Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
Person 1548-1600 · about 52 years old · show in timeline

Giordano Bruno

After seven years of imprisonment, the philosopher and former Dominican Giordano Bruno was condemned by the Roman Inquisition and burned on the Campo de' Fiori in Rome on 17 February 1600.

Life dates
1548-1600 (about 52 years old)
Country
Italy
Institutions
Roman Inquisition
Category
Heresy trials, Murder
Level of evidence
B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?
Monument to Giordano Bruno by Ettore Ferrari on the Campo de' Fiori in Rome, the place of his burning
Monument to Giordano Bruno by Ettore Ferrari on the Campo de' Fiori in Rome, the place of his burning Image: Jastrow. cropped detail made by User:Nolanus, Public domain, Source

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. Bruno was burned at the stake on the Campo de' Fiori in Rome on 17 February 1600. The sources contradict each other on the length of his imprisonment: the Catholic Encyclopedia names six years in the prison of the Inquisition in Rome, the Britannica seven years of imprisonment.
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Artikel Giordano Bruno
    „burned at the stake in the Campo dei Fiori in Rome (17 February)“
    Giordano Bruno, Artikel Giordano Bruno. Original
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Artikel Giordano Bruno
    „for six years was kept in the prison of the Inquisition“
    Giordano Bruno, Artikel Giordano Bruno. Original
    Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Bruno, Giordano
    „Seven years were spent in confinement.“
    Bruno, Giordano, Artikel Bruno, Giordano. Original

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. A commission of the Roman Inquisition condemned him in January 1600 and handed him over to the secular power on 8 February, and on 17 February 1600 he was burned on the Campo de' Fiori.
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Lebenslauf
    „the trial was begun before a commission of the Roman Inquisition“
    Giordano Bruno, Lebenslauf. Original
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Lebenslauf
    „he was finally condemned (January, 1600), handed over to the secular power (8 February), and burned at the stake in the Campo dei Fiori in Rome (17 February)“
    Giordano Bruno, Lebenslauf. Original
    Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Lebenslauf
    „On the 9th of February 1600 he was excommunicated, and on the 17th was burned at the stake“
    Bruno, Giordano, Lebenslauf. Original

What happened to those affected?

  1. He was brought to Rome in 1593 and spent seven years in custody.
    Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Lebenslauf
    „in 1593 was brought to Rome. Seven years were spent in confinement“
    Bruno, Giordano, Lebenslauf. Original

Background

Course of events

  1. Bruno was born near Nola in 1548 and died in Rome in 1600.
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Einleitung
    „b. at Nola in Campania, in the Kingdom of Naples, in 1548; d. at Rome, 1600“
    Giordano Bruno, Einleitung. Original

Why? Justification and motives (according to the sources)

  1. Bruno was denounced in Venice by his Venetian host Giovanni Mocenigo after Mocenigo had failed to obtain from him the secret of his "natural magic". According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, he was condemned not for the Copernican view of the world but for theological errors, for example that Christ was not God but an unusually skilful magician and that the devil too would be saved.
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Artikel Giordano Bruno
    „Failing to obtain from Bruno the secret of his "natural magic", Mocenigo denounced him to the Inquisition .“
    Giordano Bruno, Artikel Giordano Bruno. Original
    Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908), Artikel Giordano Bruno
    „Bruno was not condemned for his defence of the Copernican system of astronomy , nor for his doctrine of the plurality of inhabited worlds, but for his theological errors , among which were the following: that Christ was not God but merely an unusually skilful magician, that the Holy Ghost is the soul of the world, that the Devil will be saved, etc.“
    Giordano Bruno, Artikel Giordano Bruno. Original

See also

Scholarly literature and reference works

  1. Reference work
    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 3 (1908): Giordano Bruno, 1 January 1908. Original (retrieved 11 Oct 2026)
  2. Reference work
    Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911): Bruno, Giordano, 1 January 1911. Original (retrieved 11 Oct 2026)
Change log (5)

The change log is kept in German only.

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Last changed on 22 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.