48 GIORDANO BRUNO PART 



assume that he arrived in Paris with very little worldly 

 goods, but with part of the manuscript of a great work 

 on the Universe (the De Immense') in his possession, 

 during the month of October 1585. 



Paris : "In Paris I spent another year in the house of 



June 1585] gentlemen of my acquaintance, but at my own expense 

 the greater part of the time : because of the tumults I 

 left Paris, and went from there to Germany. 7 ' 1 So 

 Bruno told the tribunal at Venice ; but the duration of 

 his second visit to Paris was from October 1585 to 

 The June 1586. One of his first steps was to make further 

 church. en c or ts towards reconciliation with the Church : he pre- 

 sented himself for confession to a Jesuit father, while 

 consulting with the Bishop of Bergamo (the Papal 

 Nuncio), but they were unable to absolve him, as he 

 was an apostate. What Bruno wished was that he 

 might be received into the Church without being com- 

 pelled to return again to the priesthood, and he begged 

 the Nuncio to write to the Pope Sixtus V. on his behalf. 

 The Bishop, however, had no hope of the favour being 

 granted, and declined to write unless Bruno agreed to 

 return to his order. To the same effect was the advice 

 of the Jesuit father Alfonso Spagnolo to whom he 

 was referred ; to obtain absolution from the Pope he 

 must return to the order to his bonds, in other words ; 

 and without absolution he could not enjoy the pri- 

 vileges either of mass or of the confessional. 2 This idea 

 Bruno could by no means entertain, and therefore he 

 resigned himself to his position as an alien to the 

 Catholic Church. He had no intention of remaining 



1 Doc. 9. 2 Doc. 17. Berti, p. 426, 427. 



