Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71521 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Review

'This brilliant book takes time to digest, but it is an intellectual adventure to read it.' – Hugh Trevor-Roper, The New Statesman

'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

From the Back Cover
In 1600, the renegade philosopher and theologian Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake in Rome. One of the most notorious figures of his times, his crime was to preach a doctrine of brotherhood, peace and free love. Four centuries later 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 main forces behind his rediscovery was the great British historian Frances Yates. It was she who pioneered the study of the hugely influential occult and hidden traditions that had previously been ignored in the histories of European thought. In calling attention to Giordano Bruno, Yates 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, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition proves itself a true classic for our time.

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

Customer Reviews

Brilliant, scholarly introduction to Renaisssance magic
This is Yates's masterpiece, a brilliant and lucid survey of a wide range of magical traditions in the Renaissance. Yates argues that magic lay at the heart of the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century, and places the extraordinary misfit Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) at the center of that development. In later works, Yates often let her insight run wild, but this book rightly revolutionized thinking about magic and occultism in the Renaissance. It will be a difficult read for those not used to academic writing, but it is extremely clear, and well worth the effort.