Commemorative Plaque to Giordano Bruno in Prague

1996; 1548–1600 

At the entrance to the Prague Planetarium in the Royal Game Preserve Stromovka No. 233, a small commemorative plaque was placed by New Acropolis Society in 1996. The plaque is dedicated to the Renaissance philosopher and astronomer Giordano Bruno (1548, Nola near Naples–1600, Rome), who spent six months in Prague in 1588. At that time, he sought the favour of Rudolf II, to whom he also dedicated his work One Hundred and Sixty Articles Against Contemporary Mathematicians and Philosophers.

 

During his stay in Prague in 1588 Giordano Bruno, a well-known figure of Renaissance Hermeticism, teacher, mathematician, writer and theoretical cosmologist, sought the favour of the Emperor and also tried to be admitted as a lecturer at the University of Prague. Although his efforts failed in the end his time in Prague is reflected on the entrance portal of the Planetarium in the form of a commemorative plaque from 1996: 

GIORDANO BRUNO - (1548–1600) - TO THE MEMORY OF THE RENAISSANCE PHILOSOPHER AND ASTRONOMER - DEDICATED BY THE NEW ACROPOLIS, AD 1996.

The location on the Planetarium is a symbolic link between the very personality of the mathematician, philosopher and cosmologist and a cultural place connected with stars. It is an interesting fact that G. Bruno is not considered an astronomer by the astronomical community, as no direct astronomical observations of his are known. He testified before the Inquisition in Venice in June 1592 about his efforts to understand the infinity of the universe as the effect of an infinite divine force. For him, infinity was the philosophical justification of Copernican astronomy.

Filippo Bruno, also Nolan or Nolanus, though he fought the dogmas of the Church and the Inquisitors all his life, entered a monastery at the age of fifteen after his first studies and became a member of the Dominican Order in 1565. It was then that he adopted his new name, Giordano. Only two years after entering the Order he was accused of heresy for the first time, the second time a year after he had finished his theological studies (1576). He then broke completely with the Catholic Church, and it was then that his restless, wandering life began. At first, he earned his living as a private grammar teacher and lectured on astronomy. Later he obtained short-term posts at universities throughout Europe and in 1583 he went to England. Here, in the environment of the Renaissance thinking, the most productive phase of Bruno’s life began, during which he also wrote his major works, especially the so-called Dialogues. His subsequent return to European political and religious strife drove Bruno to Prague. Here Jiří Dačický published his previously mentioned treatise with a preface dedicated to “The Divine Rudolf II.”: Iordani Bruni Nolani articuli centum et sexaginta adversus huius tempestatis mathematicos atque philosophos. Ad divam Rodolphum II. Romanorum Imperaratorem. Pragae, ex typographia Georgij Dacziceni, anno M.D.LXXXVIII. With another Prague printer, Jiří Černý of Černý Most he also published a twenty-two-page book, De specierum scrutionio et lampade combinatoria Raymundi Lullii, doctoris heremitae omniscii propemodumque divini, dedicated to Don Guillen de San Clemente, the Spanish envoy to the court of Emperor Rudolph, who was able to arrange Bruno an audience with the Emperor himself. 

In May 1592, back on Italian soil in Padua, he was denounced by his student and handed over to the Inquisition, taken to Rome and imprisoned in the Castle of the Angels. The sentence of death by burning is dated 8 February 1600. As part of the sentence, his writings were also added to the Index of Forbidden Books. The execution was carried out on 17 February 1600 and the ashes were thrown into the Tiber River.

There is a much later connection with the Czech environment here, as the figure of Jan Hus is one of the figures of Catholic opponents decorating the base of the monument to Giordano Bruno, created in 1887 by the Italian sculptor Etorre Ferrari on the site of Bruno’s burning, today’s Campo di Fiori in Rome.

 

References

Hroch, M. – Skýbová, A.: Králové, kacíři, inkvizitoři. Praha 1987, s. 244 ad. 

Kalivoda, J.: Giordano Bruno v Rudolfínské Praze. Avriga - Zprávy Jednoty klasických filologů, XVIV/2002, s. 64–67. 

Šolcová, A. – Křížek, M.: Procházky Prahou matamatickou, fyzikální a astronomickou (1. část). Pokroky matematiky, fyziky a astronomie, 51/2006, č. 3, s. 223. – URL: https://dml.cz/bitstream/handle/10338.dmlcz/140855/PokrokyMFA_51-2006-3_4.pdf [3. 11. 2021].

Nová Akropolis Plzeň – Giordano Bruno. URL: https://www.facebook.com/Nova.Akropolis.Plzen/videos/2919777361570208 [4. 11. 2021; zde i záznam o odhalení plakety na pražském Planetáriu].

Historický ústav AV ČR – Bibliografie dějin Českých zemí: Giordano Bruno, 1548–1600. – URL: https://biblio.hiu.cas.cz/records/1fdbf94d-d227-49ae-a4e5-6ce736d05dff [4. 11. 2021].

Králová, M.: Giordano Bruno – Eduportál Techmanie Plzeň. URL: http://edu.techmania.cz/cs/encyklopedie/vedec/1083/bruno [4. 11. 2021].

Bártík, V.: Giordano Bruno. Pamětní desky v Praze – Giordano Bruno. URL: https://www.pametni-desky-v-praze.cz/2020/09/20/bruno-giordano-na-budove-planetaria-kralovska-obora-233-praha-7-bubenec/ [3. 11. 2021].

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