_Bruno._ “This cannot be found either in my words or in my writings; on
the contrary, you will find, in my books, that I set forth providence
and free will.... I have praised many heretics and also heretic
princes, but not as heretics, but only for the moral virtues they
possessed. In particular, in my book _De la Causa, Principio et Uno_, I
praise the Queen of England, and call her ‘divine;’ not as an attribute
of religion, but as a certain epithet which the ancients used also to
bestow on princes; and in England, where I then was and wrote that
book, it is customary to give this title ‘divine’ to the Queen; and I
was all the more persuaded to name her thus because she knew me, for I
often went with the ambassador to court. I acknowledge to have erred in
praising this lady, who is a heretic, and especially in attributing to
her the epithet ‘divine.’”...
_Inquisitor._ “Are the errors and heresies committed and confessed by
you still embraced, or do you detest them?”
_Bruno._ “All the errors I have committed, down to this very day,
pertaining to Catholic life and regular profession, and all the
heresies I have held and the doubts I have had concerning the Catholic
faith and the questions determined by the Holy Church, I now detest;
and I abhor, and repent me of having done, held, said, believed,
or doubted of anything that was not Catholic; and I pray this holy
tribunal that, knowing my infirmities, it will please to accept me into
the bosom of the Holy Church, providing me with remedies opportune for
my safety and using me with mercy.”
Bruno was then re-questioned concerning the reason why he broke away
from his order. He repeated, in substance, the testimony already given,
adding that his baptismal name was Philip.
_Inquisitor._ “Have you, in these parts, any enemy or other malevolent
person, and who is he, and for what cause?”
_Bruno._ “I have no enemy in these parts, unless it be Ser Giovanni
Mocenigo and his followers and servants, by whom I have been more
grievously offended than by any other man living, because he has
assassinated me in my life, in my honor, and in my goods,--having
imprisoned me in his own house, confiscating all my writings, books,
and other property; and he has done this, not only because he wished
me to teach him all I knew, but also because he wished that I should
not teach it to any one else; and he has always threatened my life and
honor if I did not teach him what I knew.”
_Inquisitor._ “Your apostacy of so many years renders you very
suspicious to the Holy Faith, since you have so long spurned her
censures, whence it may happen that you have held sinister opinions
in other matters than those you have deposed; you may, therefore, and
ought now to purify your conscience.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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