“ He studied philosophy and theology at Rome, and after his return to Naples applied himself to the physical studies which had come into vogue with the Renaissance. Like Giordano Bruno, though morally and intellectually inferior to him, he was among those who led the attack on the old scholasticism and helped to lay the foundation of modern philosophy. ”

“ Vanini then left Paris, where he had been staying as chaplain to the maréchal de Bassompierre, and began to teach in Toulouse. In November 1618 he was arrested, and after a prolonged trial was condemned, as an atheist, to have his tongue cut out, and to be strangled at the stake, his body to be afterwards burned to ashes. ”