bruno, as it
already included many of the charges which would
later be contained in the death sentence, such as
his denying of the transubstantiation of bread
and wine into the flesh and blood of Christ, his
belief in the doctrine of reincarnation, and the
practice of magic. The Venetian nobleman wrote
two more letters containing additional, equally
serious charges against Bruno, who was accused of
having lived in heretic countries, sharing their
costumes. Bruno was incarcerated in San
Domenico di Castello, and on the 26 May 1592 his
trial began. The first hearing was followed by
another six, with the last taking place on 30
July. Demands of the Roman Inquisition for his
extradition were sent in August and were
initially rejected. However, to increasingly
pressing requests the Venetian Senate responded,
on 7 January 1593, with the approval of Brunos
extradition to Rome.
Rome, S. Offizio palace (engraving, XVII
century)The Congregation of the Roman
Inquisition, also known as the S. Offizio
Congregation, was founded in 1542 by Paul III,
with the aim of contrasting the Protestant
movement. Its jurisdiction extended to all
accusations concerning matters of faith, such as
heresy, schism and magic.
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On 27 January 1593 Bruno entered the jail of the
Roman palace of SantOffizio.The long trial
prepared by the Roman Inquisition, during which
Bruno was summoned and questioned in fifteen
sittings, underwent different phases and some
suspensions. The case was greatly complex as the
charges included accusations in three categories
disciplinary charges, for his abandoning of the
religious habit and his invectives against the
Church and its hierarchy theological charges, as
identified in Mocenigos letter and finally,
philosophical charges, for his doctrines
concerning the Infinite and Eternal Universe, the
Earths movement (thus his adherence to
Copernican theory). In order to reach a rapid
conclusion of the trail, the cardinal Roberto
Bellarmino, a member of the Roman Inquisition and
the future protagonist of the trial against
Galileo Galilei, put forward eight propositions
for Bruno to abjure because of their heretical
character. After initial hesitation, the
philosopher became increasingly resolute and
finally declared, at his last hearing on 21
December, that he had nothing to retract. On 20
January 1600 the Pope Clement VIII ordered the
trial conclusion with a death sentence. On 8
February, the sentence was read before the
inquisitors and other witnesses condemning the
accused as an impenitent, pertinacious and
obstinate heretic. At the same time, all his
books and writings were sentenced as heretical,
forbidden, and included in the Index of
Prohibited Books, a catalogue published
periodically listing the books whose reading and
possession was forbidden by the Catholic Church.
Bruno was moved to the jail of the Governor of
Rome in Tor di Nona, near Piazza Navona. In the
early hours of Thursday 17 February he was
brought to the Campo de Fiori, where he was
stripped of his clothes and burned alive at the
stake.
Rome, Campo de Fiori (engraving, XVIII
century)Evidence of Brunos execution in Campo
dei Fiori, the Roman piazza where death sentences
were executed, can be found in a manuscript
notice of 19 February 1600 Thursday morning in
Campo di Fiore that wicked Dominican friar from
Nola was burned alive ... he said he died a
martyr and willingly, and that his soul,
ascending together with that smoke, would go to
Heaven.
Edict of 7 August 1603 forbidding Brunos
worksThe publication of edicts prohibiting books
and of the Index of Prohibited Books were the
responsibility of the Congregation of the Index,
funded in 1571 by Pio V with the duty of
examining works on suspicion of heresy. Brunos
books were still forbidden in the Index of 1948,
the last edition ever published.
Rome, Monument to Bruno in Campo de FioriThe
monument to Bruno in Campo de Fiori, where he
was executed, was created by Ettore Ferrari and
inaugurated on 19 June 1889. The bas-reliefs at
the foot of the statue commemorate the salient
events of his life.
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