Bruno, Girodano
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Bruno, Girodano: (b. Nola [NA], c1548; d. Rome, Feb. 17, 1600). Philosopher, priest, astronomer, astrologer, occultist. The son of a soldier named Giovanni Bruno, he is best known for his system of mnemonics. He was also an early proponent of extra-solar planets and extraterrestrial life. His radical new scientific and religious ideas eventually led to his condemnation as a heretic by the Inquisition. Refusing to recant his beliefs he was burned at the stake.
At the age of 11, Bruno went to Naples to study at the Trivium. Having become a Dominican at Rome at age 15 in 1563, he became disenchanted with many of the basic teachings of the Church, especially with those which were expected to be accepted on blind faith. In 1576, having expressed his disbelief in the doctrine of transubstantiation and skepticism in the Immaculate Conception, he was forced to flee from Italy. The next found him in Geneva. From there he went to Paris and, eventually, London. During his time in England (1583-86), he wrote some of his greatest works. In 1586, he returned to the continent and taught at the University of Wittenberg until 1588. After touring many cities in Germany, France, and Switzerland, he decided to return to Italy. The Church had not forgiven him for his defiance and he was arrested on May 22, 1592 at Naples. Brought before the Inquisition, he was eventually for guilty of heresy. When threatened with execution, Bruno held firm on his beliefs, based on logic, reason, and science. As a result, he was burned at the stake on Feb. 17, 1600. Bruno was adamant in his rejection of Church dogma. He was, however, not ready to renounce all of the basic beliefs of the church. Although he believed in the basic ideas of Copernicus he did not endorse all of the aspects of Copernican theory. He could not conceive that a perfect absolute truth existed and his own writings reveal him as being a pantheist. Bruno’s principal works include Spaccio della bestia trionfante (Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast [1584]), Della causa principio et uno [1585], Dell’infinito, universo emondi (1584), and De monade numero et figura [1591].