Giordano Bruno: Philosopher / Heretic

As my screen name surely reveals, I have a long term sense of affinity with Giordano Bruno, the philosopher murdered by Christians in 1600. Curiously, Ingrid Rowland's biography of Bruno begins at precisely the same place where my personal affiliation began, at the foot of the statue of him in the Campo dei Fiori in Rome, where I lived in the mid-1960s. Ingrid Rowland respects -- reveres! -- Bruno as deeply as I do; any reader of her book who expects her to demean or debunk Giordano on any level will be sorely confused and disappointed. For Rowland, Bruno was not merely a martyr to free thought and/or science but in fact a profound thinker, a philosopher who ideas stretched back to antiquity and probed forward in time to prevision those of Newton and Spinoza. Likewise, the Bruno of Rowland's account was not the Kabbalistic magus/mystic that other writers have purported to make him; well aware of Kabbalah, of the writings and notions of mystics like Giles of Viterbo and Ramon Llull, Giordano was nevertheless a thinker more attuned to perception of material reality. Bruno's professed "magic" was in fact his stock-in-trade system of memory cultivation. That he was rash, reckless, and restless, Rowland leaves no doubt. But that he was a genius of the most uncompromising intellectual integrity is also beyond doubt in her portrayal. Rowland spends a good deal of her book examining Bruno's writings rather than his behavior. If one wants a biography of juicy gossip, one had better look elsewhere. The burden of Rowland's account is to explicate and contextualize Bruno's many publications. Rowland's claim, with which I thoroughly concur, is that Bruno was one of the greatest "literary" figures of his epoch, a writer whose books still have the power to amuse and engross readers. Fresh translations of Bruno's oeuvre have in fact been appearing recently; Rowland herself is preparing a translation of Bruno's "The Heroic Frenzies". Judging by her translations of some of Bruno's poetry in this bio, such a volume will be extremely interesting. Whatever shame and opprobrium the priesthood of the Catholic Church has exposed itself to, with the recent scandals of child abuse, the guilt that adheres to all Christianity for the violent intolerance of its history must never be ignored. Giordano Bruno was hounded from land to land, betrayed to the Inquisition, imprisoned for nine years of incessant persecution, then burned alive with maximum cruelty, with his tongue either tied or nailed to prevent him from exclaiming. Protestants, however, have no claim to disassociate themselves from the Inquisition; not only did Bruno meet with persecution in Protestant lands, but also Jean Calvin himself had supervised the burning alive of Miguel Servetus in Geneva, before Bruno's slaying. Servetus was another brilliant human thinker, now regarded as the philosophical progenitor of Unitarianism. The familiar notion that "power corrupts" needs to be paraphrased: "faith corrupts, and absolute faith corrupts absolutely."

Good book

Giordano Bruno was a name I had come across in various histories of Christianity and/or the Renaissance that I've read through the years but I knew very little about him other than that he was considered a heretic and burned at the stake. When I saw this book, I thought it would be a good opportunity to find out a bit more about someone who was little more than a name to me. Reading this turned out to be quite an eye-opening experience. On a purely informational level, there is a lot here. Rowland shared a number of anecdotes about Bruno's life which have stuck in my mind: his getting caught with a forbidden book in the latrine, the mockery of his high-flown rhetorical style by the English, his own fondness for mockery and cursing even in the prisons of the Inquisition. But more telling than the individual anecdotes are the larger ideas that span Bruno's life story. I was particularly fascinated by his expertise in memorization techniques. In a time when books and writing ability were rare, the ability to memorize vast amounts of information was an important skill. Bruno, apparently, was highly prized as a teacher of his own memorization technique which allowed him to make a living during his years as a wanderer across Europe. And, of course, there was the development of his philosophical ideas. He is probably best known for developing the idea of an infinite universe where the stars could be individual solar systems with their own planets. This alone had implication with his ultimate conflict with the Church. But he also asserted theological ideas that were clearly heretical in the eyes of Christianity, such as that Christ committed a mortal sin in the Garden of Gethsemane. Granted, the Inquisition was a horrible thing, but it becomes clear from reading this that Bruno did himself no favors when facing the Cardinals. It is perhaps during this last section that the dichotomy of Bruno's character most comes to the fore: philosophical egoism vs. true son of the Church. It is the tragedy of Bruno's experience that he could not find a way out of a situation that should have been manageable for him. It is clear in this book that Bruno had a lot more impact on his better-known peers than he is given credit for. Kepler and Galileo both credit him as an influence. (In fact, shortly before his arrest, Bruno applied for the mathematics professorship at Pisa that went to Galileo.) Professor Rowland should be commended for bringing this important person back before us. If she goes a bit overboard with unenlightening epigraphs and quotations, that is a small price to pay for the wealth of knowledge gained.

This book is much more readable than Wm. Boulting's. Ms. Rowland explicates each of the cosmolgist's writings and takes the reader on a complete tour of Bruno's wanderings. Almost every chapter begins with a poem, some by Bruno and others by other writers. The one by Giles of Viterbo is quite beautiful, speaking of the footprints of God in the forest, being vestiges of His presence with Diana, the Moon looking over from above. Bruno's poetry is also beautiful as is all his writing. The chapter entitled Magic is difficult and I will reread it. Given the times, there is no doubt that Bruno was a heretic and stubborn to admit guilt....and when he does, it is too late. He spends 8 years in prison, probably being tortured to no avail. I began to identify with the hero and together with what's in the news with the current campaign for president and Donald Trump's comments, amounting to Louis XVI's "After me, the deluge", I began to feel very paranoid, indeed. The final chapters deal with the trial and sentencing but don't dwell on Bruno's burning at the stake. Galileo and Kepler had obviously read and been influenced by Bruno. They had the advantage of the telescope, which verified many of the Nolan's pronouncements. Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Fountains of the Four Rivers, in which an obelisk stands above a mountain with "a population of a stone plants, animals and sea monsters." Atop stands a stone dove with olive branch, peace after the 30 Years War. Rowland says the dove "celebrates another kind, the partnership of natural philosophy--science--and religion." Bernini had no doubt that he was inspired by divine inspiration....that science and religion belonged together." Beautiful thoughts beautifully expressed.

Giordano Bruno was a person in our human past that everybody should know of…a true polymath in the best and highest sense! A contemporary to Galileo, he never surrendered to the church’s authority on matters of science! He postulated that stars were other suns, and that there was a possibility of other planets that were circling around them, as he believed that the earth was circling our sun…he believed that the universe was infinite while the church preached that it was finite. And so very much more! He was tortured and burnt alive by the church for his obstinacy in the Campo Fiori in the year 1600

A superb study of a great visionary

We received this book in a timely manner. The condition note said Seemed Unused…New? We think this book was never used and arrived in excellent condition. We are very happy customers.

Rowland is a disciple of Hillary Gatti and it shows. Her knowledge of Bruno is impeccable and she writes beautifully. Bruno is returning now and this book is essential to knowing and understanding him, and understanding the forces and "scholars" who have worked so hard to discredit him all these years. Rowland banishes them nicely and restores the respect to Bruno he justly deserves. An essential book for those who would understand Bruno.

Correctly and promtly delivered. Thanks.

La storia di Giordano Bruno un grande teologo ,filosofo , scienziato. Racconto Dettagliato e scorrevole . Ripercorre tutte le tappe più importanti nella sua vita. Consigliato

The compelling biography of Giordano Bruno, a small man, but a giant among leading thinkers in the history of humanity, should be a lesson to us all. It is an undeniable, factual proof, that religious dogma and the Christian faith itself, based on fictional, absurd Jewish stories, should be condemned and eradicated, like Nazi parties for the benefit of future generations.

Someone who thought “outside the 9 dots”….and died for it. Guts & Glory.

Excellent fictional biography