Giordano (born Filippo) Bruno was born in the winter of 1548 at the town of Nola, in the region of Campania, in the Kingdom of Naples, which is now part of Italy. When he was 14, he began studying at Naples, which is where his formal education in various subjects, including religion, started. 10 years later, he would become a priest; 3 years after that, he gained his doctorate. However, starting in the year after, he would continually move around, across cities and countries in Europe. While his volition may have been a part of these travels, he undoubtedly moved at times due to necessity.
His views surrounding Christianity, from his disdain for the clergy to his placement of the universe above God, got him into a lot of hot water (and eventually hot fire). After being formally denounced by a Venetian patrician in 1592, his trial would begin in 1593, and he would eventually be brought before the Congregation of the Holy Office for his heretical views, in 1599. As mentioned prior, this was not his first time in trouble with the church. Similarly, it was also not the first opportunity he had to save his own skin (this time quite literally) should he renounce some of his views. However, while he did in some ways try to appeal to the Inquisitors, like when he tried to demonstrate that his ideas were aligned with the Catholic model, he ultimately failed to prove his innocence. Despite pleas from some high-ranking members of the Congregation, he never fully retracted his views about the world and the universe, claiming that those views were not theological in nature.
Eventually, in February of 1600, at the age of 52, Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake. Because the list of the views he was being prosecuted for was never publicized, we will never truly know what it was that he was killed for. Outside of Bruno’s controversial ideas, his actions certainly indicate a sort of pride, or perhaps arrogance. He was always skeptical, whether that be of the Church, of Aristotle, of Copernicus. His way of mind lent itself naturally towards science, as well as his primary aspiration, philosophy. But, an inquisitive mind and an impatience with the execution of Catholicism in society did not lend itself towards self-preservation.
Similarly to how German author Novalis described Spinoza as a “God-intoxicated man” despite his persecution by a religious group, it would be unfair to say that Bruno viewed religion as worthless. While he did indeed view himself as being above religion for the most part, he saw it as a way to control the masses and maintain order in a society. In addition to this, despite the Catholics being the ones to persecute him, he also criticized other sects of Christianity, namely Protestantism.
Bruno lived and died a man faithful to himself and his own beliefs, even when they went against both the religious and philosophical precedent of the time. The result of this is a series of ideas about philosophy to physics that were different and in some cases beyond many others. He conflicted with many, and perhaps he reveled in said conflict; we can only be thankful that his disposition and mind gave us the works that they did.
Sources:
- Knox, Dilwyn. 2019. “Giordano Bruno.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta, Summer 2019. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/bruno/.
- Maths History. “Giordano Bruno – Biography.” Accessed October 24, 2022. https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Bruno_Giordano/.