Thence he journeyed to Paris,
where in 1582 he produced one of his more important works, _De umbris
idearum_. Soon afterwards he came to London, where he became the intimate
friend of Sir Philip Sidney. Here he wrote the work which proved fatal to
him, entitled _Spaccio della bestia triomphante_ (The expulsion of the
triumphing beast) (London, 1584). [Footnote: The full title of the work
is: _Spaccio della bestia triomphante da giove, effetuato dal conseglo,
revelato da Mercurio, recitato da sofia, udito da saulino, registrato dal
nolano, divisa in tre dialogi, subdivisi in tre parti. In Parigi, 1584,
in-8_.] This was an allegory in which he combated superstition and
satirised the errors of Rome. But in this work Bruno fell into grievous
errors and dangerous atheistic deceits. He scoffed at the worship of God,
declared that the books of the sacred canon were merely dreams, that Moses
worked his wonders by magical art, and blasphemed the Saviour. Bruno
furnished another example of those whose faith, having been at one time
forced to accept dogmas bred of superstition, has been weakened and
altogether destroyed when they have perceived the falseness and
fallibility of that which before they deemed infallible.
But in spite of these errors Bruno's learning was remarkable. He had an
extensive knowledge of all sciences. From England he went to Germany, and
lectured at Wittenberg, Prague, and Frankfort.
Pages:
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85