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Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. By Frances A. Yates

Posted By: exLib
Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. By  Frances A. Yates

Frances A. Yates. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition
University Of Chicago Press | 1991 | 0226950077 / 9780226950075 | 480 pages | PDF | 10 Mb

Placing Bruno—both advanced philosopher and magician burned at the stake—in the Hermetic tradition, author's acclaimed study gives an overview not only of Renaissance humanism but of its interplay—and conflict
— with magic and occult practices.


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. A decisive contribution to the understanding of Giordano Bruno, this book will probably remove a great number of misrepresentations that still plague the tormented figure of the Nolan prophet. This book is an important addition to our knowledge of Giordano Bruno. But it is even more important as a step toward understanding the unity of the sixteenth century. The of Bruno (1548-1600), who, according to the common view was burned at the stake for teaching Copernican astronomy. The book is an attempt to restore a missing, or at least neglected, chapter, in Western intellectual history. The "Hermetic Tradition" in the title is the set of beliefs about the supposed Hermes Trismegistus which Renaissance Europe inherited from the Church Fathers. They variously saw him as an ancient Prophet, and the real source of Plato's philosophy, and perhaps the disciple of Abraham or Moses, maybe even their teacher; or as a wicked tool of Satan. When Greek manuscripts of supposed Hermetic texts became available in Florence, the Medici put a priority on translating them, instead of Plato or Plotinus, and Marsilio Ficino obliged, launching a wave of excitement among some European thinkers.
CONTENTS
Preface
Abbreviations
I. Hermes Trismegistus
II. Ficino's Pimander and the Asclepius
III. Hermes Trismegistus and Magic
IV. Ficino's Natural Magic
V. Pico della Mirandola and Cabalist Magic
VI. Pseudo-Dionysius and the Theology of Christian Magus
VII. Cornelius Agrippa's Survey of Renaissance Magic
VIII. Renaissance Magic and Science
IX. Against Magic: (1) Theological Objections; (2) The Humanist Tradition
X. Religious Hermetism in the Sixteenth Century
XL Giordano Bruno: First Visit to Paris
XII. Giordano Bruno in England: The Hermetic Reform
XIII. Giordano Bruno in England: The Hermetic Philosophy
XIV. Giordano Bruno and the Cabala
XV. Giordano Bruno: Heroic Enthusiast and Elizabethan
XVI. Giordano Bruno: Second Visit to Paris
XVII. Giordano Bruno in Germany
XVIII. Giordano Bruno: Last Published Work
XIX. Giordano Bruno: Return to Italy
XX. Giordano Bruno and Tommaso Campanella
XXI. After Hermes Trismegistus was Dated
XXII. Hermes Trismegistus and the Fludd
Controversies
Index