Scientific activity of Giordano Bruno briefly. The conflict between scientists and the church

A bright representative of the Italian Renaissance, who gave all his knowledge and thoughts to revising the picture of the world of the Middle Ages, Giordano Bruno from an early age was distinguished by freethinking, and more than once conflicted with the teachings of the church. Giordano Bruno was reputed to be an uncompromising man, and with his characteristic energy, stood firmly on his feet in his convictions. Bruno expounded his creations in philosophy in the form of an artistic dialogue. The teachings of Giordano Bruno were reflected in many of his works, but his main work was “The Infinity of the Universe and the Many Worlds”. Only one title can make judgments about the essence of the doctrine. As an accomplished poet-philosopher, Giordano Bruno did not take part in scientific practice, as did Galileo and Copernicus. His unique thoughts about the creation of the world were the fruit of philosophical reflection and some prerequisites in the worldview, and there was no participation in this scientific experiments, subtle calculations or many hours of observation. Almost all his life, the thinker traveled a lot, he made attempts to live in Britain, Germany, France, but everywhere the teachings of Giordano Bruno were taken for heresy, and he was accused of this.

For the steadfastness of his thoughts in the field of philosophy, criticism of the Papal Court regarding certain provisions in the teachings of the Christian faith, and for his passion for magic and alchemy, Giordano Bruno was subject to church persecution. In the prison cells of the Inquisition, the philosopher-poet spent the last ten years of his life. Having failed to get Bruno to renounce his ideological convictions, the inquisitorial court passed a sentence of death for the thinker by burning at the stake. The sentence was carried out in the Roman square in 1600.

The main direction of the teachings of Giordano Bruno, and his thoughts as a philosopher, was natural nature. For this reason, he was more recognized as a natural philosopher. This category of philosophers has a completely different approach to the study of natural phenomena than that of natural scientists. It is in their nature to contemplate and cognize natural factors with their own mind, which is opposed to natural scientific knowledge. From the teachings of Giordano Bruno it follows that nature is either God himself, or his power, revealed in simple things. Natural nature, as the beginning from the beginnings of all material forms, nothing but a single whole, predetermines the emergence of various things. And besides this, as the fundamental basis of everything, it has a huge potential in creativity. According to the statements of the great philosopher, it follows that all manifestations of material nature should be called divine things and the highest progenitors of things in their nature. From this it follows that Giordano Bruno and his teaching can be considered one of the representatives of a very popular trend in philosophy at that time - pantheistic materialism. The teaching of Giordano Bruno subjected to rethinking, rooted over time, the idea of ​​the great thinker Aristotle about material and form relationships. If Aristotle and his associates argued that there is a separation of form and matter, and the penetration of form into matter arises from the outside, thereby bringing it into order, then in Bruno, matter itself generates forms. This is another weighty evidence of a very strong materialism in the philosophical conclusions of Giordano Bruno.

The teachings of Giordano Bruno speak of the unity of the universe, its infinity and constancy, because there is nothing else that generates it, and also that it cannot be destroyed, since only a transformation into a different state will occur. The infinity of the universe suggests that it cannot decrease or increase. The form in which matter is embodied is constantly changing, but the eternity of matter is also constant. The teachings of Giordano Bruno irrevocably and finally destroyed the picture of the Middle Ages about the world, and at the same time proved that outer space has no restrictions in the form of a sphere of the starry sky in a stationary state. The universe is infinite, and for this reason it cannot have a center. From the reflections of the philosopher, another statement follows that the entire Universe has an innumerable number of worlds in which life exists, and our planet is only a small part of this vast space. It is quite natural that such statements. Like the conclusions of the great Copernicus, they were not accepted by the Catholic Church. The thinker himself described such a position in the worldview as “heroic enthusiasm”. It was he who helped Bruno not fall under the torture of the Inquisition, stand firm on his convictions, and with dignity accept the sentence of burning him at the stake.

If now Middle Eastern terrorists are burning Jordanian pilots, and the civilized public condemns this, then four centuries ago, in the so-called Renaissance, things were somewhat different. The Inquisition burned everyone in a row, paying special attention to those whose views to one degree or another contradicted church dogmas. In those days, no one dared to condemn such actions. At least in public.

This is what happened with Giordano Bruno. True, contrary to the widespread version, he suffered far from being for scientific views.

The heliocentric system that Giordano Bruno adhered to was explained by him far from a scientific point of view.

If a person like him appeared now, then, with a high probability, he would not be recorded in the religious philosophers, but in the section as one of the main characters. True, for example, in Saudi Arabia, religious authorities and now sure that the earth does not revolve around the sun.

As for Giordano Bruno, at the end of the 16th century his views could well be called progressive. By the way, at the birth of the thinker, the name was Filippo - he became Giordano only when he entered the monastery. It was within its walls that Bruno got acquainted with the works of ancient Greek philosophers, and also became interested in logic. In addition, in the monastery, Bruno was able to study the works of Thomas Aquinas and Nicholas of Cusa.

Already at the age of 24 in 1572, Giordano Bruno received the priesthood. Somewhere around this time, he read Copernicus' On the Revolution of Heavenly Bodies.

And if this work, revolutionary by the standards of those years, was not formally banned by the Inquisition, then the rest of the books that Bruno read often were. And because of this, the newly-minted priest first had problems with the Inquisition - first Bruno fled to Rome, and from there began his journey through the cities of Italy, France and Switzerland. However, he could not stop in any of them because of the plague epidemic that raged in those years in Europe.

For some time, Giordano Bruno spent in Toulouse, where he received a doctorate and the title of ordinary professor of philosophy. By 1580 he had become a first-rate teacher, and his lectures invariably attracted many students. Especially a lot of time in this role, Giordano Bruno spent in Paris - here he taught until 1583, and then moved to Foggy Albion, where Oxford University became the refuge of the young philosopher.

It was at Oxford that Giordano Bruno first argued with other philosophers about the structure of the universe. And if they were of the opinion that the Earth is the center of the Universe, around which the Sun, Moon and stars revolve, then Bruno put the Sun at the center of the universe.

Among other things, Giordano Bruno went further than his contemporary Galileo Galilei, who also ventured to propose a heliocentric system, but under pressure from the Inquisition, he abandoned his views. Bruno was one of the first to suggest that the Earth is flattened at the poles, that the Sun rotates around its axis, and that the rest of the stars are analogues of our Sun. After Giordano Bruno expressed his views to respectable men, he was expelled from Oxford in disgrace.

Because of his reluctance to return to the mainland, Bruno settled in London, where he lived until 1585. Then he returned to France, but even here he did not find peace: disagreements with the church led to the fact that the philosopher went to Germany, where he stayed until 1588, lecturing and entering into disputes with local philosophers.

And in 1591, Bruno returned to Italy, although the danger remained that he would be overtaken by the Inquisition.

He settled in Venice and became a teacher to the young nobleman Giovanni Mocenigo. However, he could not teach the young man anything - he was under the unlimited influence of his confessor, who was of the opinion that Bruno was a heretic. At the end of May 1592, the philosopher tried to escape, but the student had already informed the inquisitors that Giordano Bruno was captured and imprisoned. He stayed in it until September, and then was transferred to Rome.

Giordano Bruno spent eight years in the dungeons. Over the years, his health has declined, and torture has contributed to this. On January 20, 1600, the last court session took place. As a result, the philosopher was excommunicated from the church and deprived of the priesthood. In addition, he was chosen "the most merciful punishment and without the shedding of blood" - burning. The sentence was carried out on February 17, 1600 in Rome's Square of Flowers. Several thousand people gathered there that day. And Bruno silently looked into the sky, devoured by the flames and the hateful looks of the crowd.

In 1889, a monument was erected at the site of the burning of Giordano Bruno. The Catholic Church has not yet made a decision on the rehabilitation of the "freethinker", because Bruno has not abandoned his views. However, this did not prevent the Vatican from rehabilitating Galileo in the 20th century, as well as organizing the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, building its own observatory and.

“... And don't be so tragic, my dear. Look at it with your usual humor... With humor!.. In the end, Galileo also denied us. “That’s why I always loved Giordano Bruno more…”

Grigory Gorin "The same Munchausen"

Not subject to rehabilitation

The Catholic Church in recent decades has carried out a real revolution, revising a lot of decisions once taken by the Inquisition in relation to scientists and philosophers of the past.

October 31, 1992 Pope John Paul II rehabilitated Galileo Galilei, recognizing as erroneous the coercion of a scientist to renounce the theory Copernicus under pain of death, carried out in 1633.

Like Galilee, at the end of the 20th century, the official Vatican retroactively acquitted many, but not Giordano Bruno.

Moreover, in 2000, when the 400th anniversary of Bruno's execution was celebrated, Cardinal Angelo Sodano called the execution of Bruno "a sad episode", but nevertheless pointed to the fidelity of the actions of the inquisitors, who, in his words, "did everything possible to save his life." That is, to this day, the Vatican considers the trial and sentence against Giordano Bruno justified.

Why did he annoy the holy fathers so much?

Dangerous Doubts

He was born in the town of Nola near Naples, in the family of a soldier Giovanni Bruno, in 1548. At birth, the future scientist received the name Filippo.

At the age of 11, the boy was brought to study in Naples. He grasped everything on the fly, and the teachers promised him a brilliant career.

In the 16th century, for smart Italian boys, the path of a priest seemed to be the most promising, in terms of career. In 1563 Filippo Bruno entered the monastery Saint Dominic, where two years later he becomes a monk, having received a new name - Giordano.

So, brother Giordano is firmly on the first step on the way to the cardinal rank, and maybe even to the ascension to the papal throne. And why not, because the ability of Giordano amaze mentors.

Over time, however, the enthusiasm fades, and Brother Giordano simply begins to frighten other monks, calling into question church canons. And when rumors reached the authorities that Brother Giordano was not sure of the virginity of conception Virgin Mary, something like a “service check” began against him.

Giordano Bruno realized that it was not worth waiting for her results, and fled to Rome, and then moved on. Thus began his wanderings in Europe.

Man and the Universe

The fugitive monk earned by lecturing and teaching. His lectures attracted a lot of attention.

Bruno was an active supporter of the heliocentric system of Nicolaus Copernicus and boldly defended it in disputes. But he himself went even further, putting forward new theses. He stated that the stars are distant suns, around which planets can also exist. Giordano Bruno admitted the presence of planets in the solar system, which are still unknown. The monk declared the infinity of the Universe and the multiplicity of worlds on which the existence of life is possible.

Heliocentric system of the world. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

In fact, everything is not so simple. Of course, the holy fathers were not delighted with the fact that Brother Giordano was destroying to the ground the canonical ideas about the world around him, sanctified by the church.

But if Bruno, like Galileo Galilei later, had based his conclusions on pure science, he would have been treated more mildly.

However, Giordano Bruno was a philosopher who based his ideas not only on logical thinking, but also on mysticism, while encroaching on the fundamental postulates of Catholicism - we have already cited doubts about the virginity of the conception of the Virgin Mary as an example.

Freemason, magician, spy?

Giordano Bruno developed neoplatonism, in particular the idea of ​​a single beginning and the world soul as the driving principle of the universe, freely crossing it with other philosophical concepts. Bruno believed that the goal of philosophy is not the knowledge of a supernatural God, but of nature, which is "God in things."

The fact that Giordano Bruno was persecuted not only and not so much for the creative development of the theory of Copernicus is also evidenced by the fact that at the time when he was giving his lectures, the church had not yet officially banned the doctrine of the heliocentric system of the world, although it did not encourage it. .

Giordano Bruno, like any seeking and doubting philosopher, was a very complex person who did not fit into a simple framework.

This allowed many in the post-Soviet period to say: “We were lied to! In fact, Giordano Bruno was a mystic, a freemason, a spy and a magician, and they burned him for the cause!”

Some even spoke of Bruno's homosexual predilections. By the way, there would be nothing surprising in this, because in Europe of the 16th century, despite the rampant inquisition, same-sex relationships were quite widespread, and almost in the first place, among representatives of the church ...

The admiring king and the stubborn Shakespeare

But let's get away from the "slippery" topic and return to the life of Giordano Bruno. As already mentioned, his seditious lectures turned him into a wanderer.

Nevertheless, Giordano Bruno also found very influential patrons. So, for a while he favored himself King Henry III of France, impressed by the knowledge and memory of the philosopher.

This allowed Bruno to live and work quietly in France for several years, and then move to England with letters of recommendation from the French king.

But on Foggy Albion, Bruno was in for a fiasco - he failed to convince the royal court of the correctness of Copernicus' ideas, nor the leading figures of science and culture, such as William Shakespeare and Francis Bacon.

After two years in England, he became so hostile that he again had to leave for the Continent.

Portrait of Giordano Bruno (modern copy of an engraving from the early 18th century). Source: Public Domain

Denunciation of a student

Among other things, Giordano Bruno was engaged in mnemonics, that is, the development of memory, and succeeded a lot in this, which at one time struck the French king.

In 1591 the young Venetian aristocrat Giovanni Mocenigo invited Bruno to the philosopher to teach him the art of memory.

Bruno accepted the offer willingly and moved to Venice, but soon the relationship between student and teacher deteriorated.

Moreover, Mocenigo in May 1592 began to scribble denunciations to the Venetian Inquisition, reporting that Bruno says “that Christ performed imaginary miracles and was a magician, that Christ did not die of good will and, as far as he could, tried to avoid death; that there is no wages for sins; that the souls created by nature pass from one living being to another,” and so on and so forth. The denunciations also spoke of the "multiple worlds", but for the inquisitors this was already deeply secondary in comparison with the above charges.

A few days later, Giordano Bruno was arrested. The Roman Inquisition sought his extradition from Venice, but they hesitated there for a long time. Procurator of the Republic of Venice Contarini wrote that Bruno "committed the gravest crime as far as heresy is concerned, but this is one of the most outstanding and rarest geniuses that one can imagine, and has extraordinary knowledge, and created a wonderful doctrine."

Did you see a schismatic in Bruno's face?

In February 1593, Bruno was nevertheless transferred to Rome, and he spent the next six years in prison.

Brother Giordano was required to repent and renounce his ideas, but Bruno stubbornly stood his ground. The investigators clearly lacked the talent to shake the stubborn position in philosophical discussions.

At the same time, the adherence to the theory of Copernicus and its creative development, although they appeared in the accusation, were clearly of interest to the inquisitors to a much lesser extent than Giordano Bruno's attempts on the postulates of the religious doctrine itself - the very ones that he began back in the monastery of St. Dominic.

The full text of the sentence handed down by Giordano Bruno has not been preserved, and during the execution, something strange happened at all. The accusation was read out to those gathered in the square in such a way that not everyone understood who, in fact, was being executed. He does not believe, they say, brother Giordano in the virgin birth and ridiculed the possibility of turning bread into the body of Christ.

Trial of Giordano Bruno.

1548–1600) Italian pantheist philosopher. Accused of heresy and burned by the Inquisition in Rome. Developing the ideas of Nicholas of Cusa and the heliocentric cosmology of Copernicus, he defended the concept of the infinity of the Universe and countless worlds. His main works are "On Cause, Beginning and One", "On Infinity, the Universe and Worlds", "On Heroic Enthusiasm". Author of the anti-clerical satirical poem "Noah's Ark", the comedy "Candlestick", philosophical sonnets. He was born near the small town of Nola, near Naples, in 1548. Father, Giovanni Bruno, a poor nobleman who served in the troops of the Neapolitan viceroy, gave his son the name Filippo at baptism in honor of the heir to the Spanish crown. Nola is a few miles from Naples, halfway between Vesuvius and the Tyrrhenian Sea, it has always been considered one of the most flourishing cities of the Fortunate Campagna. Ten-year-old Bruno left Nola and settled in Naples with his uncle, who ran a boarding school there. Here he took private lessons from the Augustinian monk Teofilo da Vairano. Subsequently, Bruno fondly remembered him as his first teacher and in one of the dialogues gave the name Teofilo to the main defender of the Nolan philosophy. In 1562, Bruno went to the richest monastery in Naples, San Domenico Maggiore. The Dominican order kept the traditions of scholastic learning, it was the order of theologians, the order of Albert of Bolstedt, nicknamed the Great, and his student, Thomas Aquinas. In 1566, Bruno took a monastic vow and received the name Giordano. Great erudition, profound knowledge of the writings of Aristotle, his Arabic, Jewish and Christian commentators, ancient and modern philosophers and scientists, comedians and poets - all this was the result of ten years of study in the monastery. Of the representatives of Greek thought, the Eleatic school, Empedocles, Plato and Aristotle, and above all the Neoplatonists with Plotinus at their head, had the greatest influence on him. Bruno also got acquainted with Kabbalah, the teaching of medieval Jews about the One. Among the Arab scholars whose works were then studied in Latin translations, Bruno preferred Al-Ghazali and Averroes. From the scholastics, he studied the writings of Thomas Aquinas and the natural philosophical works of Nicholas of Cusa. Thanks to his genius and hard work, Bruno, while still in the monastery, finally developed his own independent and completely independent world outlook, but he had to carefully hide his convictions, which was not always possible. Bruno's doubts about the dogma of the Trinity belong to the same first years of his life in the monastery. A capable young man, distinguished by an extraordinary memory, was taken to Rome to the pope to show the future glory of the Dominican order. After receiving the priesthood and a short stay in the provincial parish, Bruno was returned to the monastery to continue his studies in theology. In 1572 Bruno was ordained a priest. In Campagna, in a provincial town in the kingdom of Naples, the young Dominican celebrated his mass for the first time. At that time he lived not far from Campagna, in the monastery of St. Bartholomew. Having received a certain freedom, he read the works of humanists, the works of Italian philosophers on nature, and most importantly, got acquainted with the book of Copernicus "On the Revolution of Celestial Bodies". Returning from Campagna to the monastery of St. Dominic, he was immediately accused of heresy. In 1575, the local head of the order initiated an investigation against him. 130 points were listed on which Brother Giordano departed from the teachings of the Catholic Church. Brothers in the order violently attacked Giordano. Warned by one of his friends, he fled to Rome to "present excuses." A search was made in his cell and the writings of St. Jerome and John Chrysostom with comments by Erasmus of Rotterdam. Books with comments by Erasmus of Rotterdam were listed in the papal index. Possession of forbidden books was the heaviest crime, this fact alone would be enough for a charge of heresy. It became clear to Bruno that now even in Rome he could not count on indulgence. He throws off his monastic robe and sails on a ship to Genoa, from there to Venice. There Bruno wrote and published the book "On the Signs of the Times" (not a single copy of it has yet been found and its contents are unknown). After a two-month stay in Venice, Bruno continued his wanderings. He visited Padua, Milan, Turin, finally arrived in Calvinist Geneva. Supported by fellow countrymen (they dressed the exile and gave him a job as a proofreader in a local printing house), Bruno looked closely at the life of the Reformation community, listened to sermons, got acquainted with the writings of the Calvinists. The doctrine of divine predestination preached by Calvinist theologians, according to which man turned out to be a blind instrument of an unknown and inexorable divine will, was alien to him. May 20, 1579 Bruno was recorded in the "Book of the Rector" of the University of Geneva. The university trained preachers of the new faith. Each student, upon admission, made a confession of faith containing the main tenets of Calvinism and condemnation of ancient and new heresies. The statutes of the university forbade the slightest deviation from the doctrine of Aristotle. Already the first speeches of Bruno at the debates brought on him suspicions of heresy. But, despite this, he published a pamphlet containing a refutation of 20 erroneous statements in a lecture by philosophy professor Antoine Delafé, the second person in Geneva, the closest associate and friend of Theodore Beza himself - the head of the Calvinist community. Secret informants reported to the city authorities about the pamphlet being printed, and its author was captured and imprisoned. Bruno's performance was considered by the Geneva magistrate as a political and religious crime. He was excommunicated, subjected to a humiliating rite of repentance, and immediately after his release from prison, at the end of August 1579, he left Geneva. From Lyon, where the famous printers did not need either his manuscripts or his experience as a proofreader, Bruno moved to Toulouse. “Here I met educated people.” Among them was the Portuguese philosopher F. Sanchez, who presented Bruno with the book “On the fact that we know nothing” that had just been published in Lyon. The competition of lectures on the sphere announced by Bruno attracted numerous listeners. And when the post of ordinary professor was vacated (it was not difficult to get a master of arts degree), Bruno was admitted to the competition and began to teach a course in philosophy. In Toulouse, no one demanded that he perform religious rites, but the university charter ordered to build teaching according to Aristotle, and Bruno developed his own philosophical system. They could not forgive him for speaking out against the scholastic tradition; Bruno's lectures and his attempt to debate aroused the angry indignation of his university colleagues. The renewed hostilities between the Catholics and the Huguenots in the south of France and the intensification of the Catholic reaction in Toulouse put an end to this first experience of Bruno's university teaching. At the end of the summer of 1581, Bruno arrived in Paris. The Faculty of Arts of the famous Sorbonne was once famous for the free-thinking of its professors, whose works on mathematics and astronomy prepared the crisis of Aristotelianism. Now the theological faculty reigned here: its decisions were equated with the decisions of church councils. Bruno announced an extraordinary course of lectures in philosophy on the topic of the 30 attributes (properties) of God. Formally, this was a commentary on the corresponding section of Thomas Aquinas' Code of Theology, but it was during these years that Bruno developed the doctrine of the coincidence of divine attributes, which opposed Thomism. Lectures in Paris brought fame to the hitherto unknown philosopher. According to the recollections of the listeners, Bruno spoke quickly, so that even the usual student hand could hardly keep up with him, "he was so quick in thought and possessed such great power of mind." But the main thing that struck the students was that Bruno "thought and dictated at the same time." In Paris, Bruno published his first books. They were written earlier, most likely in Toulouse; much of them was conceived in the monastery. Bruno's earliest extant book, his treatise On the Shadows of Ideas (1582), contained the first exposition of the main theses of Nolan philosophy; other Parisian writings are devoted to the art of memory and the reform of logic. The fame of the new professor, of his extraordinary abilities and amazing memory reached the royal palace. Bruno dedicated a book to Henry III, which served as an introduction to the secrets of the "Great Art" (the so-called invention of the 13th-century mystic Raymond Lull, who was then believed to have knowledge of the philosopher's stone). Bruno was received in select circles of Parisian society. A pleasant interlocutor in all respects - erudite, witty, gallant, he spoke fluent Italian, no-Latin, French and Spanish and knew a little Greek. He enjoyed the greatest success with the ladies. In the spring of 1583, due to the strengthening of reactionary Catholic groups in Paris and at the royal court, Bruno was forced to leave for England, having received a letter of recommendation from the king to the French ambassador in London. The years spent by Bruno in England (early 1583 - October 1585) are perhaps the happiest in his life. The French ambassador in London, Michel de Castelnau, a major political figure, a former warrior, an enlightened man (he translated one of the treatises of Pierre de la Ramé from Latin into French), a staunch supporter of religious tolerance and an enemy of religious fanaticism, settled Bruno in his house. For the first time in many years, the lonely exile felt friendly participation and care and could work without knowing material deprivation. In addition to friendship, Bruno enjoyed the gentle favor of women in the house of de Castelnau, they wove more than one fragrant rose into a heavy laurel wreath “a citizen of the Universe, the son of the sun god and mother earth,” as Bruno liked to call himself. He, who earlier could have argued with Schopenhauer on the part of the neglect of women, now repeatedly praises them in his works and of them most of all Marie Boschtel, de Castelnau's wife, and her daughter Marie, regarding whom he doubts whether "she was born on Earth , or descended to us from the sky. Bruno even gained favor with Elizabeth, "that Diana among the nymphs of the north," as he called her. The queen's favor extended to the point that Bruno could enter her at any time without a report. However, Bruno found it unworthy to languish, like Petrarch, with love for a woman, to sacrifice to her all the energy, all the forces of a great soul that can be devoted to striving for the divine. “Wisdom, which is at the same time truth and beauty, is the ideal,” exclaims Bruno, “before which the true hero bows. Love a woman if you will, but remember that you are also worshipers of the infinite. Truth is the food of every truly heroic soul; the pursuit of truth is the only occupation worthy of a hero. In London, Bruno became close friends with the poet and translator John Florio, the son of an Italian exile, and with a group of young English aristocrats, among whom stood out the physician and musician Matthew Gwin and the Petrarchist poet who lived in Italy for many years, Philip Sidney. Bruno's fellow countryman, famous lawyer, "grandfather of international law" Alberico Gentili and Sydney's uncle, favorite of Queen Elizabeth, Chancellor of Oxford University Robert Dudley provided Bruno with the opportunity to lecture at the famous Oxford University, about the glorious medieval traditions of which he wrote with respect and admiration. But Oxford has long forgotten about the famous "masters of metaphysics". A special decree ordered the bachelors to follow only Aristotle in disputes and forbade them to engage in "fruitless and vain questions, deviating from ancient and true philosophy." For every minor deviation from the rules of Aristotle's Organon, a fine was imposed. Bruno's lectures were received coldly at first, then with open hostility. Bruno's speech at the debate, arranged in June 1583 in honor of the visit of the Polish aristocrat Laski to the university, led to the conflict. Defending the heliocentric system of Copernicus, Bruno "with fifteen syllogisms planted 15 times, like a chicken in tow, one poor doctor, whom the academy put forward as a luminary in this difficult case." Unable to refute Bruno in an open argument, the university authorities forbade him from lecturing. And although Bruno's previous book - the Latin treatise "The Seal of Seals", dedicated to the exposition of the theory of knowledge - was openly printed by the London printer John Charlewood, both he and the author found it more prudent to publish the Italian dialogues with the designation of a false place of publication (Venice, Paris). The publication of the works of a disgraced professor who came into conflict with the scientific world was not a safe matter. The Italian dialogues, written in London and printed in 1584-1585, contain the first complete exposition of the "philosophy of the dawn" - the doctrine of being, cosmology, theory of knowledge, ethics and political views of Giordano Bruno. The publication of the first dialogue - "A Feast on the Ashes" caused a storm even greater than the dispute in Oxford, forcing the author "to withdraw and retire to his home." His aristocratic friends turned their backs on him, and Faulk Grivell was the first, outraged by the harshness of Bruno's attacks on pedants. And only Michel de Castelnau was a "defender against unfair insults." The second dialogue - "On the Cause, the Beginning and the One", containing an exposition of Bruno's philosophy, dealt a blow to the entire system of Aristotelianism. This caused even more enmity than the defense of the teachings of Copernicus. The next dialogue - "The Expulsion of the Triumphant Beast" was devoted to the justification of a new system of morality, the promotion of the social and political ideals of the philosopher, the liberation of the human mind from the power of age-old vices and prejudices. "Giordano speaks here for all to know, speaks freely, gives his own name to what nature has given its own being." Published in 1585, the dialogue "The Secret of Pegasus, with the addition of the Killenian donkey" settled scores with the "holy ass" of theologians of all stripes. Never before has a satire on the entire system of religious worldview been so sharp and frank. The last London dialogue, "On Heroic Enthusiasm," was a proud response to persecution. Bruno glorified in it the infinity of human knowledge, the highest virtue of the thinker, which is embodied in self-denial for the sake of comprehending the truth. Bruno's dialogues were presented to the queen (according to a contemporary, the author was honored by Elizabeth of England with the title of blasphemer, atheist, wicked). In July 1585, de Castelnau was recalled from his post as French envoy in London and returned to Paris in October. Together with him left England and Bruno. He left, leaving, according to the testimony of one of his friends, "the greatest strife in the English schools" by his speech against Aristotle. The situation in France has changed. The Catholic League, relying on the support of Philip II of Spain and the papal throne, took possession of many important areas of the country, strengthened its position at the court of Henry III, now devoted all his time to fasting, pilgrimages and soul-saving conversations. The edict of religious tolerance was repealed. Michel de Castelnau fell into disfavor. Lectures at the university were out of the question. Bruno lived from hand to mouth, on the way to Paris he and de Castelnaud were robbed by robbers. In Paris, Bruno published a course of lectures on Aristotle's "Physics", and in the spring of 1586 he was preparing for a new public speech against Aristotelianism. Despite the fears of theologians, he managed to get permission from the rector of the university to defend 120 theses directed against the main provisions of Physics and the treatise On Heaven and the World. This was Bruno's most significant speech against Aristotelian philosophy, against the scholastic doctrine of nature, matter, and the universe. The dispute took place on May 28, 1586 at the College of Cambrai. On behalf of Bruno, as was customary, his student Jean Ennequin spoke. The next day, when Bruno was supposed to answer objections, he didn't show up. Having come into conflict with influential political forces, without work, without money, without patrons, he could no longer remain in Paris, where he was threatened with reprisal. In June 1586 Bruno went to Germany. But notoriety got ahead of him. In Mainz and Wiesbaden, attempts to find work were unsuccessful. In Marburg, already after Bruno had been listed as a university professor, the rector unexpectedly summoned him and announced that, with the consent of the Faculty of Philosophy and for very important reasons, he was forbidden to teach philosophy in public. Bruno “became so angry,” wrote the rector Peter Nigidius, “that he rudely insulted me in my own house, as if I had acted in this matter contrary to international law and the customs of all German universities, and did not want to be a member of the university anymore.” In Wittenberg, Bruno met with the most cordial welcome. It turned out to be enough just to declare that he, Bruno, is a pet of the muses, a friend of mankind and a philosopher by profession, to immediately be included in the list of the university and receive, without any obstacles, the right to lecture. Bruno was very pleased with the reception and, in a burst of gratitude, called Wittenberg the German Athens. Here, in the center of the Lutheran Reformation, Bruno lived for two years. Using the relative freedom of teaching, he could, in his university lectures, expound the ideas proclaimed at the debates in Oxford and Paris. In Wittenberg, Bruno published several works on Lullian logic and "Cameracene Akrotism" - a revision and justification of the theses he defended at the College of Cambrai. When the Calvinists came to power in Saxony, he had to leave Wittenberg. In his farewell speech on March 8, 1588, he reaffirmed his loyalty to the principles of the new philosophy. Arriving in Prague in the autumn of the same year, Bruno published there One Hundred and Sixty Theses Against Mathematicians and Philosophers of Our Time, which outlined the transition to a new stage in his philosophy, associated with the strengthening of mathematical interests and the development of atomistic doctrine. In January 1589 Bruno began teaching at the University of Helmstedt. The old duke Julius of Brunswick, an enemy of churchmen and theologians, patronized him. After the death of the duke (to whose memory the philosopher dedicated his Consolation Speech), Bruno was excommunicated from the church by the local Lutheran consistory. His position in Helmstedt became extremely unstable. There were no fixed incomes. I had to feed myself with private lessons. There was not enough money even to hire a driver to leave the city. But for the first time in many years, the philosopher was not alone. Next to him was Hieronymus Bessler - a student, secretary, servant, faithful friend and assistant. He accompanied the teacher on difficult travels around Germany, trying to protect him from petty worries, and most importantly, rewrote his compositions. In these last years in the wild, as if anticipating an imminent catastrophe, Bruno worked especially hard and hard. He prepared new philosophical works, which were supposed to herald the "philosophy of the dawn" to the European scientific world. By the autumn of 1590, the philosophical trilogy was completed. The furious Bruno was not only a supporter, propagandist and apologist for the theory of the Formbork canon, but also went much further than him, abandoning the sphere of fixed stars still preserved by Copernicus. The universe, Bruno declared, is infinite and contains countless stars, one of which is our Sun. The Sun itself is an insignificant speck of dust in the unlimited expanses of the Universe. Bruno and to her, like the Earth, attributed rotational motion. He also taught that among the myriad of stars there are quite a few around which the planets revolve, and our Earth is not the only one on which life arose and intelligent beings live. What kind of anthropocentrism could we talk about? Sky and Cosmos are synonyms, and we humans are celestials. Bruno shared the Aristotelian opinion that everything that exists consists of four elements, but argued that not only the Earth, but also all celestial bodies are built from them. Bruno refuted the time-honored church postulate about the opposition between the Earth and the sky. The same laws, he believed, dominate in all parts of the universe, the existence and movement of all things are subject to the same rules. At the heart of the Universe lies a single material principle - "giving birth to nature", which has unlimited creative power. Central to his teaching was the idea of ​​the One. One is God and at the same time - the Universe. The One is matter and, at the same time, the source of motion. The One is the essence and at the same time the totality of things. This one, eternal and infinite Universe is neither born nor destroyed. She, by her very definition, excludes God the creator, external and higher in relation to her, for "she has nothing external from which she could suffer anything"; it "cannot have anything opposite or different as the cause of its change." If the dialectic of Nicholas of Cusa was the original, then Bruno's dialectic was the final stage in the development of the dialectic ideas of the Renaissance. In the middle of 1590, Bruno moved to Frankfurt am Main, the center of the European book trade. Here the publishers print his works and keep him on account of the fee. Bruno proofreads and edits his books. The half-year stay of the philosopher in Frankfurt was interrupted for a while by his trip to Zurich. Here he lectured to a select circle of young people on metaphysics and the basic concepts of logic. Then he returned to Frankfurt, where, in the absence of the author, the poems “On the Monad, Number and Figure”, “On the Immeasurable and Incalculable”, “On the Triple Least and Measure” were published. At this time, Bruno, through the bookseller Ciotto, received an invitation from the Venetian aristocrat Giovanni Mocenigo, who asked to teach him the art of mnemonics and other sciences. But Bruno's main goal was not Venice itself, but the famous University of Padua located in the Venetian region - one of the last centers of Italian freethinking. The Department of Mathematics had been empty there for a number of years. Bruno went to Padua, where he taught privately to German students for some time. Most of Bruno's surviving manuscripts (several of his drafts and copies made by Bessler) also belong to this time, during these years he worked on the problems of so-called natural magic. Hopes to get a chair in Padua did not come true. (A year later, the young Tuscan mathematician Galileo Galilei took over.) Bruno moved to Venice. At first he lived in a hotel and only then settled in the house of Giovanni Mocenigo. Bruno hoped for the power and relative independence of Venice from the Pope and counted on the patronage of an influential lord. Mocenigo, on the other hand, hoped to achieve power, fame and wealth with the help of magical art. Paying for the maintenance of Bruno, being a student as demanding as he was slow to understand, he was sure that the philosopher was hiding from him the most important, secret knowledge. In Venice, Bruno felt at ease. As elsewhere, he did not consider it necessary to hide his views. He began to work on a new large essay, The Seven Liberal Arts. Meanwhile, Mocenigo made more and more demands on his teacher. Giordano eventually got tired of this ridiculous addiction, and he announced that he would return to Frankfurt: it was necessary to prepare new books for publication. Then - in May 1592 - Mocenigo, on the advice of his confessor, betrayed his guest to the Inquisition. In three denunciations he denounced the philosopher. Everything was collected: suspicious places in the books (carefully crossed out by the scammer), and inadvertently dropped phrases, and frank conversations, and playful remarks. Half of them were enough to send the accused to the stake. But the testimony of other witnesses and the confession of the accused Bruno were necessary. He was lucky: the booksellers Ciotto and Bertano, the old monk Domenico da Nocera, the aristocrat Morosini, who were summoned to the tribunal, gave evidence favorable to him. The position of Bruno himself during the investigation was clear and consistent. He was not a religious reformer and was not going to go to the stake because of the various interpretations of church dogmas and rituals. He rejected all accusations of blasphemy, mocking statements about the veneration of icons and the cult of saints, about the Mother of God and Christ, since Mocenigo could not prove them, the conversations were carried out face to face. As for the deeper theological issues that bordered on philosophy, Bruno directly told the inquisitors about his doubts about the dogmas of the trinity of God and the God-manhood of Christ, expounding his doctrine of the coincidence of divine attributes. All philosophical positions, including the doctrine of the eternity and infinity of the universe, the existence of countless worlds, Bruno defended from beginning to end. Defending himself from accusations, the philosopher referred in his defense to a dual point of view on truth, thanks to which philosophy and theology, science and faith can exist side by side, without interfering with one another. On July 30, Bruno again appeared before the judges. This time the great sufferer showed that although he did not remember, it was very possible that during his long excommunication from the church he had to fall into other errors besides those that he already knew. Then, falling on his knees before the judges, Bruno continued with tears: “I humbly implore the Lord God and you to forgive me all the errors that I have fallen into; I will readily accept and fulfill everything that you decree and recognize as useful for the salvation of my soul. If the Lord and you show mercy to me and give me life, I promise to improve and make amends for all the bad things I have done before. This ended the actual process in Venice, all the acts were sent to Rome, from there on September 17 a demand was received to extradite Bruno for trial in Rome. The social influence of the accused, the number and nature of the heresies in which he was suspected, were so great that the Venetian Inquisition did not dare to end this process itself. In the summer of 1593, when Bruno was already in Rome, his former cellmate Celestino, hoping to alleviate his fate (he was involved in the investigation for the second time, and he was threatened with severe punishment, maybe even a fire), wrote a denunciation. The cellmates were summoned to Rome and interrogated. Some remained silent, citing a bad memory, others were really poorly versed in Bruno's philosophical reasoning, but on the whole their testimony confirmed Celestino's denunciation. The betrayal of the cellmates significantly worsened the position of the philosopher. However, the testimony of convicted criminals was not considered complete. On those points of accusations in which the heretic was not sufficiently exposed, his confession was required. Bruno was tortured. The process dragged on. More than seven years passed from the time of Bruno's arrest to his execution. He was asked to repent. A commission of censors from the most authoritative theologians looked for positions in Bruno's books that contradicted the faith and demanded new and new explanations. The Inquisition required him to renounce without reservation, without hesitation, without looking back to his former scientific convictions about the greatness of the infinite universe. If Bruno had been solicited for a simple renunciation, he would have renounced and would have been ready to repeat his renunciation once more. But they demanded something else from him, they wanted to change his feelings, they wanted to get his rich mental powers at their disposal, to turn his name, his learning, his pen to the services of the church. In 1599, the investigation was headed by Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino, a Jesuit, an educated theologian, accustomed to fighting heretics (both with a pen and with the help of executioners). In January 1599, Bruno was handed a list of 8 heretical provisions in which he was accused. By renunciation, the philosopher could still save his life. Several years of exile in a monastery and freedom or death at the stake - that was the last choice. In August, Bellarmino reported to the tribunal that Bruno had pleaded guilty to some of the charges. But in the notes presented to the Inquisition, he continued to defend his innocence. At the end of September, he was given a deadline of 40 days. In December, Bruno again told his judges that he would not abdicate. His last note, addressed to the pope, was opened but not read; the inquisitors lost hope. On February 8, 1600, in the palace of Cardinal Madruzzi, in the presence of the highest prelates of the Catholic Church and distinguished guests, the verdict was announced. Bruno was stripped of his priesthood and excommunicated from the church. After that, he was handed over to the secular authorities, instructing them to subject him to "the most merciful punishment and without the shedding of blood." Such was the hypocritical formula, meaning the demand to be burned alive. Bruno carried himself with imperturbable calm and dignity. Only once did he break his silence: after hearing the verdict, the philosopher proudly raised his head and, addressing the judges with a menacing air, uttered the words that became historic: “Perhaps you pronounce this verdict with more fear than I listen to it!” The execution was scheduled for February 17th. Hundreds of thousands of people rushed to the square and crowded into the neighboring streets, so that, if it was impossible to get to the place of execution, then at least to see the procession and the condemned. He made his last terrible journey with chains on his arms and legs. Giordano went up the stairs, he was chained to a post; a fire blazed below. Bruno remained conscious until the last minute; not a single prayer, not a single groan escaped from his chest; all the time while the execution lasted, his gaze was turned to the sky.

The value of Giordano Bruno (the real name that few people know is Filippo) and his worldview has been repeatedly reassessed. Initially, his name acted for most people as a symbol of "heresy", then he turned into a symbol of the fight against medieval obscurantism and its victims; now quite often it is believed that Bruno is just an occultist, and not a philosopher and not a researcher. Where is the truth? Let's take a closer look at this strange case.

There is no doubt that the hero of our story is an Italian who studied at the Neapolitan monastic school, a priest of the Dominican order (since 1572). It seems to be an ordinary biography for a clergyman of that time ... but then strange things begin. In 1576, Bruno is accused of heresy and he hides in Rome, and then in exile. Such a sharp turn in worldview is, of course, impossible. And although it is impossible to accurately determine the evolution of views in this case, it can be assumed that they did not arise rapidly, but began to form at least in the early 1570s.

After leaving Italy, Bruno wanders from one city to another, expounding his findings in books and public speeches. And then - another oddity. 1592. The Venetian Mocenigo invites him to his place ... and soon the arrest takes place. It is difficult to say whether this was a planned provocation, or an absurd set of circumstances, or "the disappointment of a good Catholic in a heretic."

The following year, Giordano Bruno was extradited to Rome (then Italy was a patchwork of small states).

Documentary about Giordano Bruno:

Why was Giordano Bruno burned?

During the inquisitorial process, various accusations were formulated. They were mainly reduced to blasphemy, immoral acts and distortion of theological dogmas. Philosophical and cosmological theses were not considered paramount.

The accused did not retract his allegations and, by personal order of the Pope, was burned. Bruno outlined the main theses in the work "On the Cause, the Beginning and the One" in 1584 edition. This work is written in the spirit of pantheism (the dissolution of the deity in nature and everything that exists, and not the existence of some personalized god). At the same time, in the essay “On Infinity, the Universe and the Worlds”, the idea of ​​infinity and inexhaustibility of the universe is fixed.

It should be noted that the factual material that the Nolan could have at its disposal could not serve as a basis for these conclusions, they are largely speculative. Nevertheless, a number of them substantially coincide with the theoretical conclusions of modern cosmology and physics.

Giordano Bruno - main ideas and discoveries

Familiarization with the charges brought against the philosopher, as well as with the testimony of witnesses and with published works, leaves no doubt that both natural-philosophical and mystical components were present in his views, which is sometimes impossible to separate one from the other. This allows the apologists of the Inquisition and its defenders to argue for a long time that the main essence of the accusations and the reason for the execution was reduced to the dogmatic differences between the thinker and the official church doctrine.

However, even the “brief summary of the trial”, carefully edited in the spirit pleasing to the Vatican, testifies that, along with Bruno's mystical and religious judgments, the accusers studied his philosophy no less carefully. She was in their eyes no less, but rather even more "guilt" than thoughts about hell, the trinity, and so on.

Giordano Bruno was not, of course, a follower of Ptolemy - he unconditionally stood on the position of Copernicus, and deepened and developed it further.