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Giordano Bruno was executed in 1600 after being investigated for opinions against the Catholic Church in Italy He was an regarded as an atheist. Eighteenth-century engraving of Bruno originally published N.H. Gundling, Neue Bibliothec, oder Nachricht und Urtheile von Neuen Büchern (Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1715) 622, fig. 38 (Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1715) | Public Domain | Image Source | The document that tells about Bruno being regarded as an atheist is the Biographical Dictionary, found here Etienne Dolet was a French painter, who was burnt at the stake in 1549 for being an atheist. His religious views remain controversial, some claiming he belongs in the category of Protestant, however many contemporary Protestants of his own time rejected him, and John Calvin outright condemned him. | This portrait is considered 16th century and to be of Etienne Dolet, but the author is unknown | Source Lucilio Vanini was an atheist. He was born in 1585, he travelled a great deal, and after spreading his notions in England in 1614, was imprisoned for his ideas. He was eventually put to death for blasphemy in 1619. | Source |R. Burgess, Portraits of doctors & scientists in the Wellcome Institute, London 1973, no. 3029.1 | Image Source | Public Domain Defining Atheism The term atheist, defined "... denies the existence of God or gods" exists before the term atheism in English and is first recorded in 1566, and again in 1571. The term "atheist", being applied as a term for someone who practices a lifestyle of godlessness, was applied as early as 1577. Sources: Martiall, John (1566). A Replie to Mr Calfhills Blasphemous Answer Made Against the Treatise of the Cross. English recusant literature, 1558–1640. Vol. 203. Louvain. p.49 Golding, Arthur (1571). The Psalmes of David and others, with J. Calvin's commentaries. pp. Ep. Ded. 3. "The Atheistes which say ... there is no God." (Translated from Latin.) Hanmer, Meredith (1577). The auncient ecclesiasticall histories of the first six hundred years after Christ, written by Eusebius, Socrates, and Evagrius. London. p. 63. OCLC 55193813. "The opinion which they conceaue of you, to be Atheists, or godlesse men." During Shakespeare's lifetime, the word "atheist" and even "atheism" did not necessarily mean someone that believed there was no God. In fact, the term itself was thrown around alot with a broad application for anything that was negative, or whose reputation you wanted to tarnish. It was used as a catch all term for anything you didn’t like. In some ways, it was like “terrorism" today. If you didn’t like someone, you called them an atheist. Lots of publications calling catholics atheists, for example, and there was one record where Calvin is accused of teaching atheism. Sixteenth-century portrait of John Calvin by an unknown artist. From the collection of the Bibliotheque Publique et Universitaire, Geneva, Switzerland © Held Collection Swiss, out of copyright | Public Domain| Source These surviving pamphlets, and accusations, belie the fact that the term "atheist" often had nothing to do with one's belief in God, since both Catholics, and certainly John Calvin, the noted theologian and...
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