Imprisonment, trial and execution, 1593–1600 In Rome, Bruno's trial lasted seven years during which time he was imprisoned, lastly in the Tower of Nona. Bruno continued his Venetian defensive strategy, which consisted in bowing to the Church's dogmatic teachings, while trying to preserve the basis of his philosophy. In particular, Bruno held firm to his belief in the plurality of worlds, although he was admonished to abandon it. On January 20, 1600, Pope declared Bruno a heretic and the Inquisition issued a sentence of death. According to the correspondence of ..., he is said to have made a threatening gesture towards his judges and to have replied: Maiori forsan cum timore sententiam in me fertis quam ego accipiam ("Perhaps you pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it").
He was turned over to the secular authorities. On February 17, 1600, in a central Roman market square, with his "tongue imprisoned because of his wicked words", he was burned at the stake.
