Editing Lucilio Vanini (section)

{{Short description|Italian philosopher}}
{{More citations needed |date=November 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=November 2014}}
{{Use British English |date=November 2014}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| region     = [[Western philosophy]]
| era        = [[17th-century philosophy]]
| image      = 6655 - Roma - Ettore Ferrari, Giulio Cesare Vanini (1889) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Apr-2008.jpg
| caption    = Medallion by [[Ettore Ferrari]] on base of [[Giordano Bruno]] statue, [[Campo de' Fiori]], [[Rome]]
| name       = Lucilio "Giulio Cesare" Vanini
| birth_date  = 1585
| birth_place = [[Taurisano]], [[Terra d'Otranto]], Italy
| death_date  = {{death date and age |1619 |2 |9 |1585 |6 |1 |df=y}}
| death_place = [[Toulouse]], France
| nationality = [[Italy|Italian]]
| school_tradition = [[Rationalism]], [[humanism]], [[libertinism]]
| main_interests = [[Metaphysics]], [[science]], [[religion]]
| influences  = [[Pietro Pomponazzi]], [[Simone Porzio]], [[Gerolamo Cardano]], [[Julius Caesar Scaliger]], [[Paolo Sarpi]]
| influenced = [[Charles Blount (deist)|Charles Blount]] ''inter alia''
| notable_ideas = [[Nomological determinism]], God as a vital force in Nature ([[pantheism]]), humans and non-human apes have common ancestor; denied [[immortality of the soul]]
| signature  = 
}}
[[File:Place du Salin à Toulouse - Hommage à Vanini.jpg|thumb|Homage to Giulio Cesare Vanini at the place of his death, the Place du Salin in Toulouse.]]
'''Lucilio Vanini''' (1585{{snd}}9 February 1619), who, in his works, styled himself '''Giulio Cesare Vanini''',<ref>Giulio Cesare is the Italian equivalent of Julius Caesar in English.</ref> was an Italian philosopher, physician and [[free-thinker]], who was one of the first significant representatives of intellectual [[libertinism]]. He was among the first modern thinkers who viewed the universe as an entity governed by natural laws ([[nomological determinism]]). He was also an early literate proponent of [[Evolution|biological evolution]], maintaining that humans and other [[ape]]s have common ancestors. He was murdered in [[Toulouse]].

Vanini was born at [[Taurisano]] near [[Lecce]], and studied [[philosophy]] and [[theology]] at [[Naples]]. Afterwards, he applied himself to the physical studies, chiefly medicine and astronomy, which had come into vogue with the [[Renaissance]]. Like [[Giordano Bruno]], he attacked [[scholasticism]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Vanini, Lucilio|volume=27|page=895}}</ref>

From Naples he went to [[Padua]], where he came under the influence of the [[Alexandrists|Alexandrist]] [[Pietro Pomponazzi]], whom he styled his divine master. Subsequently, he led a roving life in [[France]], [[Switzerland]] and the [[Low Countries]], supporting himself by giving lessons and disseminating radical ideas. He was obliged to flee to [[England]] in 1612 but was imprisoned in [[London]] for 49 days.<ref name="EB1911" />

Returning to Italy, he made an attempt to teach in [[Genoa]] but was driven again to France, where he tried to clear himself of suspicion by publishing a book against [[atheism]]: ''Amphitheatrum Aeternae Providentiae Divino-Magicum'' (1615). Though the definitions of [[God]] are somewhat [[pantheistic]], the book served its immediate purpose. Although Vanini did not expound his true views in his first book, he did in his second: ''De Admirandis Naturae Reginae Deaeque Mortalium Arcanis'' (Paris, 1616). This was originally certified by two doctors of the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], but was later re-examined and condemned.<ref name="EB1911" />

Vanini then left Paris, where he had been staying as chaplain to the [[François Bassompierre|Marechal de Bassompierre]], and began to teach in [[Toulouse]]. In November 1618, he was arrested and, after a prolonged trial, was condemned to have his tongue cut out, to be strangled at the stake and to have his body burned to ashes. The murder was carried out on 9 February 1619 by local authorities.<ref name="EB1911" />