92 GIORDANO BRUNO PART 



same meeting (2Oth of January 1600) a memorial from 

 Bruno to the Pope, who was present, having been 

 opened but not read, it was decreed " that further 

 measures be proceeded to, servatis servandis, that 

 sentence be passed, and that the said Friar Giordano be 

 handed over to the secular authority." On the 8th of 

 February this decision was carried into effect, and he 

 was placed in the hands of the Governor of Rome, 

 with the usual recommendation that he be punished 

 "with as great clemency as possible, and without 

 effusion of blood " the formula for burning at the 

 stake. A witness of the passing of the sentence was 

 Gaspar Schopp, a youthful but none the less fanatical 

 convert from the reformed religion to Catholicism. It 

 was a year of jubilee in Rome. Pope Clement was 

 possessed of great diplomatic gifts, he had gained the 

 submission of Henry IV. of France, had united France 

 again with Spain, and detached it from England, and 

 had quieted or lulled numerous disputes within the 

 Church itself. Rome was therefore crowded with 

 visitors, more so than usual even in a year of jubilee. 

 Of the distinguished foreigners paying their homage to 

 Clement, Gaspar Schopp was one ; facile of tongue as of 

 pen, he quickly gained the Pope's favour, was made a 

 knight of St. Peter, and a count of the Sacred Palace. 

 This adept at coat-turning sent from Rome a letter 

 to Conrad Rittershausen, which was for long the sole 

 authority for Bruno's death, but was held by Catholic 

 writers on Bruno to be a forgery. In the face of the 

 solid arguments and evidence forthcoming, Catholic 

 reviewers even at the present day deny that Bruno was 

 put to death. It is quite needless at this date to enter 

 ' into the question of the authenticity of the letter, its 

 assertion of Bruno's punishment being the sole ground 



