Bruno, Giordano (1548-1600), was one of the most prominent philosophers of the Renaissance. His thought is a combination of philosophy, religion, mysticism, and magic. Bruno wrote poems, treatises, and dialogues. He developed a concept of “heroic love”—an ideal love of God accompanied by suffering of heroic proportions because of our separation from God during our earthly lives.
Bruno was born in Nola, Italy, near Naples. At the age of 18, he joined the Dominicans, a Roman Catholic religious order. His restless spirit and critical mind led him to question church teachings and to leave the Dominicans. Bruno traveled through northern Italy working as a tutor. He then went to Geneva, Switzerland, where he converted to Calvinism for a short time. Later, he went to France and England and then to Germany, where he briefly converted to Lutheranism. Bruno’s tendency to criticize established philosophies and religions brought him into conflict with his powerful patrons and church leaders. In 1600, he was sentenced to death as a heretic by a court of the Inquisition . He was burned alive in Rome on Feb. 17, 1600.
