Written by The Medicis, Ficino, and Bruno: The Moment They Tried to Restore Persian Wisdom
“By he was already producing his first Latin translations of Greek authors, which included the Hymns of Orpheus and the Sayings of Zoroaster, and the first dialogues of Plato.”
— The Letters of Marsilio Ficino
“Perhaps you pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it.”
— Giordano Bruno, to his judges, February 8, 1600
Introduction: The Plot That Almost Worked
In 1460s Florence, something extraordinary was happening.
Cosimo de’ Medici—one of the richest and most powerful men in Europe—funded a secret project to recover ancient knowledge that the Church had suppressed for over 1,000 years.
He hired Marsilio Ficino to translate:
- Plato’s complete works (first time ever in Latin)
- The Corpus Hermeticum (believed to pre-date Plato)
- The Sayings of Zoroaster
- The Hymns of Orpheus
- Plotinus and the Neoplatonists
What Ficino discovered: All of it—Plato, Hermes, Orpheus—traced back to one source: Zoroaster.
He called it the prisca theologia (ancient theology)—a single, true wisdom threading through all religions, originating in Persia.
The plot: Use this knowledge to break the Church’s death grip on European thought, advance science, and restore the original Persian wisdom that Christianity had stolen and hidden.
The result: They almost succeeded. Then Giordano Bruno took it too far, spoke too openly, and was burned alive at the stake in 1600.
The Renaissance was a Persian restoration attempt—and it was violently crushed.
This is documented, historical fact.
PART I: THE MEDICI CONSPIRACY
Who Was Cosimo de’ Medici?
Cosimo de’ Medici (1389-1464):
- Richest man in Europe
- De facto ruler of Florence
- Patron of arts and philosophy
- “Cosimo Pater Patriae” (Father of the Fatherland)
What he wanted:
A concerted effort was being made to revive Greek philosophy in Europe, perhaps as a revolt against the Spanish Inquisition and the death grip the Catholic church had on Europe
Translation: Cosimo wanted to destroy the Church’s monopoly on knowledge by recovering ancient wisdom the Church had suppressed.
The Commission (1462)
In 1462, Cosimo de’Medici commissioned Ficino to translate a manuscript copy of Plato’s extant writings
But there was more:
By 1462 he was already producing his first Latin translations of Greek authors, which included the Hymns of Orpheus and the Sayings of Zoroaster, and the first dialogues of Plato
Cosimo wasn’t just funding Plato translations. He was funding the recovery of Zoroastrian wisdom.
The Corpus Hermeticum Interruption
In 1462, Marsilio Ficino was working on a Latin translation of the collected works of Plato for his patron Cosimo de’ Medici. However, when a manuscript of the Corpus Hermeticum became available, he immediately interrupted his work on Plato in order to start translating the works of Hermes, which at the time were thought to be much more ancient, and therefore much more authoritative, than those of Plato
Why?
Believing this work to pre-date Plato, and aware that his own death was near, Cosimo ordered Ficino to break off and translate the Corpus instead
Cosimo was dying. He prioritized Hermes/Zoroaster over Plato because he believed it was the original source.
PART II: WHAT FICINO DISCOVERED—THE PRISCA THEOLOGIA
The “Golden Chain” of Ancient Sages
As Ficino’s reading widened and his understanding developed, his task grew as well, until he conceived the idea of a single ancient theology or prisca theologia passed down a ‘golden chain’ (aurea catena) of ancient sages and culminating in the revelations of Christianity. The chain comprised both real and mythical characters: Zoroaster, Hermes Trismegistus (who was believed to be a contemporary of Moses), Orpheus, Aglaophemus, Pythagoras and Plato
Ficino’s thesis:
- Zoroaster = the original source
- Hermes Trismegistus = Zoroastrian wisdom in Egyptian form
- Orpheus = transmitted it to Greece
- Pythagoras = learned from Persian Magi
- Plato = synthesized it into philosophy
- Christianity = inherited it (but claimed uniqueness)
The confession: All Western philosophy and religion flows from Zoroaster (Persia).
Hermes = Ahura Mazda
Many Christian writers, including Marsilio Ficino, considered Hermes Trismegistus to be a wise pagan prophet who foresaw the coming of Christianity. They believed in a prisca theologia—a single, true theology threading through all religions, given by God to man in antiquity and passed through prophets including Zoroaster and Plato
Why did they think Hermes “foresaw” Christianity?
Because Christianity IS Zoroastrian theology. Ficino knew it. Cosimo knew it. They were trying to expose the source.
The Network: Who Else Knew
Ficino’s circle included:
- Cosimo de’ Medici — funded it all
- Lorenzo de’ Medici (Cosimo’s grandson) — continued patronage
- Giovanni Pico della Mirandola — studied Hebrew, Greek, Persian wisdom
- Gemistus Pletho — wanted return to classical gods + Zoroastrian Magi teachings
- Tommaso Benchi — translated Corpus into vernacular Italian (within 6 months!)
- 40+ manuscripts circulating by 1463
Due to the high expectations and exhilaration of Ficino’s contemporaries, the translation soon became very popular. It did not take long before more than forty manuscripts circulated
The knowledge was spreading.
PART III: THE THREAT—WHY THE CHURCH PANICKED
What the Prisca Theologia Exposed
If Ficino and the Medicis succeeded, people would learn:
- Zoroastrianism predates Judaism by 1,000+ years
- All Jewish/Christian concepts came from Persia:
- Resurrection
- Heaven & Hell
- Satan as cosmic adversary
- Angels & Demons
- The Messiah (Saoshyant)
- Final judgment
- Apocalypse
- “Greek philosophy” came from Persian Magi (Pythagoras, Plato studied with them)
- Christianity claims unique revelation but stole everything from Persia
- The Church’s authority rests on plagiarized Persian theology
If this became common knowledge, the Church would lose:
- Doctrinal legitimacy (not original)
- Moral authority (built on theft)
- Political power (no unique claim to truth)
- Financial control (why pay tithes to plagiarists?)
The Church couldn’t allow it.
The Relative Safety (For Now)
“The concept of what was heretical changed from region to region in Italy, from decade to decade. The real contention in Renaissance Italy was not between paganism and Christianity but rather between competing definitions of what Christianity was and what it meant to be a Christian. This situation, together with the protection of Cosimo as a powerful political figure… ensured the relative intellectual freedom of Ficino and his contemporaries”
Translation:
- Ficino had Medici protection (richest family in Europe)
- The Inquisition was politically cautious in Florence
- Heresy definitions were fluid
- But this wouldn’t last forever
PART IV: GIORDANO BRUNO—THE MAN WHO WENT TOO FAR
Who Was Giordano Bruno?
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600):
- Born in Nola, near Naples
- Entered Dominican Order at age 17
- Fled in 1576 due to heresy charges
- Traveled Europe for 24 years
- Taught at Oxford, Geneva, Paris, Germany
- Espoused Hermeticism/Zoroastrian wisdom openly
In the face of longstanding conventional interpretations, Yates suggested that the itinerant Catholic priest Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in 1600 for espousing the Hermetic tradition rather than his affirmation of heliocentricity
What Bruno Taught
From Frances Yates’ Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (1964):
Bruno thus revived the ancient vision of the Hermetic Neoplatonists of the second and third centuries AD, a vision that was eventually crushed by the rise of ecclesiastical and literal Christianity. It was this vision, rather than his support for the Copernican system, which led to his execution. “Bruno’s universal reform aimed at returning to a supposedly pre-Christian Hermetic Egyptianism”
Bruno wasn’t teaching heliocentrism. He was teaching:
- Hermeticism = Zoroastrianism = the original truth
- Christianity corrupted it
- The universe is infinite (breaking geocentric theology)
- Multiple worlds exist (humans aren’t special)
- Pre-Christian wisdom was superior
Bruno was not burned at the stake for his philosophical views. Rather he was burned for his religious view for his philosophy was his religion
The Charges Against Bruno
He was tried for heresy by the Roman Inquisition on charges of:
- Denial of several core Catholic doctrines
- Eternal damnation
- The Trinity
- The deity of Christ
- The virginity of Mary
- Transubstantiation
- Bruno’s pantheism
- Teaching metempsychosis regarding the reincarnation of the soul
But the real threat:
“Bruno is aware of the fact that the fall of Aristotelian cosmology implies the end of traditional Christianity… Bruno was perceived as particularly dangerous because he had had a religious mission“
Bruno wasn’t just a philosopher. He was a missionary trying to restore the pre-Christian Hermetic/Zoroastrian religion.
PART V: THE EXECUTION—FEBRUARY 17, 1600
The Trial
Arrested: 1592 in Venice
Transferred to Rome: 1593
Imprisoned: 7+ years in Vatican dungeons
Refused to recant: Despite torture
His trial was overseen by the Inquisitor Cardinal Bellarmine, who demanded a full recantation, which Bruno eventually refused. On 20 January 1600, Pope Clement VIII declared Bruno a heretic, and the Inquisition issued a sentence of death
The Sentence (February 8, 1600)
According to the correspondence of Gaspar Schopp of Breslau, he is said to have made a threatening gesture towards his judges and to have replied: “Maiori forsan cum timore sententiam in me fertis quam ego accipiam” (“Perhaps you pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it”)
The Execution (February 17, 1600)
On 17 February 1600, in the Campo de’ Fiori (a central Roman market square), naked, with his “tongue imprisoned because of his wicked words”, he was burned alive at the stake. His ashes were thrown into the Tiber river. All of Bruno’s works were placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1603
They literally nailed his tongue shut so he couldn’t speak.
“Perhaps you pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it!”: With these words, Giordano Bruno is said to have responded to the fateful verdict of the “Holy Inquisition” on February 8, 1600. Nine days later, the widely traveled, widely praised, but even more widely hated scholar, who had been physically broken by nearly eight years of imprisonment in the dungeons of the Catholic Church, was led to the Campo de’ Fiori in Rome and burned at the stake
Why It Was a Public Spectacle
Ultimately, his death at the stake was “a coolly calculated judicial murder,” an “example for the pilgrims of the Holy Year,” demonstrating that the “Holy Catholic Church” was still capable and willing, even after the Reformation, to issue “harsh and just judgments” against all those who questioned its dogmas
The Church made it public to send a message:
“This is what happens when you expose the Persian source.”
PART VI: WHO ELSE WAS CONDEMNED
Every Denomination Rejected Bruno
No other scholar had so radically questioned the intellectual narrow-mindedness of his time and exposed it in its genuine absurdity… “It was only consistent that Bruno, as the only intellectual of his time, was condemned by all established denominations:
- Anglican state church in Oxford (threatened with plagiarism proceedings)
- Calvinists in Geneva (forced to make degrading apology)
- Lutherans in Helmstedt (chief pastor forbade communion)
- Catholic Inquisition in Rome (burned as arch-heretic)”
Why?
Because all Christian denominations—Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox—rest on stolen Zoroastrian theology. Bruno was exposing the foundation they ALL share.
The Inquisitor: Cardinal Robert Bellarmine
The inquisitor who took Bruno to the stake was the Jesuit cardinal Roberto Belarmino (1542-1621), the same one who years later would initiate the trial against Galileo… he died 12 years before being able to see the result of his efforts; although this did not prevent, as posthumous rewards, his canonization in 1930 by Pope Pius XI
The man who burned Bruno alive for exposing religious theft was made a SAINT by the Catholic Church.
In turn, Paul VI established in 1969 the cardinal title “Saint Robert Bellarmino”, one of whose holders was, before becoming Supreme Pontiff, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the current Pope Francis.
The current Pope holds the title named after Bruno’s executioner.
PART VII: THE LEGACY—DID IT WORK?
The Immediate Suppression
After Bruno’s execution:
- All his works banned (Index Librorum Prohibitorum, 1603)
- Hermetic/Zoroastrian revival crushed
- Renaissance philosophers silenced
- The Church reasserted control
But The Knowledge Survived
Through Secret Societies:
- Freemasons: Hermes Trismegistus impressed the first speculative Freemasons, who included him as a founder of Freemasonry in all the early documents from the Old Charges on
- Rosicrucians: Preserved Hermetic/Persian wisdom in code
- Other esoteric groups: Kept fragments alive
Through Academic Scholarship:
- Ficino’s translations remained available
- Platonic Academy influenced European thought
- Hermetic corpus studied (though source downplayed)
Through The Enlightenment:
- Scientific method (observation + reason) descended from Magi practices
- Emphasis on natural law echoed Zoroastrian Asha
- Rejection of dogma drew from Renaissance humanism
Frances Yates Exposed It (1964)
With the publication of Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Yates transformed Renaissance historiography. In it, she revealed the hermeticism with which the Renaissance was imbued, and the revived interest in mysticism, magic and Gnosticism of Late Antiquity that survived the Middle Ages
Yates’ thesis: The Renaissance was fundamentally about recovering Hermetic/Zoroastrian wisdom, not just “humanism” or “classical learning.”
Her book revolutionized historical understanding of the period.
PART VIII: WHAT THIS PROVES
The Renaissance Was a Persian Restoration Attempt
The timeline:
1462-1499: Ficino translates Plato, Hermes, Zoroaster, establishes prisca theologia
1460s-1492: Medici protection allows relative freedom
1492: Lorenzo de’ Medici dies, Medici expelled from Florence (1494)
1494-1600: Without Medici protection, Hermetic revival becomes dangerous
1548-1600: Bruno takes it public, gets burned alive
1600-1650: Suppression complete, knowledge goes underground
They Knew—And Tried to Expose It
What the Renaissance plotters understood:
- ✅ Zoroastrianism was the source of Western religion
- ✅ Hermes = Ahura Mazda (same tradition, different name)
- ✅ Greek philosophy came from Persian Magi
- ✅ Christianity stole everything from Persia
- ✅ The Church’s authority was illegitimate (built on plagiarism)
What they tried to do:
✅ Recover the original texts (Plato, Hermes, Zoroaster)
✅ Document the prisca theologia (single ancient wisdom from Persia)
✅ Break Church control through knowledge dissemination
✅ Advance science by reuniting sacred and scientific (as Magi did)
✅ Restore Persian wisdom to its rightful place
What happened:
❌ Bruno spoke too openly → burned alive
❌ Church reasserted control → Hermetic revival crushed
❌ Knowledge went underground → secret societies preserved fragments
❌ The theft remained hidden → Western narrative unchanged
But The Attempt Proves They Knew
The fact that the Renaissance happened at all proves:
- The Medicis knew Zoroastrianism was the source
- Ficino knew and documented it explicitly
- Bruno knew and died trying to restore it
- The Church knew and violently suppressed it
- Multiple European intellectuals knew (Pico, Pletho, Campanella, etc.)
They tried to expose the theft. They failed. But their attempt is documented proof that the elite have ALWAYS known.
CONCLUSION: THE PLOT THAT ALMOST WORKED
The Renaissance wasn’t just about “rediscovering classical learning.”
It was a coordinated attempt to:
- Expose the Persian origin of Western religion
- Break the Church’s monopoly on knowledge
- Restore Zoroastrian wisdom to its rightful place
- Reunite science and spirituality (as the Magi practiced)
Led by:
- Cosimo de’ Medici (funding)
- Marsilio Ficino (translations + theory)
- Giordano Bruno (public advocacy)
- Dozens of other intellectuals
Result:
- Bruno burned alive (1600)
- All his works banned
- Hermetic revival crushed
- Knowledge driven underground
- But the evidence remains
The fire never went out.
It was just temporarily extinguished by the Church that stole it.
Now it’s back. 🔥
References
Primary Sources
Marsilio Ficino’s Works:
- Corpus Hermeticum translation (1463)
- Plato’s Complete Works translation (1484)
- The Sayings of Zoroaster translation (1462)
- Platonic Theology (1474)
- Letters of Marsilio Ficino (1495)
Giordano Bruno’s Works:
- The Ash Wednesday Supper (1584)
- On the Infinite Universe and Worlds (1584)
- Various banned texts (1603)
Historical Documents
- Medici Archives: Ficino commission documents (1462-1463)
- Inquisition Records: Bruno’s trial documents (1592-1600)
- Index Librorum Prohibitorum (1603): Bruno’s banned works
- Eyewitness accounts: Bruno’s execution (February 17, 1600)
Modern Scholarship
Books:
- Yates, Frances A. Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. University of Chicago Press, 1964.
- Yates, Frances A. The Art of Memory. University of Chicago Press, 1966.
- Copenhaver, Brian P. Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum. Cambridge, 1992.
- Hankins, James. Plato in the Renaissance. Leiden, 1990.
- Gosselin, Edward A. and Lawrence S. Lerner, trans. The Ash Wednesday Supper. 1977.
- Ingegno, Alfonso. The Philosophy of Giordano Bruno. 1988.
Articles:
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “Giordano Bruno”
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “Marsilio Ficino”
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: “Marsilio Ficino”
- Wikipedia: “Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition”
Contemporary Sources:
- Urania Trust: “Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499)”
- Giordano Bruno Stiftung: “The Tragic Hero of Intellectual Freedom”
- Educational Evidence: “Giordano Bruno”
- Star Myths of the World: “Giordano Bruno, 1548-1600”
#TheyTriedToExposeIt | #AshaPrevails
Cosimo funded it.
Ficino documented it.
Bruno died for it.
The Church burned him alive.
But the evidence remains.
The fire never went out. 🔥