Giordano Bruno

1548 – 17 February 1600

Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) was an Italian philosopher, former Dominican friar, and cosmological theorist who proposed that the stars are distant suns surrounded by their own planets in an infinite universe. After years of wandering across Europe teaching and publishing, he was tried by the Roman Inquisition on charges including heresy and was burned at the stake in Rome in 1600. He is often regarded as a martyr for free thought.

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Life events

Born in Nola, Kingdom of Naples
1548

Filippo Bruno was born in Nola near Naples, the son of Giovanni Bruno, a soldier.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Entered the Dominican Order at the monastery of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples
1565

At about seventeen, Bruno joined the Dominicans in Naples, taking the religious name Giordano and becoming known for his prodigious memory.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Ordained a priest
1572

Bruno was ordained to the priesthood within the Dominican Order.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Fled Naples and abandoned the Dominican habit under suspicion of heresy
1576

Facing an impending indictment for heterodox views, Bruno left Naples and began a life of wandering across Italy and Europe.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Lectured in Paris and gained the favor of King Henry III
1581

Bruno's lectures and demonstrations of his art of memory in Paris won him the patronage of Henry III and a period of relative security.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Lived in England and published his major cosmological dialogues
1583 – 1585

While in London, Bruno published works including The Ash Wednesday Supper and On the Infinite, Universe and Worlds, arguing for a boundless universe with innumerable inhabited worlds.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Traveled and taught in Germany, including at Wittenberg
1586 – 1591

Bruno spent several years lecturing at German universities, including two years at Wittenberg, and continued publishing philosophical works.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Arrested in Venice and denounced to the Inquisition
22 May 1592

After returning to Italy at the invitation of the patrician Giovanni Mocenigo, Bruno was denounced by his host and arrested by the Venetian Inquisition in May 1592.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Extradited to Rome and tried by the Roman Inquisition for seven years
February 1593 – 20 January 1600

Bruno was transferred to Rome in 1593 and imprisoned during a long trial on charges including denial of core Catholic doctrines and his cosmological views; he refused to fully recant.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Burned at the stake in the Campo de' Fiori, Rome
17 February 1600

Having been declared an impenitent heretic, Bruno was executed by burning in Rome's Campo de' Fiori, where a monument to him now stands.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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