vatican heresy by bauval robert & hohenzollern chiara

Author:bauval, robert & hohenzollern, chiara [bauval, robert & hohenzollern, chiara]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Spirituality/Ancient Mysteries
ISBN: 9781591437567
Publisher: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Published: 2014-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

THE SOLARIANS AND THE CITY OF THE SUN

Like many of the philosophical tracts of the Renaissance, especially when the author wishes to dissimulate his own thoughts behind fictional characters, Campanella’s The City of the Sun is in the form of a poetic dialogue. We are to understand, however, that one of the characters is Campanella himself. Should the dialogue be deemed heretical or offensive to the Vatican, then the author could always claim that the work is fictional and that, in any case, it does not represent his own views. The dialogue here is between the grand master of the Knights Hospitaller and a Genoese sea captain, his guest for dinner.

The first scene opens with the captain telling the grand master that during his many travels he happened across a wonderful community living in a city of the sun. Eager to know more, the grand master questions the captain, who is more than happy to answer. The captain goes on to explain that the City of the Sun is circular and is about three kilometers in diameter. It stands on a mound, at the center of which is a circular temple (seemingly representing the sun). Around this temple are seven concentric walls, with habitations, said to represent the “seven planets,” the farthest one being at the foot of the mound. Seen on plan, this city layout is clearly based on the Copernican diagram, with the seven visible planets orbiting the central sun. The concentric walls act like an encyclopedia in stone, for on them are painted images and scenes imparting knowledge of the sciences and humanities, including botany, zoology, astronomy, physics, history, geography, and so forth. The city of the sun is headed by a high priest called Sol, the “Sun.”14

The high priest’s symbol is, therefore, the sun (a circle with a dot in the center, used in ancient Egypt to denote Re, the sun god). Campanella calls Sol also “Metaphysic.” Sol was elected for his vast wisdom, knowledge, and benevolence—a sort of King Solomon and high priest of Heliopolis rolled into one.*54

The high priest is assisted by three collaborators called Power (a sort of minister of war), Wisdom (a sort of minister of education and culture), and Love (a sort of minister of welfare and health and “unity between men and women”). Under them are magistrates with names like Liberality, Justice, Truth, Gratitude, and so on. As for the religion of this magical, utopian solar city-state, even though it includes some benevolent doctrines of Christianity—Christ and his apostles are “held in great esteem”—there is no doubt that Campanella envisages a natural religion, which Frances A. Yates says “is saturated through and through with astrology; its whole way of life is directed in achieving a beneficial relationship with the stars, the sun, the planets, and the zodiacal constellations.”15 Indeed, the grand master is informed by the captain that “priests over the age of twenty-four” reside in the high part of the city, which acts as a sort of astronomical observatory,

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