BRUCIOLI, ANTONIO. - Scholar and translator, accused of heretical doctrines, was born in Florence at the end of the 15th century and died in Venice in 1566. He frequented the famous "Rucellai gardens," the site of the Accademia. Involved in the conspiracy against Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII), he fled to Lyon in 1522, where he first encountered the new heretical doctrines. Returning to Italy in 1527, he wrote against ecclesiastical abuses, real or imagined, and Varchi remarks of him that "he was so steadfast in this matter concerning priests and friars that, despite repeated warnings and reproaches from his closest friends, he never wished to abandon it, saying: 'He who speaks the truth does no wrong.'" Condemned to exile, he took refuge in Venice, where he remained, with brief absences, until his death.
There he composed various works: *Dialoghi filosofici* [Philosophical Dialogues]; a translation of Pliny’s *Natural History*; the political treatise *Del Governo dello ottimo principe e capitano dello esercito* [On the Government of the Best Prince and Captain of the Army]; and so on. His principal work, however, was his vernacular translation of the Bible in 1532 and his *Commentari* [Commentaries] on it in seven volumes, published between 1542 and 1546. Of this translation, the Protestant Di Silvestri Falconieri remarks: "His style is harsh and unadorned; it is said that he did not translate the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek, but from the poor Latin version of Sante Pagnino." This translation led to several trials by the Inquisition. The first (1548) ended with a sentence of a fine and banishment to Ferrara; the second (1555) concluded with a condemnation to recant, undergo certain penances, and compose a retractatory work; the third (1558–59) was brought against him for failing to write the retractatory work. The points on which he was suspected of heresy may be inferred from his abjuration, in which he confessed to having held "that man is saved by faith alone, excluding the merits of works; that there are only two Sacraments, namely Baptism and the Eucharist, implicitly excluding the others; that the saints should not be invoked, as they are likened to various creatures; that those who fall away from Christ were never truly of Christ; and that only the elect can have faith, while others cannot." Though he offered explanations to the tribunal that could be interpreted in an orthodox sense, his writings could not, and for this reason he was condemned to imprisonment. He died shortly after serving his sentence.