John Toland's On the Manner, Place and Time of the Death of Giordano Bruno of Nola

Abstract

The papers offers a translation, with introduction and explanatory notes, of John Toland's 1709 letter in Latin to Baron Hohendorf relating to his discovery of Caspar Schoppe's eyewitness account of the trial and execution of Giordano Bruno in Rome in 1600. Toland, referring to Bayle's Dictionnaire, argues that this discovery removes any doubt about the manner of Bruno's death. Toland points out where Schoppe and the inquisitors had misunderstood or wilfully misrepresented Bruno, and then offers a short exposition and critique of some of Bruno's ideas.

Keywords: Toland, Schoppe, Hohendorf, Bayle, Giordano Bruno, Rittershausen, Roman Inquisition