Reply #15: I will say again that the trial of Bruno lasted seven years, that it must [View All]

[struggle4progress]

have produced a voluminous record, that this record is now "lost" except for the volume indicated on the Vatican website in question, and that the fact that the Vatican provides certain quotes from Bruno (on its single webpage devoted to the topic) does not much clarify what the real underlying issues were.

By 1600, of course, the Reformation had swept across Europe, and the Roman Church had lost authority across much of Europe. This had been a violent process, going back at least to the Hussite wars. By 1600, although quite a few lives had been lost in these power struggles, and Rome rather clearly hoped to forestall further territorial losses by ending challenges to its authority.

Bruno, of course, was burned for somehow challenging the Vatican's authority. But for some reasons unknown today, it took seven years to obtain "proof" of this challenge sufficient to engineer political support for his execution. If it were simply a matter of Bruno holding that the earth moved, why wouldn't the case have been settled immediately? Since Bruno's real interests were philosophical, rather than scientific, it would be strange if his seven year trial centered around legitimate scientific issues. As the Vatican material you quote indicates that Bruno denied his views were heretical, it seems equally plausible that Bruno's "crime" was that he insisted his own theology was non-heretical, despite being told by his examiners that others considered it heretical -- which might be more in keeping with the Counter-Reformation context of the Roman Inquisition.