THE TRIBUNAL IN ROME 91 



XVIII 



He was granted more than forty days, however, or December 

 the period was renewed, for it was not until the 2ist of 2I ' x - 

 December of that year that the patience or perse- 

 verance of the Inquisition began to be exhausted. On 

 that date the next on which there is any record of 

 Bruno the congregation. again reopened the case. In 

 a rough copy of the report which has been found 

 Bruno is quoted as saying, " that he neither ought nor 

 will recant, that he has nothing to recant, no matter 

 for recantation, does not know what he ought to 

 recant." In the fair copy the names of the members 

 of the tribunal are given. At their head was Cardinal 

 Madruzzi, and among them were the fanatical San 

 Severin, embittered by his failure to secure the Papacy 

 (he had gone so far as to choose his name Clement 

 when his rival was elected in 1592, and became 

 Clement VIII.), the man who figures in history as 

 having declared St. Bartholomew's " a glorious day, a 

 day of joy for Catholics " ; the ascetic Sfondrati ; the 

 intolerant Borghese, afterwards Pope Paul V. ; and the 

 learned Bellarmino. After hearing Bruno on his 

 defence, it was decided among them that Hippolyte 

 Maria, general of the Dominican order, and Paul of 

 Mirandula, their vicar, " should deal with Bruno, show 

 him what had to be abjured, that he might confess his 

 errors, amend his ways, and agree to abjure ; and should 

 try to bring him to the point as soon as possible." 

 Bruno, however, as they reported, stood firm, denying 

 that he had made any heretical statements, and insist- 

 ing that he had been misunderstood by the ministers of 

 the Holy Office, and by his Holiness ; and at the 



