Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition

In 1600, renagade philosopher and theologian Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake in Rome. His crime was to preach a doctrine of brotherhood, peace and free love. Four centuries later, he is known as the Prophet of the New Age.

'Explodes the idea that the intellectual foundations of the Renaissance were exclusively logical and coherent, and lets back the mysterious into history.' BBC History Magazine

'Among those who have explored the intellectual world of the sixteenth century no one in England can rival Miss Yates. Wherever she looks, she illuminates. Now she has looked on Bruno. This brilliant book takes time to digest, but it is an intellectual adventure to read it. Historians of ideas, of religion and of science will study it. Some of them, after reading it, will have to think again. That will be no bad thing.' The New Statesman

Auteur

Dame Frances Yates (1899-1981). Brought about the revival of interest in the historical role of the occult sciences.

Résumé

Giordano Bruno is known as the Prophet of the New Age, and his vision of an infinite universe grounded in science is increasingly celebrated.

One of the principal forces behind his rediscovery was the great British historian Frances Yates. In calling attention to Giordono Bruno, she paved the way for a revaluation of the esoteric influences at play during the onset of the modern era. Today, when traditional answers about the universe and our place within it are under increasing scrutiny, Giordono Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition proves itself a true classic for our time.

Contenu

Preface, Abbreviations, Introduction J. B. Trapp

1. Hermes Trismegistus

2. Ficino's Pimander and the Asclepius

3. Hermes Trismegistus and Magic

4. Ficino's Natural Magic

5. Pico della Mirandola and Cabalist Magic

6. Pseudo-Dionysius and the Theology of a Christian Magus

7. Cornelius Agrippa's Survey of Renaissance Magic

8. Renaissance Magic and Science

9. Against Magic: (1) Theological Objections; (2) The Humanist Tradition

10. Religious Hermetism in the Sixteenth Century

11. Giordano Bruno: First Visit to Paris

12. Giordano Bruno in England: The Hermetic Reform

13. Giordano Bruno in England: The Hermetic Philosophy

14. Giordano Bruno and the Cabala

15. Giordano Bruno: Heroic Enthusiast and Elizabethan

16. Giordano Bruno: Second Visit to Paris

17. Giordano Bruno in Germany

18. Giordano Bruno: Last Published Work

19. Giordano Bruno: Return to Italy

20. Giordano Bruno and Tommaso Campanella

21. After Hermes Trismegistus was Dated

22. Hermes Trismegistus and the Fludd Controversies.

Index