Vanini, Lucilio

Vanini, Lucilio an Italian philosopher born at Taurisano, near Naples, in 1584. He studied philosophy, theology, and natural science at Rome and Padua, and took holy orders. His mind was perverted by reading Aristotle, Averroes, Cardan, and Pomponazzi. He traveled and preached his infidel-doctrines in Germany, England, Holland, Switzerland, and, France. In 1617 he left Paris, opened a school at Toulouse, and infused his impious notions into the minds of his scholars, on account of which he was accused of atheism, sentenced to death, and burned at the stake on the day the sentence was given, Feb. 19,1619. He published, Amphitheatrum AEternae Providentiae (Lyons, 1615): — De Adnirandis Naturce Regince Deceque Mortalium Arcanis (Paris, 1516). See Durand, La Vie et les Sentiments de L. Vcnini (Rotterdam, 1717); Rousselot, AEuvres Philosophiques de Vanini (Paris, 1841); Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Géneralé, s.v.