Giordano Bruno's father, Giovanni Bruno, was a professional soldier who married Fraulissa Savolino. They baptised their son Filippo Bruno but later Filippo was called "Il Nolano" after the town of his birth which stands on the northeastern slope of Vesuvius. Only at the age of 17 when he entered the Dominican convent of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, where Thomas Aquinas had taught, did Filippo take the name Giordano.
Bruno left his home town of Nola to travel to nearby Naples when he was 14 years old to study there. He attended lectures on humanities, logic and dialectics in Naples and it was at this time that he was influenced by one of his teachers towards Averroism. This was Christian philosophy based on an interpretation of Aristotle's works through the Muslim philosopher Averroes. Its basic belief was that reason and philosophy are superior to faith and knowledge founded on faith. We shall see as we relate the story of Bruno's life how he continued to be influenced by the ideas of Averroism.
…
