author
Tommaso Campanella
1568–1639
A rebellious Dominican friar, philosopher, and poet, he spent much of his life under suspicion and in prison, yet kept writing bold ideas about politics, religion, and nature. He is best known today for The City of the Sun, a vivid vision of an ideal society.
2 Audiobooks
The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella; Now for the First Time Translated into Rhymed English
by Michelangelo Buonarroti, Tommaso Campanella
The City of the Sun
by Tommaso Campanella
About the author
Born Giovanni Domenico Campanella in Stilo, Calabria, in 1568, he entered the Dominican order as a teenager and took the name Tommaso. Early on, he challenged accepted Aristotelian teaching and developed a wide-ranging philosophy shaped by religion, natural inquiry, politics, and astrology.
His life was dramatic as well as intellectual. After being accused of conspiracy against Spanish rule in southern Italy, he was imprisoned for many years. During that confinement he wrote some of his most famous works, including The City of the Sun, and also defended Galileo in print.
After his release, Campanella spent time in Rome and later moved to France, where he lived under the protection of powerful supporters until his death in 1639. He remains an important Renaissance thinker because his writing brings together utopian imagination, fierce criticism of old ideas, and a lasting belief that knowledge could help remake society.