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suzerainty of the Emperor of the Eastern or Greek empire. After
several futile efforts they at last, in 1310, under the twenty-fourth
Grand Master Villaret, captured the island, where under their
ceaseless energy both hospitals and forts were built. To Rhodes were
brought also Christian refugees from the various Turkish provinces,
and thus their numbers were rapidly strengthened. Their fleet,
already begun (vide supra) was greatly increased, and with it they
had many a conflict with the Turkish corsairs, whose inroads they
practically checked.
About the beginning of the fourteenth century changes had been
made in the Order, which was now divided into Langues, or arranged
according to nationalities, yet without materially altering the original
division into the three classes (Knights, Chaplains and Serving
Brothers). In this way the Order was apportioned between seven
nations or languages, Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon,
England and Germany. Finally under pressure from Spain the Langue
of Aragon was divided into two, Aragon and Castile, the latter
including Portugal. The various dignities and offices were divided
among these langues, whose principals became a kind of Privy
Council to the Grand Master, and were known as Conventual Bailiffs.
They were given different names in each country; thus the Grand
Commander of the English langue was known as the Turcopolier, of
France the Grand Hospitaller, of Italy the Admiral, etc. As the new
fortifications arose around the city of Rhodes, each was placed in
charge of one of these langues or divisions, while each erected
quarters for its own men. It did not follow, however, that every
member of each langue came from the country which it represented.
While Scotland was an independent kingdom it contributed to the
Turcopolier, while many Scotchmen belonged to the French or even
the other langues. At this time the inhabitants of the City of Rhodes
consisted largely of Christian refugees, who owed their security,
even their lives, to the fact that the Knights Hospitaller still adhered
to their primary objects, the liberation of the captive and giving
assistance to the sick and distressed. This they afforded through
their fleet and their hospices. When Smyrna nearly fell into the
hands of Timour the Tartar, about the middle of the fourteenth
century, the Order strengthened their harbor by erecting a new fort,
which they named Budrum (corrupted from Petros-a Rock), where
any Christian escaping from slavery found shelter. Here was also
kept a remarkable breed of dogs, who were trained not only as
watch dogs but to render services similar to those afforded by the
Alpine dogs of St. Bernard.
As time went on the Sultans became more and more jealous of the
naval power possessed by the Order. With the fall of the Eastern
Empire and the final retaking of Constantinople by Mahomet II, in
1453 (See "Prince of India"), it was made evident that danger to the
Order from this direction was rapidly increasing. This became so
urgent that in 1470, after Mahomet had taken the island of
Negropont, the Grand Master commanded that all members of the
Order should repair at once to Rhodes. In 1476 d'Aubusson began
the most active measures for the defense of the place, and thus was
ready for the attack, in May, 1480, when 80,000 men in 160 ships,
landed on the island coast. In this siege no small part was played by
renegade traitors, the most prominent being one George Frapant, a
German, whom the Grand Master finally hung in July. In the last
sorties which terminated this siege deeds of the greatest bravery
were performed; yet here we can only commemorate the fact that
the Turks were summarily defeated, leaving 3,500 corpses on the
ground after the last decisive attack. The losses of the besieged
were small as compared with those suffered by the Turks.
Later in the same year the island suffered from a severe earthquake.
Mahomet died not long after this, was succeeded by his son Bo-jazet
who made truce with the Order, presenting them with a relic of
supposedly inestimable value, namely the hand of St. John, which
the Turks had taken at Constantinople.
Years of comparative quietude succeeded until in the following
century, in 1522, Solyman the Magnificent landed upon the island in
July, with 100,000 soldiers and 60,000 pioneers. Again ensued all
the horrors of a siege. The defenders did their part so bravely that
the Sultan publicly disgraced his generals. But the inevitable famine
wrought consequent disaffection on the part of the native
population, who clamored for capitulation, and sought treasonable
terms therefor, because of which one of the most prominent of them
was tried, found guilty and executed. Finally under stress of
circumstances no longer endurable Grand Master Adam agreed to
honorable surrender, and on the first of January, 1523, the
Hospitaller Knights relinquished the island, the Sultan himself
speaking in terms of extravagant praise of their heroism, while at the
same time he scathingly censured the Christian monarchs of Europe
who had failed to come to their relief. Thus after two hundred and
twenty years of occupation and rule of the island of Rhodes, some
5,000 Knights and other members of the Order, and natives, left it to
take abode for a short time in their Priory at Messina. Driven from
here by plague, they moved on to Viterbo, while their Grand Master
travelled in search of a new home.
Malta. Malta had been early proposed for this purpose, and offered
by Charles V, while many wishes turned to the city of Modon, in
Greece. After seven years of wandering and indecision Grand Master
L'Isle Adam accepted Malta as the best solution of the difficulty.
Thither the Order now removed, and there Adam died in the Castle
of St. Angelo, erected by the Norman Count Roger of Sicily, still
active in improving its existing defences. In 1555 the Order lost
nearly all of its fleet in consequence of a violent hurricane, which
accident for a while laid the island open to piratical attacks,
especially of a corsair named Dragut; but he did little damage, save
that with the knowledge of the island and its defences thus gained
he persuaded Solyman to undertake another attempt to crush the
Order, the latter being justly furious because some galleys belonging
to the Order had captured a ship that happened to be loaded with
rich valuables belonging to the ladies of his harem. Therefore war
was again declared in 1565.
The Turkish fleet was made up of 130 galleys with 50 smaller boats,
and carried the Janissaries and 34,000 other soldiers, against whom
the Grand Master could only oppose some 9,000 men, 700 of whom,
however, were desperate men, released from the galleys of the
enemy, and eager for vengeance. On May twenty-fourth the siege of
St. Elmo was in reality begun by a fierce bombardment, the walls
being soon battered, and the garrison forced to take shelter in
excavations made in the solid rock. And now the besiegers' force
was augmented by the arrival of Dragut, in those days the dreaded
corsair of the sea, who came with thirteen more ships and 1,500
more men. June thirteenth saw a desperate conflict when, after six
hours of fierce fighting and the loss of only 300 men, the besiegers
were repulsed. Soon after this Dragut was killed. Again on June
twenty-third another general attack was repulsed, though the
garrison was thereby reduced to 60 men. Even this small force,
many crippled and maimed, repulsed the first onslaught of the
Turks, but had later to sell their lives as dearly as they could.
The Turkish general Mustapha took barbarous revenge, even on the
corpses of the Knights which he decapitated and then tied to planks
that they might float past St. Angelo. La Vallette retaliated by
beheading some of his captives and firing their heads at the Turks
from his cannon.
At this juncture the garrison was reinforced by the arrival of 700
men and 42 Knights from Sicily. Refusing all opportunities to
surrender and all parley under flags of truce, Grand Master La
Vallette built new defences and strengthened the old, in spite of a
fierce July sun. Meanwhile the Turks, also reinforced, prepared for
still more desperate sorties, selecting for the land attack men who
knew not how to swim, in order that they might fight the more
fiercely, and drawing off the boats as soon as their loads were
emptied, so that no retreat could be possible. One thousand
Janissaries were embarked in ten large barges, but nine of these
were sunk by the artillery fire from the forts. On the other side of
the defences a large attacking column was completely routed. The
loss to the Turks this day was 3,000 men, that of the garrison 250.
And so the siege went on; attack after attack, with but small success
to the investing army. But the heroic defenders suffered increasingly
under the constant strain, and both armies were exhausted, the
Turks losing 800 men from dysentery alone. To such an extent was
this true that when the Turkish officers drove their soldiers to the
charge by blows of their own swords, it was but necessary to cut
down those who led the charges, when the rest would turn and fly.
And now came other long expected reinforcements from Sicily, when
a fleet landed 8,500 men and returned for 4,000 more. Being now
quite unequal to the continuation of the siege the Turks evacuated
all the ground they had gained, and finally made a hasty and
complete flight, harassed in every way, in their endeavors to escape,
by the now victorious garrison.
The losses during the period of siege, with its numerous
engagements, were estimated at some 30,000 Turks, and 8,000 men
and 260 Knights of the Order. Is it strange that by contributions from
all over Christian Europe there was soon built up a town bearing the
name of Valetta, thus commemorating the heroism and military
prowess of the Order's Grand Master La Valette, as well as the
"glorious issue" of the struggle for Malta, and the confirmation of the
Order as a sovereign independent community?
Thus secured from further probable struggle this city of Valetta
acquired a certain degree of glory, later even of magnificence. From
all parts of Europe, wherever any commandery of the Order was
maintained, was paid tribute to the Grand Master, as may be
adjudged even to-day, long after French rapacity had robbed the city
of many of its treasures. Individual Knights vied with each other in
their gifts, and palaces arose wherein were received the envoys and
even ambassadors of foreign courts. The fleet was constantly busied
in clearing the Mediterranean of Moslem and other pirates, and
many Christians were released from the galleys in which they had
been chained to the oars.
In this restoration the English langue took a rather small part, and
their officers and members had often to be rebuked or punished for
insubordination or worse crimes. The Reformation in England
interfered, and furnished some reason for their diminishing zeal. The
galleys of the Order became more and more like pleasure boats, and
many of their cruises were in effect pleasure excursions. Later in
their decadence their adventures became more like piratical
incursions, until, under letters of marque issued by a decadent
Admiralty, the Malta privateer was equivalent to the pirate.
(Maroyat). These facts were scarcely offset by that other, that the
last fleet of the Order, which left Valetta in 1783, was sent to the
relief of earthquake sufferers in Sicily.
With regard to their activities in the matter of succoring the sick let it
be noted that the Knights found on their arrival at Malta a hospital or
hospice already existing. In the buildings of a nunnery still standing
may be seen the gateway of their own first hospital. In 1575 they
erected one much larger, which had a passageway connected with
the waterfront, so that patients could be brought directly from the
ships. This building in some part still remains in use as a military
hospital. Its great ward is 500 feet in length, and 30 feet high,
divided by partitions 15 feet in height. In its best days patients were
served from silver utensils. It was under the charge of the Regent of
the French Knights, who had as his staff five doctors and three
apothecaries. Other knights and servants acted as male nurses. The
knights were luxuriously cared for, and 150 beds were always in
reserve for those returning from expeditions who might need them.
In 1796, only a year before the disintegration of the Order began,
the patients numbered from 350 to 400. There existed also a
hospital for women, with 230 beds, and a foundling hospital where
some fifty waifs were sheltered.
A curious bit of history connecting the middle ages with the more
recent past relates to the hospital interests of the Order. The nobles
of Dauphigny had founded a fraternity of Hospitallers for the relief of
sufferers from St. Anthony's fire (erysipelas), which was erected into
the regular Antoine order in 1218. About 550 years later, or to be
exact in 1777, a compact was made by which the Order of St. John
took over their property, under certain conditions, which involved,
among other considerations, a larger expenditure. The Antonine
estates, in France and Savoy, were confiscated in 1792, thus
entailing a tremendous loss to the Order, so great, in fact that the
Valetta treasury became insolvent. (Bedford). From this time we may
date the rapid downfall of the Order. Malcontents and traitors gained
the supremacy, and in 1798, after treacherous negotiations,
Napoleon landed part of his army in Malta, and Valetta surrendered.
Thus, as Bartlett says, "ignominiously came to a close, on June 12th,
1798, the once illustrious Order of St. John of Jerusalem, having
subsisted for more than 700 years."
At this time it consisted of 328 enrolled knights, and a military force
of some 7,000 men.
Napoleon expressed his surprise at the strength of the fortifications,
furnished them with one thousand cannon, left a garrison of 3,000
men, took with him the disciplined soldiers he found there, rifled the
island of its treasures, its art work and its bullion, and sailed for
Egypt. Several of the traitor knights were put to death by the
infuriated populace, whose anger was not appeased by Nelson's
victory at Aboukir—the battle of the Nile—but took form in open
insurrection. The French garrison finally took refuge in the old
fortifications, where they withstood for two years a siege by the
combined insurgents and an English fleet. Finally reduced by famine
and disease they capitulated to the English forces under Gen. Pigot.
The latter then selected Capt. Sir Alexander Ball, Nelson's
representative, Governor of the Island. At the Peace of Amiens the
effort was made to restore the Order as ruling authority, under the
protectorate of the Great Powers, but the Maltese themselves
objected so vehemently that after no small amount of trouble and
dispute the inhabitants of the island elected to place themselves
under the sovereignty of Great Britain, an arrangement finally and
definitely confirmed at the Congress of Vienna in 1814.
Thus disappeared from history one of the most interesting and
longest enduring institutions recorded in its pages, and certainly the
most long-lived of any of its kind. I say disappeared, meaning
thereby only to indicate its disruption, as it were into fragments, its
primary purpose, i. e. aid to the needy, being kept ever in view by
some, while others preferring the life of a soldier, took service under
various rulers or military leaders. The traitors who were responsible
for surrender to Napoleon fared badly according to their deserts,
though it does not appear that any of them were hung. In the
migration England seemed to attract many, perhaps the majority of
those who were still inclined to good deeds. The title of Grand
Master was still continued, under some pretension to perpetuation of
the Order. In Russia the Czar Alexander, in 1801, upon the death of
his predecessor Paul, announced himself a Protector of the Order,
and designated Count Soltikoff to exercise the functions of the Grand
Master.
Thus dismembered, disunited and scattered, the fragmentary
langues of the Order underwent, on their way to final dissolution,
various vicissitudes, through which they cannot here be followed.
Complete extinguishment was the eventual fate of most of them. I
shall only concern myself now with that of the English langue, and
its partial revival in 1830.
Rev. Dr. Peat, chaplain to George IV, was one of those to whom the
remnants of the English langue appealed, with the result that in
1827 certain notable English gentry, of eminent attainments,
undertook to revive the Order in England, only under quite different
conditions from those previously obtaining. In 1831 Dr. Peat was
invested with the authority and functions of Grand Prior. It will be at
once seen how the matter of religious belief now separated the
English Order from all the survivors of the previous regime, and why
the last ties were severed.
Under the new regime members of the Order dropped all pretense
of playing a military role; one may read thereafter of real hospital
activity. The Life Boat movement and ambulance work were
gradually incorporated into their plans and scope. When First Aid to
the Injured began to be publicly taught public and general interest
was quickly aroused, and the energetic cooperation of eminent men
was assured. In other words the Order gradually took up just that
class of work which is now done under the Red Cross. Sir Edward
Lechmere established, in 1867, a commandery of the Order in one of
his castles, and in 1874 was instrumental in the acquisition of the St.
John Gate, which still stands, an example of Tudor architecture as
also a well preserved monumental relic of the time, beginning about
1180, when the Order had founded a hospital in Clerkenwell, while
the ladies of the order were housed in Bucland, in Somersetshire.
The old Priory of the Order in Clerkenwell was practically destroyed
in 1381, by the mob led by Jack Straw, in an insurrection which had,
along with other results, as an incident, the beheading of Sir Robert
Hales, the Prior of the Order. In the slow process of rebuilding the
present Gate was not completed till 1504. On the North and South
fronts remain projecting towers, while in the Western tower a spiral
stair case is still in use. Bedford's work, from which I have drawn
heavily, gives excellent pictures of the Gate as it appears to-day, and
of the old priory restored.
Colonel Duncan, also, deserves honorable mention in this
connection; he became Director of the Ambulance Movement in
1875. Finally we have to record here that under a new Charter,
granted in 1888, the then Prince of Wales, later King Edward,
became the Grand Prior. Therefore the Order of the Hospital, in
England of St. John of Jerusalem is, in fact, the legitimate successor
—one might say the lineal descendant—of the old Order of Knights
Hospitaller, though it is to-day a secular and voluntary society,
keeping to the traditions of the past, no longer military nor militant,
save as it fights disease and best of all teaches others how to do the
same. To follow it further is no longer necessary. Its work is
essentially that of the Red Cross. It has, for instance, a depot at old
St. John's Gate, whence all the material required in teaching and
illustrating as well as rendering first aid is issued. Its work was
begun with a two-wheeled litter, an old Esmarch triangular bandage
from Germany, and a stretcher from France. Now it distributes all
these things throughout the British Empire. Now, too, it maintains
ambulances all over the city of London, which do for their own
hospitals just what each of our hospitals at home has to do for itself.
The German "Samariter-Verein" is virtually a Chapter of the English
Order in its revivified form. In 1883 a branch of the Order was
organized in India, where among others the native police are
instructed in "First Aid." In 1882, by a Firman of the Turkish Sultan,
an Ophthalmic Hospital was opened, under the auspices of the
Order, in Jerusalem. Only those who have travelled in the East can
appreciate what this means to the poor, where squalor vies with
ignorance, and, as in Egypt though not so universally, both conspire
to the ruin of that greatest of all blessings—eyesight.
But I will not delay to write further of what the Ambulance Brigade
of London, and its affiliated corps, have accomplished in many parts
of the world; in South Africa, for example, it works under the general
supervision of the Order of St. John, as it now exists in London. It
does everything that in our country is accomplished by the Red
Cross for the general public, and by the Hospital Corps and their
Medical Officers for our Army and Navy. Over the graves of eleven
members of the brigade, who died at their posts in South Africa, in
St. Paul's, London, not far from the crypts where lie the remains of
Nelson and Wellington, has been erected a monument to their
memory. Another bearing among other inscriptions this beautiful
scriptural quotation:—"Greater love hath no man than this, that he
lay down his life for his friends," was unveiled by His Royal Highness,
acting as Grand Prior, in St. John's Church, Clerkenwell, June 11th,
1902. Fifteen hundred men enrolled in the Order had left that church
before their departure for the Front, and of these about seventy
sacrificed their lives to this sort of duty. Do not the dead deserve all
praise and respect, and the survivors all commendation?
A few years ago my friend Sir George Beatson, surgeon to the Royal
Infirmary in Glasgow, published a little monograph—"The Knights
Hospitallers in Scotland and their Priory at Torphichen" (Printed by
Hedderwick and Sons, Glasgow,)—which aroused my interest
sufficiently to prompt a visit to this, the last home of the old Order in
that part of the world. The little village Torphichen lies about midway
between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and three miles south from the
town of Llinlithgow. Here had been founded, in 1124, one of the
great Priories or Preceptories under control of the English langue.
Here they settled in a magnificent and fertile area, the Grampian
hills to their north; to their west could be seen the snow-capped top
of what is now known as Ben Lomond. By donation, by cultivation of
the arable soil, and by wise management of their resources, they
prospered greatly, from the worldly point of view. Here they erected
that building, a part of which still exists, and which makes a
picturesque ruin which is not yet a scene of desolation.
The members of the Order took, here as elsewhere, the view that
the best way to serve God was by remaining in it and working, not
by fleeing from it into lazy, selfish and profitless solitude as did too
many of the monks.
In common with other monasteries the Torphichen Preceptory
possessed the Right of Sanctuary, and in its churchyard still stands
the short stone pillar, carved with a Maltese cross on its upper
surface, which meant that within a mile in every direction therefrom
all those charged with any crime, save murder only, might find
temporary protection.
Here for four hundred years, and until the Reformation upset
everything, the Hospitallers carried on their affairs. In 1560 their last
Preceptor or Grand Prior made over to the Crown all their properties
and effects. The Crown in return made these possessions a temporal
Barony, carrying with it the title of Lord of Torphichen. From this
time the property began to suffer—from time, storm, vandalism of
the people and neglect. Still the present Lord Torphichen has proven
himself a better guardian than did some of his predecessors. A
parish church has been built, partly upon the sight of the old
structure, partly into it. Dr. Beatson has urged that a combination
between the present Order of St. John, in London, and the St.
Andrew's Ambulance Association might be effected which might
work to the benefit of both, by reviving some of the work done here
in days gone by.
I have ventured this brief reference to Torphichen, partly because of
my interest in the place itself, associated with my visit there, and
partly because every such visit to the monuments of past grandeur
and usefulness should strengthen our interest and zeal in what man
is accomplishing to-day, and should help link together the Past and
the Present in a manner not merely fascinating but inspirational, and
keep us from forgetting that motto of the Order,
"Pro utilitate Hominum"
For the Welfare of Mankind.
 VII
GIORDANO BRUNO

T
he Renaissance was the fourth of the great events in the history
of the Christian Era; the first being the decline of Rome, the
second the introduction of the Christian cult, and the third, the
intrusion into Southern Europe of the Teutonic and Slavonic tribes.
With none of these however, save the fourth, is this paper primarily
concerned, and not even with the fourth save indirectly, though it
deals with a special feature of it. Protestants and Catholics alike
impeded progress and the self-evolution of reason in every possible
way. Italy gave the world the Roman Republic, then the Roman
Empire and finally the Roman Church; after that arose a new storm
centre in the North which swept toward the Mediterranean. The
Teutons effaced the Western Empire, adopted Christianity, and
completely modified what remained of Latin civilization. Then the
Roman Bishops separated the Latin from the Greek Church, and
under the captious title of The Holy Roman Empire bound Western
Europe into what has been called a "cohesive whole." While Romans
and Teutons never actually blended homogeneously, they had yet a
common bond of union. When this coalition was for a time freed
from both Papacy and Empire—then began intellectual activity and
independence of thought, taking form in Italy as the Renaissance; in
Germany as the Reformation. In the South it was known as the
Revival of Learning. It furnished a lux a non lucendo. Italy gave
freedom rather to the mind, Germany rather to the soul. Toward the
South men still took refuge behind that form of modified paganism
which became Catholicism. In the North they attained a more
complete emancipation because of their violent opposition to the
Papacy and all that went with it.
In the long run both attained the same result, i. e., liberation of the
mind from artificial impediments and fetters, though they of the
North achieved it in its full extent far earlier. (I am speaking of
course, relatively; men's minds are far from free even today, but the
state we have reached is a great advance upon that of Bruno's
time). The Reformation led men to be far more outspoken than they
dared be in the South; the free thinkers of Italy were still content to
do homage to a thoroughly corrupt Papal hierarchy. As critics and
warriors Luther and Calvin rank as liberators of the human mind, but
later, as founders of mutually hostile sects, they only retarded
civilization, and the churches they founded are today as stagnant
pools.
In 1548, in the midst of this stormy period in Italian history Bruno
was born, in the little village of Nola, not far from Naples, whence
Vesuvius was visible in the picturesque distance. His father was a
soldier, his mother of very humble origin. Of his family history
nothing is known; little explanation is thus afforded, by the doctrine
of heredity, for the marvelous mental faculties which he
subsequently displayed. Nevertheless his father was a man of some
culture, at least, for he was a friend of Tansillo, a poet, under whose
influence the growing boy subsequently came. Bruno has told us
himself how one Savolino (probably an uncle) annually confessed his
sins to his Curé, of which "though many and great" his boon
companion readily absolved him. But only once was full confession
necessary; each subsequent year Savolino would say: "Padre mio,
the sins of a year—to-day,—you may know them;" to which the Curé
would reply "son, thou knowest the absolution of one year ago;—go
in peace, and sin no more."
In those days as in many others superstition was everywhere rife
and effective. Its influence must not be disregarded as one studies
the formation of Bruno's character.
When he was about eleven years old Bruno was sent to Naples to be
taught logic, dialectics and humanities. When fifteen he entered the
Dominican Monastery in Naples, and assumed the clerical habit of
that order. Here he gave up his baptismal name of Filippo and
assumed that of Giordano, according to the monastic custom. In
1572 he was ordained priest.
His reasons for thus entering the Church are scarcely far to seek. Of
intellectual bent, and studious rather than martial in his habits and
inclinations, there was but one career open to him. To be sure the
Dominican Order was the most narrow and most bigoted of all, as
the current punning expression "Domini canes" will indicate. Still it
was at that time the most powerful, especially in the kingdom of
Naples, which was then ruled by Spain. The old cloister had been
once the home of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose works Bruno claimed
at his trial he had always by him, "continually reading, studying and
restudying them, and holding them dear."
This was the age when efforts to put down every heresy had been
redoubled. The fanaticism of Loyola, and the decision of the Council
of Trent "to erase with fire and sword the slightest traces of heresy,"
made a poor frame work in which to place the picture of a liberal
minded scholar. Bruno soon learned this at his cost. Even during his
novitiate he was accused of giving away images of the saints, and of
giving bad advice to his associates. In 1576 he was accused of
apologizing for the heresy of Arius, that the Son was begotten of the
Father, and so not consubstantial nor coeternal with Him, but
created by Him and subordinate to Him; (which was condemned by
the Council of Nice, 325, and contradicted in the Nicene Creed;)
admiring its scholastic form, rather than its abstract truth. Disgusted
with his treatment he left Naples and went to Rome. Even here he
was molested in the Cloister of Minerva (note the pagan name), and
was met with an accusation of 130 specifications. He then
abandoned his garb and his cloister and escaped from Rome,
beginning thus the nomadic life which he continued until immured in
the dungeons of the Inquisition at Venice, sixteen years later.
Through these wanderings one must follow him, if one would
become familiar with his life and traits.
He now resumed for a time his baptismal name, and traveled to a
town on the Gulf of Genoa, where he taught youth and young
gentlemen. Then he passed on to Turin and Venice, where he spent
weeks in futile attempts to find work. But the schools and the
printing houses were closed because of the plague. In Venice
however he managed to print his first book on "The Signs of the
Times;" or rather this was his first book to appear in print. It seems
that before he left Naples he wrote "The Ark of Noah," a satirical
allegory. In this he represented that the animals held a formal
meeting in the Ark, to settle questions of precedence and rank, and
that the presiding officer, the Ass, was in danger of losing his
position and his influence, because his power lay rather in hoofs
than horns. Throughout most of his life Bruno constantly scored and
criticised Asinity; it was frequently the topic of his invective, and
those who read between his lines were probably quite justified in
regarding these frequent allusions as references to the ignorance,
bigotry and credulity of the Monks.
From Venice Bruno went to Padua, where some of the Dominican
friars persuaded him to resume monastic costume, since it made
travel easier and safer. Thence by way of Brescia and Milan he may
be followed to Bergamo. At Milan he first heard of his future friend
Sir Philip Sydney. From Bergamo he resolved to go to Lyons, but
learning that he would find anything but welcome there he turned
aside and crossed the Alps, arriving in Geneva in the Spring of 1579.
Here he was visited by a distinguished Neapolitan exile, the Marquis
De Vico, who persuaded him again to lay aside his clerical garb, and
who gave him the dress of a gentleman, including a sword.
Here is raised the great question,—Did Bruno adopt Calvinism?
Before the Inquisition fifteen years later he practically denied this,
yet acknowledged attending the lectures of Balbani, of Lucca, as well
as of others who taught and preached in Geneva. Under the
regulations of the Academy (University), where he had already
registered, certain regulations must be complied with, and Bruno
appears to have obeyed them in at least a certain degree. But the
immediate cause for his departure from Geneva appears to have
been one of his outbreaks of cynicism and accurate scholarship,
since in 1579 he was called before the Council for having caused to
be printed a document enumerating twenty errors made by the
Professor of Philosophy (de la Faye) in one of his lectures. The latter
was incensed and outraged at this criticism and disparagement of his
views and learning, and the quarrel assumed unexpected
magnitude, since Bruno, on his second appearance before the
Consistory or supreme tribunal of the Church, denied the charges
and called the ministers "pedagogues." These gentlemen decided to
refuse him communion unless he should confess and repent of his
faults and make due apology. His acceptance of these conditions not
being hearty enough to suit his judges, he was admonished and
excluded from the communion. These steps lead to greater
contrition on his part, and the ban of excommunication was
withdrawn. This sentence of exclusion was the only one within the
power of the Consistory to pass, but does not prove that Bruno had
accepted the protestant faith, nor partaken of its communion. In fact
at his trial he steadfastly denied this. It seemed however, to disgust
him with Calvinism, against which thereafter he never ceased to
inveigh. Later he contrasted it with Lutheranism which was far more
tolerant, and still later gave him a heartier welcome. Calvin, it must
be remembered, had written a polemic against Servetus, "in which it
is shown to be lawful to coerce heretics by the sword." As between
the council of Trent and Calvin it certainly must have been hard, in
those days, to select either a faith, or an abiding place where that
faith might be peaceably practised. Doubtless Bruno's views
concerning the philosophy of Aristotle conflicted with those of the
church authorities, for Beza (Calvin's follower), had stated that they
did not propose to swerve one particle from the opinions of that
Greek philosopher, to whom, though of pagan origin, the Church,
both Roman and Protestant, was for centuries so firmly bound.
And so shaking the dust of Geneva from his feet he journeyed to
Lyons, where he failed utterly to find occupation, and then on to
Toulouse, where he remained about two years. Here he took a
Doctorate in Theology in order to compete for a vacant chair. To this
he was elected by the students, as the custom then was in most of
the scholia or universities. For two sessions he lectured on Aristotle.
Had this University required of him that he should attend mass, as
did some others, he could not have done so, owing to his
excommunication; though just why exclusion from a Calvinistic
academy should debar him from Catholic mass does not appear.
Toulouse was a warm place for heretics; the burning of 14,000 of
them at its capture will prove this. A few years (35) after he left it
Vanini was burned for heretic notions. It is hardly to be believed that
Bruno could pass two years or more here without controversies
arising from his teaching. But his nominal reason for leaving, in
1581, and going to Paris, was the war then raging in Southern
France, under Henry of Navarre.
Before leaving Toulouse he completed his "Clavis Magna" or "Great
Key," the last word—as he seemed to think—on the art of memory.
Only one volume of this great work, which, in his peculiarly
egotistical way, he said is "superlatively pregnant," was ever
published, and that in England, the "Sigillus Sigillorum." It must not
be forgotten that it was on both teaching and practising this art of
memory that Bruno, throughout his career, prided himself. He was
even not averse, at least at certain periods of his career, to the belief
that he had some secret system for this purpose, or even received
occult aid. But when summoned before Henry III, to whose ears had
come his fame, and asked whether the memory he had and the art
he professed were natural or due to magic, he proved that a good
memory was a cultivated natural product. He then dedicated to the
King a book on "The Art of Memory."
But this was shortly after his arrival in Paris, in 1581, where he
quickly became famous. A course of thirty lectures on "The Thirty
Divine Attributes" of St. Thomas Aquinas would have given him a
chair, could he have attended mass.
His residence in Paris was marked by an extraordinary literary
activity. He published in succession De Umbris Idearum (Shadow of
Ideas), dedicated to Henry III, (this included the Art of Memory just
mentioned) Cantus Circaeus (Incantation of Circe) dedicated to
Prince Henry; De Compendiosa Architectura et Complemento Artis
Lulli (Compendious Architecture); Il Candelaio (The Torchbearer);
these all appeared in 1582. These varied greatly in character. The
first was devoted to the metaphysics of the art of remembering, with
an analysis of that faculty, and these second was given up to the
same general topic. It was all obscure, hence perhaps its popularity.
Brunnhofer says that it was "a convenient means of introducing
Bruno to strange universities, gaining him favor with the great, or
helping him out of pressing need of money. It was his exoteric
philosophy with which he could carefully drape the philosophy of a
religion hostile to the Church, and ride as a hobby horse in his
unfruitful humors." Nevertheless we must believe in his sincerity. The
"Compendious Architecture" is the first of his works in which Bruno
deals with the views of Raymond Lully, a "logical calculus and
mnemonic scheme in one" (McIntyre) that had many imitators. For
Lully Bruno seems to have the greatest regard, this appearing in
many ways. Lully, by the way, was a Spanish scholastic and
alchemist, who was born on one of the Balearic Islands in 1235. He
went as a missionary to the Mahommedans, and spent much time in
Asia and Africa. He figures largely in the history of the alchemists
and as a practitioner of the occult.
The "Torchbearer" was a work of very different character. It was
described as a "Comedy" by one who described himself as
"Academico di nulla academia, ditto il fastidito: In tristitia hilaris,
hilaritate tristis." It is essentially a satire on the predominant vices of
pedantry, superstition and selfishness or sordid love. Though lacking
in dramatic power it is regarded as second to nothing of its kind and
time. Its dramatis personae are personified types, not individuals. It
was realistic even in its vulgarity, for obscenity was prevalent in the
literature of those days. But in it Bruno struck at what seemed to
him his greatest enemy, i. e. pedantry.
There were at this time in Paris two great Universities, one the
College de France, with liberal tendencies, and opposed to the
Jesuits and all pedantry; the other the Sorbonne, for centuries the
guardian of the Catholic faith, endowed with the right of censorship,
which must have been exercised over Bruno's works. In which of
these, though surely in one of them, Bruno was made an
Extraordinary Lecturer history has failed to record. He must have
offended both, since he was anxious to be taken back into the
Church, yet was revolutionary in his teaching. More than thirty years
later Nostitz, one of his pupils, paid tribute to his versatility and skill,
saying "he was able to discourse impromptu on any suggested
subject, to speak extensively and elaborately without preparation, so
that he attracted many pupils and admirers in Paris." (McIntyre). But
Bruno belonged to the literally peripatetic school, and in 1583 he
forsook Paris for London, because as he says of "tumults," leaving it
to the imagination whether these were civil or scholastic.
Elizabeth reigned at this time; her influence made England a harbor
of safety for religious and other mental suspects. She had a
penchant for Italians and their language; two of her physicians were
Italians, and Florio was ever welcome at her court. To this court
Bruno also was welcomed, and, basking for sometime in the
sunshine of her regard and patronage, passed there the happiest
portion of his unhappy life. Oxford was at that time the stronghold of
Aristotelianism. One of its statutes ordained that "Bachelors and
Masters who did not follow Aristotle faithfully were liable to a fine of
five shillings for every point of divergence, and for every fault
committed against the Logic of the Organon." (McIntyre). In Oxford
at this time, unfortunately, theology was the only live issue; of
science as of real scholarship there was little or none. (Its
predominant trait of those days is still, perhaps, its dominant feature
to-day). To this university Bruno addressed a letter, couched in
vainglorious and egotistical terms, craving permission to lecture
there. This was not received with favor, while his doctrines met with
small encouragement at this ancient seat of learning, which Bruno
later stigmatized as the "widow of true science." But opportunity was
afforded him to dispute publicly before a noble visitor in June, 1583,
a Polish prince; one Alasco, for whom great public entertainment
had been provided. His opponent, defeated by fifteen unanswerable
syllogisms, resorted to scurrility and abuse. This public exhibition put
an end to the lectures on the Immortality of the Soul which Bruno
had been allowed to give, and he returned to London.
Shortly after this he published his Cena (Ash Wednesday Supper) in
which he ridiculed the Oxford doctors, saying among other things
that they were much better acquainted with beer than with Greek.
But he criticised too cynically and lost thereby in popularity. This led
to the appearance of the Causa, a dialogue, in which he was less
vindictive. He admitted in this that there was much in the old
institution which was admirable; that it was even the first in Europe,
that speculative philosophy first flourished there, and that thence,
"the splendor of one of the noblest and rarest spheres of philosophy,
in our times almost extinct, was diffused to all other academies in
civilized lands." What he most condemned was the too great
attention given to language and words while the realistics for which
words stand were neglected. Doctors were easily made and
doctorates too cheaply bought. His charge in brief was that they
mistook the shadow for the substance; a charge even yet too
commonly justified among the strongholds of theology and other
speculative dogmas.
Returning to London after this experience Bruno went to live with
Mauvissiere, the French Ambassador. While the English records make
no mention of his presence it is yet quite certain that he was
frequently at Court, and that men like Sydney, Greville, Temple and
others were his frequent associates. But as the Ambassador's
influence was on the wane, he was not equal to his great trust. At
this time our philosopher spoke of himself as one "whom the foolish
hate, the ignoble despise, whom the wise love, the learned admire,"
etc. (McIntyre). Of Queen Elizabeth he wrote in most fulsome
phrases, such as she too dearly loved. Before his judges, a few years
later, Bruno apologized for his exaggerated expressions concerning a
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