All of us in school desks have made the acquaintance of Giordano Bruno, the great Neapolitan philosopher who became one of the quintessential symbols of freedom of thought. Born in the province of Naples, Bruno was forced to leave it and traveled throughout Europe.

Let us try here an exercise in style to retrace the footsteps of this eclectic thinker through the form of dialogue so dear to him. Let us imagine here a dialogue between Giordano Bruno and his pupil and copyist Hieronymus Besler, an important figure in the last years that the Neapolitan philosopher spent as a free man.

An imaginary dialogue between Giordano Bruno and Hieronymus Besler

BESLER: Tell me, teacher, what was it like where you grew up?

BRUNO: The most beautiful place in the world, my dear Hieronymus, without any doubt. I suppose there are many who speak like this of their birthplace, but even after so many years of traveling all over Europe I cannot help but think of my Nola as a paradise of sweetness. I was born at the foot of Mount Cicada, which would watch over me throughout my childhood. It was a place covered with the richest vegetation, fragrant herbs and trees: laurel and myrtle, oak and chestnut, ivy and olive... I used to even talk to the mountain, you know?

BESLER: Do you think this is what gave you the inspiration for your nature studies?

BRUNO: Let me tell you an anecdote. I was about 12 years old when I imagined I was having a dialogue with Mount Cicala. The mount told me to look toward noon, because there I would see Vesuvius. I looked toward that mount and found it gloomy and dreary, but the mount rebuked me affectionately: he said that that mount was his brother, and that I should not judge him by his appearance. That distant mountain also loved me, stood by me and would watch over me. In retrospect, I can well say that Mount Cicada was right: every element of Creation is the work of God, and as such is rich in beauty.

BESLER: Were you right in your other considerations as well? Did Vesuvius then protect you?

BRUNO: Vesuvius accompanied me there where Mount Cicada could not reach. It would stay with me for many and many more years...did I ever tell you about my arrival in Naples?

BESLER: No, master. If you would like, I would be pleased to listen to you.

BRUNO: Just imagine: I was but a 14-year-old boy growing up in Nola, surrounded by the vegetation of Mount Cicala. Imagine what it was like for me to arrive in the teeming, majestic Naples! I walked the streets full of life as if in a dream, and in the background I always had Vesuvius and the sea watching over me. Passing through the center of the city I saw splendors that until then I had never even dared to imagine. I entered the Church of Santa Chiara, where I visited the tomb of King Robert of Anjou and was enchanted before Giotto's splendid frescoes. I finally arrived at the Church of San Domenico Maggiore. I would see it countless times over the years, but it would always seem as majestic and exciting as the first time. Such splendor is hard to get used to... Next to the church was the final destination of my journey, the convent where I would spend so many years. Here I would study hard, from a frightened boy I would become a man and take vows to dedicate myself to serving the Lord. Did you know that St. Thomas Aquinas taught in that same convent? I saw what had been his cell, it was extraordinary to think of being in the same places where such an outstanding figure had lived....

Giordano Bruno's places between Nola and Naples

In our dialogue Giordano Bruno evoked memories related to when, as a very young man, he left Nola to join the Convent of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples. Let us get to know him better.

Giordano Bruno was the author of extremely innovative theses on science, philosophy and theology; theses that, despite a grueling trial lasting nearly 8 years that saw him accused of heresy and witchcraft, the great philosopher chose not to retract. For this he was sentenced to be burned at the stake by the Inquisition tribunal and burned alive in Campo de' Fiori in Rome on February 17, 1600.

Giordano Bruno was born in 1548 in Nola, in the province of Naples. He would think back to this land in 1591 through a triptych of works in which he devoted affectionate pages to the Mount Cicada, the setting of his childhood. As soon as he was 14 years old, Giordano Bruno moved to Naples, in that Convent of San Domenico Maggiore which would serve as the backdrop for all his formative years; here he would later take vows to join the Dominican order. Bruno would remain in Naples until 1576, when his ideas earned him the institution of a trial for heresy. Warned in time by a novice, Giordano Bruno fled on foot along the via Mezzocannone until he reached the port to embark for Terracina. From this escape will begin a long wanderings that will take Giordano Bruno all over Europe. In the course of this tormented itinerant life he will compose his works, the result of a free and independent thought that rejected the traditional dogmas imposed by the Church.

Giordano Bruno and the heroic fury of freedom of thought

Although he went down in history because of the accusations brought against him by the Holy Inquisition, it would be wrong, however, to consider Bruno as an anti-Catholic: rather, he wanted to play the role of a reformer, freeing the Church from outdated dogmas (such as the geocentric conception of the universe and the idea, derived from Aristotle, that the universe is finite and therefore limited) and leading it to take steps forward in the search for knowledge and truth. Indeed, it was her belief that study and direct experience were man's highest aspiration and the only way to seek contact with God. In fact, his search passes through the continuous and in-depth study of nature, a way of "seeking God in things" from which an almost pantheistic conception leaks out: if God is infinite and unreachable, the only way to approach Him is to try to understand that nature which He created and which constitutes the only horizon within which each of us has the possibility of moving. Hence the"heroic fury" which gives the title to one of the philosopher's most famous works: a thirst for knowledge similar to a love passion, capable of propelling man toward a continuous search for truth.

May of Monuments tribute to Giordano Bruno

The May of Monuments, a cultural review consisting of a rich series of events held in the historic center of Naples, reached its 26th edition in 2020. The review was dedicated precisely to the figure of Giordano Bruno.

Given the extraordinary situation we experienced, the more than 200 events nevertheless took place as per tradition in the city's iconic places, this time live streamed through the social channels of the City of Naples.