Giordano Bruno

After visiting Campo De' Fiori several times and referring to the statue of Giordano Bruno as "the statue in the center of the square" on more than one occasion, I decided to do some research and find out more about it, and I'm glad i did. To summarize Dr. John J. Kessler, Bruno was the forgotten philosopher. He was born in Nola, Italy in 1534 and throughout his early adolescence he preferred to go against the grain. He studied to become a priest with the Monks of St. Dominco and began to question the teachings and push them farther. He asked questions that could not be answered and began to get in trouble for it. He ran away and for the next 3o years called several countries home. He had an extended stay in England though, and Henry II was one of his chief patrons. He studied and emulated the works of Aristotle and Copernicus and wrote about the unimaginable size of the Universe. His works suggested that a Universe of infinite size could not be controlled by a single God and that science does not explain revelation, two cornerstones of the Catholic Church.
Eventually, some speculate, that Bruno grew homesick and wanted to return home to Italy. This was obviously a foolish choice as at the time Italy and Rome in particular was the home of the Holy Roman Empire. That same year, 1593, charges were brought against him before the Inquisition in Venice. Rome, and the Vatican saw this heretic as a way to make an example of those who deny the teachings of Jesus Christ and had him sent there. From 1593 to 1600 Bruno was imprisoned and nothing is known of what happened to him during this time as the records from the Catholic Church, if any exist, have not been released.
Finally after a German writer Schoppious wrote about Bruno, Bruno was brought before the Inquisition again. He was given the opportunity to recant and refused. He was brought before the Grand Inquisitor on February 9, 1600 and received the punishment of death by burning at the stake. In response to the sentence Bruno is reported to have yelled and said "Perhaps you, my judges, pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it." This didn't scare them and on Feburary 17, 1600 Bruno was burned alive in Campo De' Fiori.
During the revolutions that brought about the unification of Italy in the mid 1800's Bruno was "rediscovered" by his countrymen and his readings and his death was used as a symbol of strength against the Vatican. His statue was erected in the place of his death facing directly toward Vatican city. A kind of middle finger to the pope and the Inquisition that took his life and nearly erased him from the record books.
I found this story fascinating. In high school no one had ever told me the story of Bruno. We never really learned of his philosophy, only the more notable figures and scientists that led the renaissance such as Galileo and Copernicus. Bruno, though, influenced an entire population to stand up and Unite for the first time. Now that I know the whole story about Bruno I appreciate his statue much more and not as the place where young Italian guys try to pick up girls that walk by.

http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/john_kessler/giordano_bruno.html

Magic!

At Campo De Fiori, there is no shortage of entertainment or things to do. One of these forms of entertainment is an exciting magic show put on by a man wearing a sad excuse for a tupe and a big smile. He is a prop magician, card tricks are obviously below him, and his props are lugged around in a large green bag. Sometimes his props work and other times they don't. I'm not sure if the people watching him are amazed by his magic or amazed that he thinks he is tricking anyone. I tend to think it is the latter. The best part of the show though, comes at the end. After the oo's and ahh's are dulling down the magician goes in for the big finish. He looks around points at his head and pulls his hair off!! Truly amazing. Again he thinks no one could have possibly known he was wearing a piece. He then uses his magical hair to collect any amount of change that people are willing to give. I gave him an E for effort and went on my way.

Soccer match at Campo

Yesterday there was a Roma soccer game. The Roma team was away so naturally the entire city had to find an alternate way to watch the game. In America the answer to this dilemma is to go to a sports bar and enjoy a few beers in a large indoor area with a choice between 30 or more flat screen HDTV's to choose from. In Rome a popular place to watch the game is at Campo di Fiori. This square was transformed into a the mecca of Roma Soccer for those 2 hours that the game lasts. Unlike the American counterpart the bars that Roma fans attend are tiny. The one that I went to to watch the game had enough room inside for about 20 people. The rest of the audience was crowded outside standing or sitting on stools at tall tables. At this one bar there were about 150 people crowded around a 20-30 inch TV. There was a combination of cheering when Roma came close to scoring and Jeering when the other team committed a foul or a foul wasnt called. At the end of the first half a few men near the front of the crowd began a chant that turned to a song. Soon the whole 150 people joined in this cheer hoping to guide their team to victory.

Don't be a Tourist in the Campo

Thursday night all of us went to dinner in Campo Di Fiori around 9:30 p.m. We went to one of the first places we saw that could accommodate about 20 people. It was a small restaurant with a lot of seating outside, it didn't look like they had the capacity to feed all of us but they were positive that they could. We sat ordered our meals (I ordered a simple pasta with sauce and basil) and drinks and waited, and waited. 30 minutes went by and some of the first meals came out. These plates were simple pastas and pizzas that looked and smelled very good. 10 more minutes and 5 more dishes came out, still no sign of my food. This is when i remembered that Italians don't have the same concept of time that we do. Thirty minutes later my meal arrived, overcooked and partially inedible. I payed 7 euro, said grazie and knew i should stick to the restaurants that the locals go to and stay out of the Campo for dinner.

Campo Di Fiori

The first experience I had with the campo was at night. The open square contains about 8 restaurants with enough room to have 6 tables inside and the rest (maybe 8-12) outside. All these menus had the exact same thing so making the decision on where to eat came down to price. The biggest surprise of the night came after dinner at the local bars. It turns out that these "bars" aren't so local. Everyone in the establishment was a loud American while the young Italian guys scoped out the scene from the bottom of a statue in the center of the square.