The Pope and the Heretic: The True Story of Giordano Bruno, the Man Who Dared to Defy the Roman Inquisition
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Giordano Bruno challenged everything in his pursuit of an all-embracing system of thought. This not only brought him patronage from powerful figures of the day but also put him in direct conflict with the Catholic Church. Arrested by the Inquisition and tried as a heretic, Bruno was imprisoned, tortured, and, after eight years, burned at the stake in 1600. The Vatican "regrets" the burning yet refuses to clear him of heresy.
But Bruno's philosophy spread: Galileo, Isaac Newton, Christiaan Huygens, and Gottfried Leibniz all built upon his ideas; his thought experiments predate the work of such twentieth-century luminaries as Karl Popper; his religious thinking inspired such radicals as Baruch Spinoza; and his work on the art of memory had a profound effect on William Shakespeare.
Chronicling a genius whose musings helped bring about the modern world, Michael White pieces together the final years -- the capture, trial, and the threat the Catholic Church felt -- that made Bruno a martyr of free thought.
Michael White
Michael White was a science lecturer before becoming a full-time writer and journalist. He is the author with John Gribbin of the bestselling ‘Stephen Hawking – A Lifetime in Science’. He is a regular contributor to the ‘Sunday Times’, the ‘Observer’,the ‘Daily Telegraph, GQ, Focus’ and ‘New Scientist’.
Read more from Michael White
Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stand Up Comedy: Little Known Secrets to Mastering the Art of Comedy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRebuilding Your Message: Practical Tools to Strengthen Your Preaching and Teaching Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Monkey Mountain Story: A New Way to Learn and Do Tai Chi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pope & the Heretic: The True Story of Giordano Bruno, the Man Who Dared to Defy the Roman Inquisition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRebuilt Faith: A Handbook for Skeptical Catholics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTools for Rebuilding: 75 Really, Really Practical Ways to Make Your Parish Better Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ChurchMoney: Rebuilding the Way We Fund Our Mission Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIt's Never Only Business Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeriously, God?: Making Sense of Life Not Making Sense Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rebuilt Field Guide: Ten Steps for Getting Started Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Franchise Game Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Scars You Left Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Boy Named Mark Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVictoriana Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPaul McCartney's Coat and Other Short Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFor Absent Friends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAscension Into dreams Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Into the Light Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLachmi Bai Rani of Jhansi The Jeanne D'Arc of India Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWelcome Home Ann Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Laughs, Corpses... and a Little Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Spoon Filled with Sugar Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLachmi Bai, Rani of Jhansi: The Jeanne D'Arc of India Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Pope and the Heretic
Related ebooks
The Pope & the Heretic: The True Story of Giordano Bruno, the Man Who Dared to Defy the Roman Inquisition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssays on Giordano Bruno Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Metaphysical World of Isaac Newton: Alchemy, Prophecy, and the Search for Lost Knowledge Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Holy Shroud: A Brilliant Hoax in the Time of the Black Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJulius Evola: The Philosopher and Magician in War: 1943-1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heroic Enthusiasts (Gli Eroici Furori) Part the Second An Ethical Poem Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSaint George for England Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeroic Enthusiasts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heroic Enthusiasts (Gli Eroici Furori) Part the First An Ethical Poem Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Works of Aristotle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReading the Mahavamsa: The Literary Aims of a Theravada Buddhist History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGiordano Bruno Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Romance of Freemasonry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Legend of the Holy Graal. Book II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCourting Sanctity: Holy Women and the Capetians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOration on the Dignity of Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInferno Decoded Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heroic Enthusiasts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGod's Heretics: The Albigensian Crusade Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Gnostics: The First Christian Heretics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of the Germanic Empire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Signature of All Things Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrangements of a Faith Forgotten Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnostic Philosophy: From Ancient Persia to Modern Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selected Writings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple - The First Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Historical Biographies For You
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coreyography: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer: An Edgar Award Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago: The Authorized Abridgement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frida Kahlo: An Illustrated Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Rediscovered Books): A Triumph Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Like Me: The Definitive Griffin Estate Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Profiles in Courage: Deluxe Modern Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diary of Anne Frank (The Definitive Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bonhoeffer Abridged: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leonardo da Vinci Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Moveable Feast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil and Harper Lee Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/518 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Pope and the Heretic
3 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5While White's portrait of Bruno is interesting, he commits a fundamental fallacy in dealing with history; he evaluates events from a contemporary perspective. In doing so he not only does the Church and society of the 16th century a severe disservice, but in effect, does so to Bruno as well. Bruno has been quasi-canonized by the same anti-church sentiments that make of Galileo a far more colorful martyr than the facts support, and White's work only continues this trend. Bruno had elements of brilliance in his work, certainly, but it was buried amidst a mish-mash of self-aggrandizing, convoluted and almost schizophrenic ramblings. His prosecution by the church resulted less from his ideas in and of themselves, and more from his general tendency to cause trouble wherever he went; Catholic, Protestant - he seemed to offend all equally. White, in addition to his post-enlightenment condemnation of history, also has an unfortunate tendency to over-dramatize. He is not alone in this; there seem to have been a spate of highly novelized histories recently, of which some are impressive and others considerably less so. This is of the latter ilk, the sort which imposes purely speculative dialog and other such details (which are utterly impossible for us to know) onto the facts at hand. It may be that the result is more entertaining than the facts themselves; however, this volume cannot really be called history. I submit that if the author's wish is to entertain, perhaps he would be better advised to stick to fiction writing (at which he seems to have some skill) and leave history in the hands of those who will treat it responsibly.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A fairly engrossing account of the life of this philosopher and occultist who perceived an infinite universe and tried to establish a new religion, a fusion of pre-Christian beliefs and original Christianity, shorn of what he perceived to be the corruption of the official Catholic church. Bruno's persecution and eventual death are described in horrific detail, but also with a certain breathless novelistic embellishment that I found irritating. Many people might also say the author has rather a simplistic view of the history of Catholicism and the role of the Inquisition, following a resolutely modern viewpoint that cannot adequately be used to understand a 16th century view of religion, with its single minded and exclusivist attitude on both sides of the Reformation divide. He frequently refers to Church figures as "evil", for example, which, while it would be very accurate as a description of someone now who carried out such acts of persecution, is somehow inadequate when describing the 16th century. Bruno emerges as a highly intelligent and imaginative thinker, but also as arrogant and, ironically in view of the vast breadth of his vision, narrow minded and naïve in terms of the sharing and practical application of his views. He does not emerge as a sympathetic and pro-science figure as does Galileo. Some of the author's views on the longer term influence of Bruno on modern computer technology also did not convince me. Worth a read, but not as good as Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter, which I read immediately before this.