Thomas Lambert Schenkel en Giordano Bruno. Een commercieel motief voor cryptische teksten over geheugenkunst

Abstract

Thomas Lambert Schenkel and Giordano Bruno : a Commercial Motive for Cryptic Writings on the Art of Memory. This article focuses on the way in which magic, art of memory and cryptic writing were intertwined during the sixteenth century. Several mnemonic works of Thomas Lambert Schenkel, a renowned master in the art of memory who was suspected of magic, are taken into consideration. From Schenkels biography and his Apologia (written after his mnemonics were suspect of magic) it appears that the cryptic style of his mnemonic works, served well commercial goals. This observation raises the question whether the cryptic style of the mnemonic works of the philosopher Giordano Bruno – whose work still brings about controversies with regard to the relation between art of memory and magic – served a similar aim. A hitherto unnoticed reference to Bruno by Schenkel, together with some depositions taken from the documents of Bruno’s inquisitorial trial, confirm this conjecture.