From an early age, Giordano Bruno’s head was always in the clouds, with him having a taste for free-thinking and ‘forbidden’ books. Born during the end of the Middle Ages, Giordano Bruno is an example of a visionary lost to the hands of collective fear and ignorance.
When the only educated were monks, and free-thinking was labelled a ‘heinous crime’, Bruno stuck out like a sore thumb due to his undying curiosity. This landed him in a lot of trouble at the Augustinian Monastery he attended. While he was an extremely talented pupil, his interest and passion for scientific works threatened the Blind belief system and power imbalance in the Middle Ages. He had to flee in an attempt to save himself from execution.
The cost of exile paid off in the voyage Giordano Bruno undertook, exploring the far reaches of Europe. At a time where the Earth was believed to be flat and at the centre of the universe, Bruno was an outcast as he believed in Copernicus’s significantly disputed theories that the Earth was a sphere, just as other planets, and that the Sun was at the centre of the solar system, which Earth orbited around.
Not only did Bruno believe in the controversial model, but he also added to Copernicus’s theory by publishing his book affirming the heliocentric theories and adding his theories and arguments. Giordano Bruno proposed that the universe was infinite and was home to billions of stars and galaxies.
Unfortunately, Bruno’s boldness and fearless spirit of questioning lead to his demise, with him incarcerated by the Roman Inquisition for having an opinion on the bible and proposing his scientific theories, both of which were seen as gravely punishable offences that demanded death. Despite his incarceration, Bruno held on to his beliefs, taking his death sentence with a smile.
On Wednesday, 17th of February, Giordano Bruno was hung upside down, naked, and he was burnt at stake – a tragedy that caused the world to lose one of its brightest stars. Today, Bruno is a symbol of free speech, despite how hard authorities tried to suppress his thoughts. One may call Giordano Bruno a martyr of science, sacrificing his life in the pursuit of knowledge.
