348 GIORDANO BRUNO PART 



has been described as a refined and Gallicised imitation 

 of the Candelaio ; in its turn it suggested, perhaps, the 

 Pedant JouJ of Cyrano de Bergerac, and some of the 

 pedant-scenes in Moliere. 1 In 1634 in England a 

 masque by Thomas Carew the Coelum Britannicum 

 was played in English by Charles I., which was based, 

 , partly at least, upon the Spaccio, with Charles I. in the 

 place of Truth. 2 



Bayie. Pierre Bayle, by the article in his Dictionnaire 



Historique et Critique (1697), which had a very wide 

 influence, probably damned Bruno's reputation for a 

 century. The article on Spinoza also did the same 

 service for the Dutch philosopher, with whom, indeed, 

 Bayle joined Bruno, as having held the same " abomi- 

 nable docrine " of atheism. He had no real knowledge 

 of Bruno, the biography is frivolous and inexact, and 

 the philosophy a garbled version is reported on 

 hearsay. 3 It was Bayle's authority which stamped 

 Bruno with the sarcastic description of " a knight 

 errant in philosophy," which has sometimes been 

 spoken of as a happy touch of Hegel's invention, but 

 really dates back to one Lionardo Nicodemo (1683), 

 who described Bruno as " playing the part of a wan- 

 dering knight (i.e. a travelling scholastic), now here, 

 now there, at different universities in France, England, 

 Germany, Switzerland, Italy, with shield pendant, and 

 lance in rest, challenging the Aristotelians to learned 

 combat." 4 In England the same aspersion upon 

 Bruno's name was stereotyped by an article in the 



Budgeii. Spectator of May 27, 1712 (one of Budgell's). The 

 writer, however, had the fairness, which Bayle had not, 



1 Bartholmess, i. pp. 261, 262. 



2 Vide Quarterly Review, October 1902: "Giordano Bruno in England," and 

 the biography of Carew in EncycL Britan. (by R. Adamson). 



3 Cf. Bartholmess, i. p. 263. 4 Vide Rixner und Siber, op. cit. heft v. p. 234. 



