Giordano Bruno

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This week, Tapestry takes you to a busy piazza in the heart of Rome. We're going to meet a man of mystery and intrigue there. The man's name is Giordano Bruno. He lived more than 400 years ago, but his presence is still very much felt in Italy.

Giordano Bruno was a radical thinker in his time. According to some scholars, he doubted the divinity of Jesus, and the virginity of Mary. He believed the universe was filled with other planets that could support life. Bruno was also a poet, playwright, and teacher.

This 16th century man, who started out as a Dominican friar, was eventually labeled a heretic by the Vatican and burned at the stake in 1600. In death, he became a symbol for free thought and rebellion. Writer and broadcaster Megan Williams goes to the Campo de Fiori in Rome, to discover more about why the figure of Giordano Bruno still resonates among freethinkers, artists, and atheists.

Mary Hynes talks to Ingrid Rowland, who is passionate about the life of Giordano Bruno. Dr. Rowland is a professor at the University of Notre Dame's School of Architecture in Rome. She is the author of Giordano Bruno: Philosopher/Heretic, published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.

Some of the music on Tapestry is licenced under a Creative Commons attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License.

On today's program, you heard excerpts from It's All in Your Head, by King Tut.

Music featured this week:

Arrivederci, Roma, by Renato Rascel, from Canzone della Strade/Quadro Nuevo.

Torna a Surriento by Ernesto De Curtis, performed by Luciano Pavarotti, from Amore.

Toccata, by Girolamo Frescobaldi, from Fruhe Kammermusik in Italien um 1600.

Lieto Godea Sedendo, Madrigal, by Giovanni Gabrieli from Fruhe Kammermusik in Italien um 1600.