ToMMaso CaMPanella

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Founding Editors:Paul Dibon† and Richard H. Popkin†

Director:sarah Hutton (aberystwyth University)

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aRCHIVes InTeRnaTIonales D’HIsToIRe Des IDÉes

InTeRnaTIonal aRCHIVes oF THe HIsToRY oF IDeas

200

ToMMaso CaMPanella: THe BooK anD THe BoDY oF naTURe

Germana ernst

Tommaso Campanella

The Book and the Body of nature

Germana ernstUniversità di Roma Tre

Translated by

David l. MarshallKettering University

Via Val d’aposa 7 – 40123 Bologna – Italy seps@seps.it – www.seps.itand Department of Philosophy of the Third University of Rome

The translation of this work has been funded by sePs Segretariato Europeo per le Pubblicazioni Scientifiche

Germana ernstDipartimento di Filosofia, Università di Roma Trevia ostiense 234, 00144 Roma, Italyernst@uniroma3.it

TranslatorDavid l. MarshallDepartment of liberal studiesKettering University1700 W. Third avenue, FlintMI 48504, Usadavid.marshall@kettering.edu

IsBn 978-90-481-3125-9 e-IsBn 978-90-481-3126-6DoI 10.1007/978-90-481-3126-6springer Dordrecht Heidelberg london new York

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v

ConTenTs

Preface ....................................................................................................... VII

1 Telesius me delectavit ............................................................................... 1The Book of nature ................................................................................. 1In Defense of Telesio against aristotle ................................................. 7

2 From Naples to Padua: Encounters, Conflicts, Trials ........................... 15naples......................................................................................................... 15In Rome and Florence ............................................................................. 21Padua .......................................................................................................... 24

3 The Palace of Atlas ................................................................................... 33Dogmas and Politics ................................................................................. 33Philosophy and Poetry ............................................................................. 40

4 Back to Naples and Calabria ................................................................... 45natural Philosophy ................................................................................... 45natural ethics ........................................................................................... 50Machiavellism and Universal Monarchy ............................................... 57

5 The Conspiracy ......................................................................................... 67The Utopia of liberty .............................................................................. 67Heresy, Rebellion, and Prophecy ............................................................ 74Madness, Reason and Dissimulation ...................................................... 80

6 Prophecy, Politics and Utopia ................................................................. 85Articuli Prophetales .................................................................................. 85Political Bonds .......................................................................................... 89The Body Politic: The City of the Sun ..................................................... 95

7 In the Cave of Polyphemus ...................................................................... 105The Poesie .................................................................................................. 105sense, Spiritus and natural Magic .......................................................... 114Religion and nature ................................................................................. 127

vi Contents

8 Christian Unity........................................................................................ 137Campanella and Venice .......................................................................... 137The Papal Primacy: The Monarchia Messiae ....................................... 141structures of ecclesiastical Government ............................................. 147Christianity as Universal Religion ........................................................ 152

9 New Heavens ........................................................................................... 159science and Faith: The Apologia pro Galileo ...................................... 159Philosophy and Theology ....................................................................... 166astrology ................................................................................................. 172Celestial signs ......................................................................................... 177

10 The New Encyclopedia of Knowledge ................................................. 181Philosophia Realis .................................................................................. 181The Books on Medicine ......................................................................... 188arts and sciences of language ............................................................. 195The new Metaphysics ............................................................................ 200Theologicorum Libri .............................................................................. 210

11 The Disappointment of Liberty ............................................................ 215Politicians, Courtiers, and the Prophet’s Fate ...................................... 215The astrological affair and the Pope’s Horoscope ............................ 220living and Writing in Rome .................................................................. 226From the Fall of la Rochelle to the Flight to France ......................... 232

12 The Paris Years ....................................................................................... 243The arrival in France and the stay in Paris ......................................... 243From spanish Decline to French Hegemony ...................................... 249last Writings ........................................................................................... 259

List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................... 267

Index of Names ............................................................................................... 271

Subject Index .................................................................................................. 279

vii

PReFaCe

I know that many will comment on what I say, they will mock me, they will be after phrases and accents

without the spirit of God, judging me in their own way. Campanella, Lettere, p. 48

And they want to fight against me with unjust officials, prisons, handcuffs, bars, ropes, tortures and slayers, darkness and hunger,

whereas I cannot use such weapons against them, nor do they want to fight with reason.

Ibid., p. 13

even if one has studied an author for many years, perhaps precisely for this very reason, anything that is said about him or her appears inadequate and insufficient: an abyss opens up behind each word, every phrase recalls yet other phrases. With an author like Tommaso Campanella, the feeling of dis-orientation may turn into actual dizziness. Campanella was bold enough to address all fields of knowledge. However much his attempt can be better described as generous rather than pretentious, the whole enterprise was undoubtedly tricky, marked by all kinds of difficulties, with very diverse out-comes, which at times cause amazement and emotion, even as on other occa-sions they prove disappointing and almost irritating. This has led to so many contrasting evaluations of his thought, characterised as it is by the presence of both powerfully innovative visions and tenaciously persistent convictions. all these elements, however, result in a complex picture, which the author, striking out on tortuous and intricate paths, intended to present as unified by a coherent vision.

This volume is an attempt at offering a map of the biographical and intellec-tual journey of Campanella. Taking into account new findings about his life and works that enhance or correct the classic studies of the author, these pages try to present, through variations of recurrent motifs, the origins, development, and persistence of some of the fundamental themes of his philosophy. This map is necessarily a selective one. needless to say, it can only barely touch upon monu-mental works such as the Metaphysica, the Theologia, and many others, while it draws the reader’s attention to less known or forgotten texts. It is a map that

viii Preface

offers itself as an introduction, with an eye to future research and a much-to-be-desired project of gathering and publishing all the works of the philosopher.

I truly hope that this translation of my monograph on Campanella will contribute towards a better understanding of the wide-ranging thought of one of the most original philosophers of the early modern period and that it will generate further interest in his complex oeuvre. With regard to the Italian edition (2002) and the subsequent translation into French (2007), I have limited myself to adding occasional bibliographical references and making a few minor changes to the text so as to render it more straightforward. I have also reorganized the material in some chapters in a way that makes the presentation more coherent.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have contrib-uted towards the realization of this initiative. I would like to thank, in particu-lar, sarah Hutton, who kindly suggested that I should publish the volume in the present series; anita Fei van der linden of springer Publishers, Raffaella Colombo (sePs – segretariato europeo per le Pubblicazioni scientifiche, Bologna), and the publishers laterza, who followed and supported the various phases of the production of the book. I would also like to express my gratitude to David Marshall, who took on the job of translating a demanding text with friendly enthusiasm and courage; special thanks are due to Jean-Paul De lucca for his many suggestions and for compiling the subject index. I would also like to thank Guido Giglioni for his constant help, and all those whose affection and friendship have accompanied me throughout my work.

G. e.

Natal chart of Tommaso Campanella (Rome, Archivio di Stato, Tribunale criminale del governatore, Processi 1630)

Frontispiece of T. Campanella, Philosophia sensibus demonstrata (Naples, 1591).

Frontispiece of T. Campanella, Civitas Solis (in Philosophia realis, Paris, 1637)

Frontispiece of T. Campanella, Atheismus triumphatus (Rome, 1631) with dedication to Gabriel Naudé