Nicholas Copernicus was burned at the stake. The five most famous victims of the Inquisition
Left only crucifixion
One of the most common myths about Bruno is that he passed away at a young age. This is due to two surviving portraits where he really looks young. All other images of him were destroyed by the decision of the Catholic Church.
But Giordano Bruno was born in 1548, and before his execution he was 52 years old. In Europe at that time, this age was considered advanced. So it can be considered that the life of a scientist was long.
At birth, the boy received the name Filippo, he was born in the town of Nola near Naples. His father served as a simple soldier, earning 60 ducats a year (the average city official received (200-300 ducats). Despite the fact that the boy performed well at the local school, it was clear that due to lack of money, the way to the university was closed to him. The only option to continue scientific activities the career of a priest was imagined - because in church institutions they taught for free.
In 1559, when Filippo was 11 years old, his parents sent him to the school at the monastery of St. Dominic, located in Naples. The teenager was studying logic, theology, astronomy and many other sciences. In 1565 he was tonsured a monk, and he began to bear the name Giordano - the Italian name for the sacred Jordan River, in the waters of which Jesus was baptized.
Seven years later, Bruno was ordained a priest. And at the same time, denunciations from other Dominicans began to come to the address of the leadership of the monastery. Giordano was accused of reading heretical books, as well as the fact that he took all the icons out of his cell and left only a crucifix there. But the main sin was doubts about the unshakable tenets of the Christian church - for example, the virginity of the conception of the Virgin Mary. The leadership of the monastery began to investigate the activities of the heretic, but Bruno did not wait for the obvious decision and in 1576 fled first to Rome, and then abroad.
Stubborn Shakespeare
Another myth is that Giordano Bruno was not a scientist. Modern researchers like to emphasize that mathematical calculations are completely absent in his works. Yes, he talks about the infinity of the Universe and the multiplicity of its planets, but rather as a publicist. And most of his writings are comedies and poems. That is, he should be considered not a scientist, but a writer.
but long period foreign travel proves that Giordano Bruno was perceived by the people of his time precisely as a man of science. Over the years of wandering around Europe, he taught at major universities - including the Sorbonne and Oxford. Giordano defended two doctoral dissertations. Several of his works are devoted to the development of memory. Bruno himself, thanks to his personal memorization method, knew by heart more than a thousand books, among which were the Bible and the works of Arab philosophers.
In 1581, one of Giordano's lectures was attended by King Henry III of France, who was literally struck by the memory of the scientist. The monarch invited him to his court and even gave him good content. But the quiet life did not last long - Giordano quarreled with the scientists of the French Academy about the works of Aristotle and was forced to say goodbye to hospitable Paris. Henry II! advised him to go to England and gave letters of recommendation for the trip.
In London, Bruno lectured on the truth of Copernicus' ideas, according to which not the Earth, but the Sun is at the center of our planetary system. He led discussions on this matter with the most prominent people in the country - the writer William Shakespeare, the philosopher Francis Bacon, the physicist William Gilbert. Shakespeare and Bacon could not be convinced, they remained true to the beliefs of Aristotle and Claudius Ptolemy that the Sun is a planet and revolves around the Earth. But Gilbert was not only imbued with Bruno's ideas, but also developed them, establishing some physical laws of the heliocentric system.
Here, in England, Giordano published his main scientific work "On infinity, the Universe and the worlds", where he argued that other inhabited
planets. Among the proofs was the following: God created our world in a week, did he really not want to try to do something else for the rest of the time? In total, Bruno has written over 30 scientific papers.
Great heretic
For 16 years, Giordano Bruno traveled throughout Europe, lecturing at universities and promoting his views. In 1591 he returned to Italy as the personal teacher of the Venetian aristocrat Giovanni Mocenigo. However, the relationship between teacher and student deteriorated pretty soon. A year later, Mocenigo wrote the first denunciation against the scientist. In a letter to the Venetian inquisitor, he said that Giordano Bruno is a heretic, since he claims that there are other worlds, that Christ did not die of his own free will and tried to avoid death, that human souls after the death of the body pass from one living creature to another, etc. ... The first denunciation was followed by two more. As a result, the scientist was arrested and imprisoned. But the personality and influence of Bruno were too large for provincial Venice - and in February 1593 he was transported to Rome, where he was tortured for seven years, forcing him to recant his views.
The third and main myth about Giordano Bruno: he was executed for advanced scientific ideas - in particular, for the doctrine of the infinity of worlds and the heliocentric theory of the structure of our planetary system. But at the end of the 16th century, similar views were expressed by many. The followers of Copernicus' teachings have not yet been sentenced to death by the Inquisition. Only 16 years after Bruno was burned at the stake, Pope Paul V announced that Copernicus's theory contradicted Scripture, and only in 1633 Galileo was forced to renounce the opinion that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
Paradoxically, but true: all the works of Giordano Bruno were declared heretical only three years after his death. Then why was he sent to the stake?
Court documents in Rome indicate that Bruno was killed for denying the fundamental tenets of Christianity. The great scientist, in fact, created his own doctrine, which threatened to undermine the influence of the Vatican. He urged everyone to doubt the sanctity of church books and argued that it is necessary to completely revise many of the provisions of Catholicism and create another religion.
For more than seven years, the inquisitors tried by torture and persuasion to persuade Bruno to renounce these views - but they could not break the will of a convinced heretic. And to release such an authoritative person to freedom meant subjecting the Catholic Church to trials in the struggle against the new religious teaching.
Execute, no mercy
On February 9, 1600, the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition recognized Giordano Bruno as "an unrepentant, stubborn and unyielding heretic." He was defrocked as a priest and excommunicated. After that, the Vatican authorities pretended to have withdrawn: the sinner was brought to trial by the governor of Rome with a hypocritical request to impose a "merciful" punishment that did not shed blood. In fact, this meant a painful execution - burning alive at the stake.
The full text of the verdict of the secular court has not survived. From the passages that have survived to this day, it is known that it was about eight heretical statements - but more or less concretely, we can only talk about one thing: the denial that bread can turn into the body of Christ, that is, the church dogma about Holy Communion.
According to legend, Giordano, after hearing the verdict, said:
- Burning does not mean refuting!
The execution took place on February 17, 1600 in the Piazza di Flowers in Rome. According to the testimony, the verdict was deliberately read out so indistinctly that the people did not understand who and for what they were being burned.
Another myth about the great heretic is that the Roman Catholic Church today would forgive him and condemn the then actions of the Inquisition. But, unlike Galileo, whom Pope John Paul II fully rehabilitated in 1992, Giordano Bruno has not yet been acquitted. Moreover, in 2000, when the 400th anniversary of the execution of the scientist was celebrated, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, acting as the official representative of the Vatican, although he called the actions of the inquisitors "a sad episode", but stressed that these people did everything to save the heretic's life. There was no talk of forgiveness, so the Church still considers the death sentence to be justified for Bruno.
And despite the fact that in 1889 a monument to Giordano Bruno was erected on the Square of Flowers, the already mentioned John Paul II, famous for his progressive views, meeting with a group of scientists, when asked why Bruno has not yet been rehabilitated, sharply answered:
- When you find aliens, then we'll talk.
In 1542, Pope Paul III established a special body to fight heretics.
On July 21, 1542, Pope Paul III and oversaw their implementation - the Congregation of the Sacred Chancellery. Since then, the Congregations have been subject to local inquisitions. She legalized all methods of fighting heretics, in particular the witch hunt, which in just 200 years claimed the lives of about 50 thousand people.
In particular, talented scientists and all those who did not satisfy the Catholic Church with their actions were subjected to merciless persecution.
TSN.ua decided to recall some of the most famous victims of the Inquisition.
VIRGO OF ORLEANS
National heroine of France, saint
Jeanne d'Arc was burned in Rouen on May 30, 1431, 100 years before the Congregation came into existence. The girl who fought the victorious war of the French army against the British was convicted of witchcraft. Jeanne was charged on seventy counts, in particular, for witchcraft, fortune-telling, summoning spirits and witchcraft, as well as heresy. long time she refused to admit her "guilt".
However, Bishop Pierre Cauchon, who led the indictment, tricked the girl into admitting his guilt. Just in front of a kindled fire, they promised to transfer her from an English prison to a church prison and provide good care if she signs a paper on obedience to the Church and renunciation of heresies.
However, what was read to the illiterate girl was replaced with a text about the complete renunciation of all her "delusions", where Zhanna put her signature-cross.
For this, the girl was sent to an old prison. Moreover, the warrior was taken away women's clothing, which she began to wear after signing the paper, because before that Jeanne wore men's outfits that were extremely comfortable in battles. The fact that the girl was forced to dress like a man again became the reason for her execution.
After death " Maiden of orleans"On July 7, 1456, the court that King Charles VII convened fully acquitted the deceased. In 1909, Pope Pius X proclaimed Joan blessed, and on May 16, 1920, Pope Benedict XV canonized her.
NIKOLAI KOPERNIK
The Polish astronomer, the creator of the heliocentric system of the world, made a revolution in natural science, abandoning the doctrine of the central position of the Earth, accepted for many centuries. He explained the visible movements of the celestial bodies by the rotation of the Earth around the axis and the rotation of the planets around the Sun (heliocentrism).
The persecution of Copernicus by the Inquisition was not fatal, but no less tragic.
Ideas regarding the true position of the Earth and the non-ruling position of man in the world, which Copernicus outlined in his main work"About rotation celestial spheres", were received with hostility by both the Catholic Church and representatives of Protestantism.
It was the danger of persecution and persecution by the church that forced the scientist to postpone the publication of his life's work until last year his death.
For some time, his work was disseminated among scientists. But when Copernicus had followers, his teaching was declared heresy. The book was added to"Index" banned books for 212 years (from 1616 to 1828).
GIORDANO BRUNO
Italian philosopher, follower of Copernicus
Giordano Bruno, who was ordained as a priest, was an active popularizer of Copernicus' ideas. He developed the heliocentric system of his "teacher" and put forward the theory of the plurality of worlds. Moreover, despite his provocative scientific views, Bruno categorically rejected the idea of an afterlife and criticized most of Christian dogmas.
It was for this that in 1592 the scientist was seized the Italian inquisition, and in 1593 the man was taken to Rome. There he was demanded to renounce his views, and after his refusal, in 1600, Giordano Bruno was burned on a stake in Rome as a heretic and violator of the Mansh vow.
Only in 1865 a monument was erected to the scientist in Naples, and on June 9, 1889, another monument in honor of Bruno was erected on the Campo dei Fiori square, where the scientific revolutionary died.
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GALILEO GALILEI
Italian physicist, astronomer, philosopher and mathematician, founder of experimental physics, laid the foundation for classical mechanics
In 1633, the trial of the 70-year-old physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei began in Rome. The scientist was accused of publicly supporting the heliocentric system of the world, proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus. This model was then recognized as heretical.
Galileo's trial lasted only two months. Some researchers believe that the inquisitors used torture against him.
Even though he agreed to renounce Copernicanism and repent, Galileo was sentenced to life in prison. There is an unconfirmed legend that after the trial the physicist said: "And yet it turns!" Interestingly, Galileo was not recognized as a heretic, but as someone suspected of heresy. So, he managed to avoid the death penalty. And soon the sentence was commuted to house arrest. Galileo returned home to Archetri, where he spent the rest of his life under the constant supervision of the Inquisition. Galileo's detention regime did not differ from that of the prison, and he was constantly threatened with transfer to prison for the slightest violation of the regime.
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DANTE ALIGIERI
Italian poet, thinker, theologian, one of the founders of the literary Italian language, politician, author of The Divine Comedy"
Although Dante Alighieri was Catholic and respected the highest justice, he still fell victim to the Inquisition, in particular because of his poem "The Divine Comedy". It was not physically destroyed, but one of the author's most famous works was banned by the Catholic censorship.
In "The Divine Comedy" the author feels too sorry for gluttons and pagans, sympathizing with the fate of Francesca da Rimini, who ended up in Hell because of love. In addition, the poet describes a trip to Purgatory, which completely angered the Church, because then there was not even a dogma about Purgatory. It was introduced to Catholicism in 1439, which means that what Dante wrote was heresy.
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Submission of the thinking process to strict rules that allow one to get rid of all kinds of prejudices and delusions becomes one of the central themes in the works of the outstanding philosophers of the 17th century - Francis Bacon (Francis Bacon, 1561-1626), Galileo Galilei, René Descartes, Benedict Spinoza (Benedictus Spinoza, 16 –1677). Bruno was moving in a different direction. He created a very special world - a gigantic, endless theater of memory, in which a person is constantly not equal to himself and is simply doomed to “cut through the crystals of heaven and rush to infinity,” as Nolanets wrote in one of his sonnets. Exclusively important role the cosmological ideas of Bruno played in the creation of such a world.
Now we often hear that Bruno was not a scientist - turning to astronomy and mathematics, he made gross mistakes, his works are full of absurdities and ambiguities. This is partly true, although a lot serious mistakes and absurdities can be found in the works of any scientist-founder of modern science - from Galileo to Newton. Bruno really was neither an astronomer, nor a mathematician, nor a philosopher-logic in the spirit of Descartes or Spinoza. Its importance for modern science consists of something else.
At the beginning of 1583, with letters of recommendation from Henry III, he came to England, where he became close with the enlightened aristocrats from the circle of Philip Sidney (Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-1586). The stay in England, which lasted until the end of 1585, became the happiest and most fruitful period in the life of Bruno. He lectured, led public debates in defense of Copernicus's teachings, and in 1584-1585 published in London in Italian the philosophical dialogues Feast on Ashes, On the Cause, the Beginning and the One, and On Infinity, the Universe and the Worlds. In them, a cosmological theory was built, for the first time combining the ideas of a plurality of worlds, the infinity of the Universe and heliocentrism.
It is important to emphasize that neither the doctrine of the plurality of worlds, which arose in antiquity, nor the theory of Copernicus, nor the idea of the infinity of the universe, which can be found in Nicholas of Cusansky and Leonardo da Vinci, were not invented by Giordano Bruno, and the Catholic Church did not consider them heretical. What new and dangerous for the church did Bruno bring to these concepts?
In antique and medieval philosophy our Universe was considered as a closed and finite world, in the center of which is the Earth, surrounded by celestial bodies. It was believed that other worlds, if they exist, are outside our Universe and represent similar (closed and finite) universes, in the center of which there is also some earthly solid, surrounded by some heavenly bodies. Before Bruno, the stars and planets we see were not considered separate worlds.Bruno showed that the daily rotation of the Earth already in itself explains the synchronism of the motion of "fixed stars", and this makes the idea of "heavenly firmament" redundant. Our Universe turned out to be open, in the same space with other worlds. The Earth moving in this space was now completely deprived of the status of the center of the Universe. However, in the Universe, according to Bruno, there was no center at all: one point of it did not fundamentally differ from another. As for the existence of other worlds similar to the earthly one, this problem from a purely speculative one (one could only guess about the presence of universes outside our Universe) turned into a technical one, almost no different from the search for new continents. Later, answering the questions of investigators about the essence of his teaching, Bruno explained:
In general, my views are as follows. There is an infinite Universe created by infinite divine power, for I consider it unworthy of the goodness and power of a deity to believe that it, possessing the ability to create, besides this world, another and other infinite worlds, created a finite world.
So, I proclaim the existence of countless worlds like the world of this earth. Together with Pythagoras, I consider it a luminary, similar to the Moon, other planets, other stars, the number of which is infinite. All these bodies make up countless worlds. They form an infinite universe in infinite space.
In Bruno's proud declaration, it is important to pay attention to the words about infinite divine power: it was this thesis, and not the new cosmology, that played a fatal role in the fate of the thinker. The fact is that Bruno considered the Christian God too mundane and too limited to correspond to the universe that was open to his philosophical vision. And vice versa, the infinite Universe, filled with countless worlds, was supposed to become the basis for the search for a true deity, adequate to the era of the great geographical discoveries and grandiose achievements in science, technology and art.
Developing his cosmology, Bruno believed that it would become a prologue for a new religious and mystical doctrine - the "philosophy of dawn", which will replace Christianity, mired in strife between Catholics and Protestants. Along with works on cosmology, he published in London in Italian the dialogues "The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast" and "The Secret of Pegasus" - an evil satire on Christian doctrine. These publications drew disapproval from the philosopher's English friends and patrons. At the end of 1585, Bruno returned to Paris, but soon left because of a conflict with theologians. Years of wandering began again for the Italian.
In 1591, Bruno, having received an invitation from the Venetian nobleman Giovanni Mocenigo to become his home teacher, returned to Italy. However, a year later, Mocenigo betrayed Bruno to the Venetian Inquisition, accusing his teacher of anti-Christian views, and in 1593 the Roman Inquisition succeeded in extraditing the arrested philosopher to her.In Rome, investigators gradually realized what a danger to Christianity is fraught with the ideas of Bruno, united in a holistic and powerful teaching. Unfortunately, we will never know what the investigators argued with Bruno for several years: most of the investigation materials died as a result of Napoleon's attempt to take the Vatican archives to Paris. Nevertheless, it is clear from the surviving documents that Bruno was not a simple heretic for the church. This is indicated by the long-term investigation, interspersed with theological disputes (they did not bother with ordinary heretics), and the high rank of the tribunal that passed the sentence (9 cardinals, headed by Pope Clement VIII (Clement VIII, 1536-1592), and the atmosphere of strict secrecy during the announcement verdict (we still do not know what exactly, except common words about apostasy, Bruno accused). Even three centuries later, the passions have not subsided. In 1886 it was discovered “ Summary the case of Giordano Bruno ”, drawn up in 1597-1598 and, apparently, became the basis for the formulation of the indictment. But Pope Leo XIII (Leo XIII, 1810-1903) ordered to hide this document in his personal archive, and it was re-found only in 1940.
Now it is difficult to say with certainty how serious a threat to the church was the teaching of Bruno. It is possible that under certain conditions it would have played the role of Luther's theses, or even some kind of "new" testament, with which hotheads could try to supplement New Testament... One thing is clear, it was after the Bruno trial that the Catholic Church began to be suspicious and wary of worldview innovations. However, the scientists themselves now, at every opportunity, made it clear to the church that they could solve issues related to the Creator and Creation no worse than theologians. Thus, on both sides there are always people ready to fan the sparks from the fire on which Giordano Bruno died.
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Giordano Bruno. Engraving from 1830 after the original of the early 18th century Wellcome Library, London
“... The scientist was sentenced to be burned.
When Giordano went up to the fire,
The Supreme Nuncio looked down before him ...
- I see how you are afraid of me,
Not being able to refute science.
But truth is always stronger than fire!
I don’t renounce and I don’t regret ”.
Renaissance Italy did not know, perhaps, a figure larger and at the same time complex and contradictory than Giordano Bruno, also known as Bruno Nolanets (by birthplace - Nola, a city in Italy). The Dominican monk, the famous wanderer, one of the most scandalous people of his time, the fierce supporter of the heliocentric system, the creator of the sect called the "new philosophy" - all this is one person. Tragic death Nolanza, burned in Rome in 1600, became one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Inquisition. Bruno's execution has been repeatedly interpreted as an attempt by the Catholic Church to stop the spread of Copernicus' heliocentric system, for which Nolanetz advocated. Over time, this became a completely common place (see the poetic epigraph). Here is a typical passage from school assignments for the 11th grade social studies lesson: “At that time they taught that the Earth is the center of the Universe, and the Sun and all the planets revolve around it. The clergy persecuted everyone who did not agree with this, and destroyed especially the stubborn ones ... Bruno made fun of the priests and the church, calling on people to penetrate the mysteries of the Earth and the sky ... His fame went to many universities in Europe. But the churchmen did not want to put up with the impudent scientist. They found a traitor who pretended to be Bruno's friend and lured him into the trap of the Inquisition. "
However, the documents of the inquisition process over Giordano Bruno completely refute this point of view: Nolanets died not because of science, but because he denied the fundamental tenets of Christianity.
In 1591, at the invitation of the Venetian aristocrat Giovanni Mocenigo, Bruno secretly returned to Italy. The reason why he decided on this, for a long time remained a mystery: once he left Italy due to persecution, the appearance in Venice or other cities could threaten Bruno with serious consequences. Soon Bruno's relationship with Mocenigo, to whom he taught the art of memory, soured. Apparently, the reason was that Bruno decided not to limit himself to teaching one subject, but outlined to Mocenigo his own "new philosophy". Apparently, this prompted him to cross the border of Italy: Bruno planned to present in Rome and other cities of Italy a new, harmonious and integral religious teaching.
By the early 1590s, he saw himself more and more clearly as a religious preacher and an apostle of a reformed religion and science. Extreme Neoplatonism was at the heart of this teaching. Neoplatonism- current in ancient philosophy, developing from the III century. up to the beginning of the VI century. n. NS. Remaining followers of Plato, the representatives of this doctrine developed their own philosophical concepts. Plotinus, Porfiry, Iamblichus, Proclus, Damascus can be ranked among the most outstanding Neoplatonians. Late Neoplatonism, especially Iamblichus and Proclus, was saturated with magical elements. The legacy of Neoplatonism greatly influenced Christian theology and European culture of the Renaissance . , Pythagoreanism Pythagoreanism- religious and philosophical doctrine that arose in Ancient Greece and named after its ancestor Pythagoras. It was based on the idea of the harmonious structure of the universe, subject to numerical laws. Pythagoras did not leave a written presentation of his teaching. As a result of subsequent interpretations, it acquired a pronounced esoteric character. The Pythagorean magic of number and symbol has had a great influence on the Kabbalistic tradition., antique materialism in the spirit of Lucretius Titus Lucretius Kar(c. 99 - c. 55 BC) - the author of the famous poem "On the nature of things", a follower of Epicurus. An adherent of the philosophy of atomism, according to which sensually perceived objects consist of material, corporeal particles - atoms. He rejected death and dull life, believed that the matter underlying the universe is eternal and infinite. and hermetic philosophy Hermetic philosophy- a mystical teaching that arose in the era of Hellenism and late Antiquity. According to legend, Hermes Trismegistus ("thrice greatest") bestowed texts containing a mystical revelation to his followers and disciples. The teaching was of a pronounced esoteric character, combining elements of magic, astrology and alchemy.... However, one thing should not be forgotten: Bruno was never an atheist; despite the radicalism of his judgments, he remained a deeply religious person. Copernicanism, for Bruno, was by no means a goal, but a convenient and important mathematical tool that allowed him to substantiate and supplement his religious and philosophical concepts. This makes us doubt once again the thesis of Bruno as a "martyr of science."
Bruno's ambitions probably contributed to his break with Mocenigo: for two months Bruno taught mnemonics to the Venetian aristocrat at home, but after he announced his desire to leave Venice, Mocenigo, dissatisfied with his teaching, decided to "snitch" on his teacher. In a denunciation that he sent to the Venetian inquisitors, Mocenigo emphasized that Bruno denies the fundamental dogmas of the Christian doctrine: the divinity of Christ, the Trinity, the virgin birth, and others. In total, Mocenigo wrote three denunciations, one after the other: May 23, 25 and 29, 1592.
“I, Giovanni Mocenigo, the son of His Serene Highness Marco Antonio, report, out of my debt of conscience and by order of my confessor, that I have heard many times from Giordano Bruno Nolanza when I talked with him in my house, that when Catholics say that bread is transubstantiated in body, then this is a great absurdity; that he is an enemy of mass, that he does not like any religion; that Christ was a deceiver and committed deceptions to seduce the people - and therefore could easily foresee that he would be hanged; that he does not see the difference in persons in the deity and this would mean the imperfection of God; that the world is eternal and there are endless worlds ... that Christ performed imaginary miracles and was a magician, like the apostles, and that he himself would have the spirit to do the same and even much more than they; that Christ did not die of his own free will and, as best he could, tried to avoid death; that there is no retribution for sins; that souls created by nature pass from one living being to another; that, just as animals are born in debauchery, in the same way people are born.
He talked about his intention to become the founder of a new sect called the "new philosophy". He said that the Virgin could not give birth and that our Catholic faith is filled with blasphemies against the greatness of God; that it is necessary to stop theological bickering and take away the income from the monks, for they dishonor the world; that they are all donkeys; that all our opinions are the teaching of donkeys; that we have no proof of whether our faith has merit before God; that for a virtuous life it is quite enough not to do to others what you do not wish for yourself ... that he wonders how God tolerates so many heresies of Catholics. "
The volume of heretical theses was so great that the Venetian inquisitors sent Bruno to Rome. Here, for seven years, leading Roman theologians continued to interrogate Nolantz and, judging by the documents, sought to prove to him that his theses were full of contradictions and inconsistencies. However, Bruno firmly stood his ground - at times he seemed ready to make concessions, but still at the last moment changed his mind. Quite possibly, the reason for this was the feeling of one's own high mission. One of the cornerstones of the accusation was Bruno's frank admission that he did not believe in the dogma of the Holy Trinity.
“Did he affirm, did he really recognize, or does he now recognize and believe in the Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one in essence? ..
He replied: “Speaking in a Christian way, according to theology and everything that everyone should believe in true christian and a Catholic, I really doubted the name of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit ... for, according to St. Augustine, this term is not ancient, but a new one that arose in his time. I have held this view from the age of eighteen to the present. "From the materials of the investigation of the Venetian Inquisition
After seven years of unsuccessful attempts to convince Bruno, the Inquisitional Tribunal declared him a heretic and handed him over to the secular authorities. As you know, Bruno resolutely refused to repent of heresies, this is evidenced, in particular, by the report of the Congregation of Inquisitors dated January 20, 1600: heretical provisions contained in his writings and presented to him during the trial, and renounce them. He did not give his consent to this, claiming that he had never expressed heretical positions and that they were maliciously extracted by the servants of the holy service. "
In the death sentence that has come down to us, Bruno does not mention the heliocentric system and science in general. The only concrete accusation sounds like this: "You, brother Giordano Bruno ... eight years ago, you were brought to trial at the Holy Service of Venice for declaring it the greatest absurdity to say that bread was transubstantiated into the body, etc.", that is, Bruno was imputed to the blame is the denial of church dogmas. Mentioned below are "reports ... that you were recognized as an atheist when you were in England."
The verdict mentions some eight heretical provisions in which Bruno persisted, but they are not specified, which gave some historians, including the Soviet school, reason to assume that part of the document, which describes in detail the accusations of the Inquisition, was lost. There is, however, a letter from the Jesuit Kaspar Shoppe, who apparently was present at the announcement of the full verdict and later summarized his position in a letter:
“He taught the most monstrous and senseless things, for example, that the worlds are innumerable, that the soul transmigrates from one body to another and even to another world, that one soul can be in two bodies, that magic is a good and permissible thing, that the Holy Spirit is nothing other than the soul of the world, and that this is precisely what Moses meant when he said that the waters obey him and the world is eternal. Moses performed his miracles through magic and succeeded in it more than the rest of the Egyptians, that Moses invented his own laws, that Holy Bible there is a ghost that the devil will be saved. From Adam and Eve, he deduces the genealogy of the Jews alone. The rest of the people are descended from the two whom God created the day before. Christ is not God, he was a famous magician ... and for this he was hanged deservedly, not crucified. The prophets and apostles were worthless people, magicians, and many of them were hanged. To put it in one word - he defended all heresies, without exception, ever preached. "
It is easy to see that this retelling (the reliability of which is a matter of a separate scientific discussion) does not mention the heliocentric system, although the idea of the infinity of worlds is mentioned, and the list of heresies that were attributed to Bruno are related precisely to issues of faith.
In mid-February, at the Campo dei Fiori in Rome, "punishment without the shedding of blood" was carried out. In 1889, a monument was erected on this site, the inscription on the pedestal of which reads: "Giordano Bruno - from the century that he foresaw, at the place where the fire was lit".
Sources of
- Yates F. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition.
- Rozhitsyn V.S. Giordano Bruno and the Inquisition.
- Giordano Bruno. Documents. Le procès. Ed. L. Firpo et A.-Ph. Segonds.
Paris, Les belles lettres, 2000.
- L. Firpo. Il processo di Giordano Bruno.
Roma, Salerno, 1993.
- Favole, metafore, storie. Seminario su Giordano Bruno, a cura di M. Ciliberto.
Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2007.
- Enciclopedia bruniana e campanelliana, dir. da E. Canone e G. Ernst.
Pisa: Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali, 2006.
- Giordano Bruno. Parole, concetti, immagini, 3 vols, direzione scientifica di M. Ciliberto.
Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2014.
The question that interests no generation is how many people were killed by the Inquisition? Let's consider a short, but more than, comprehensive answer.
The victims of the Inquisition and the question of the blasphemous attitude towards people in the Middle Ages haunts and caresses the ears of many modern atheists (as well as believers, it should be assumed). The word "inquisition" is perceived in modern society as something out of the ordinary, which denigrates the history of Catholicism and the entire church as a whole. It's like being the boss of a large company and accidentally meeting Fedya, who saw you shit in your childhood. Yes, you don't do that anymore, but Fedor will never forget about it, and since he also works for competitors, he will not miss the opportunity to remind about your chocolate incident. We can say that the final argument in the dispute between an ardent atheist and a devout believer is: "And your church generally killed people!"
And what can you say? Well, yes, she killed and did it very ingeniously: fiercely in prison cells, drowned and did God knows what else. And all for what? Many will say, "For the salvation of a lost soul." But no! Few know that the death penalty through burning it was applied to heretics who did not repent. Simply put, if you have not asked the church for forgiveness for being too smart, handsome, well-read or simply, then please go to the fire.
The real number of victims of the Inquisition. The facts about the Inquisition available to modern historians differ in their variety. In addition, do not forget that all this happened in the period from 1300 to 1700, so a lot could be misunderstood, not written down, fantasized, etc. As for the number of sinners burned at the stake, absolutely different facts can be found in archival documents and modern literature. So, Dan Brown, in his "Da Vinci Code", writes that the total number of victims of the Inquisition is 5,000,000. But do not believe this hack, since the fiction is far from the truth.
The real number of victims of the Inquisition is from 14,000 to 23,000 people. Moreover, this statistics covers not only Spain, but also all European countries where the Inquisition was in trend in those years. It seems to you that not so much? Perhaps, but if you add in the crippled bodies and destinies, then you can safely add a few zeros.
Has the Inquisition always killed? Based on the fact that so much dirt was poured into the Inquisition, it is worth saying at least a few good words about this act of the church. So, imagine the situation: the dark Middle Ages and you are accused of a crime committed against the holy church. What to do? You are in a panic, you are tearing the hairs on your butt, you are trying to run, your life is over! Of course, the first thing you think is that you will be burned at the stake like a heretic. But no! Most likely, you will simply be expelled from the city and deprived of all property (which will go to the church a little) or simply cut off something, branded - just a business.
But at that time they burned only those heretics who stood their ground to the last and contradicted the moral foundations of the church. Well, or those sinners who were beautiful women. For let it be necessary for the governors of God on earth to know better!
The most popular victims of the Inquisition are not only beautiful women, heretics and scientists, but also everyone who was not pleased for one or another stupid reason. By the way, it is worth mentioning the scientists separately. The Inquisition, contrary to popular belief, did not terrorize scientists. Moreover, often the deeds of the Holy Inquisition went side by side with the universities. It's just that sometimes the decisions of scientists were perceived as occultism (demonic heresy that the earth is round). Therefore, they burned all sorts of upstarts like Copernicus and Bruno at the stake.
In short, one had to sit quietly, not stand out and at the first opportunity to prove his love to the ruling body. We remind you that we are not talking about the 2000s, but about the deep Middle Ages.
