''Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition'' is a 1964

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

book by British historian Frances A. Yates. The book delves into the history of

Hermeticism Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical system that is primarily based on the purported teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (a legendary Hellenistic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth). These teachings are containe ...

and its influence upon

Renaissance philosophy The designation "Renaissance philosophy" is used by scholars of intellectual history to refer to the thought of the period running in Europe roughly between 1400 and 1600 (the dates shift forward for central and northern Europe and for areas such ...

and

Giordano Bruno Giordano Bruno (; ; la, Iordanus Brunus Nolanus; born Filippo Bruno, January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist, and Hermetic occultist. He is known for his cosmologic ...

. With the publication of ''Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition'', Yates transformed

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

. In it, she revealed the hermeticism with which the Renaissance was imbued, and the revived interest in mysticism, magic and

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people ...

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

that survived the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. In the face of longstanding conventional interpretations, Yates suggested that the itinerant Catholic priest Giordano Bruno was

burned at the stake Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...

in 1600 for espousing the Hermetic tradition rather than his affirmation of heliocentricity.

Reception

The book is cited by the bestselling British author

Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...

, as a central inspiration for his own writing. Alan Charles Kors and Edward Peters, the editors of the book ''Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History'' stated in the 2001 second edition of their collection of historical documents on the witchcraft hysteria that "this classic work BHTremains" among the best of its kind on the subject.

References

{{Reflist 1964 non-fiction books Giordano Bruno Philosophy books Renaissance philosophy Medieval philosophical literature Renaissance humanism Academic studies of ritual and magic

Reception

See also

References