Tommaso Crudeli

Tommaso Baldasarre Crudeli (December 21 1703- March 27 1745) was a Florentine free thinker who was imprisoned by the Roman Inquisition. Because of his membership of a Masonic lodge, he is often celebrated as a martyr for Freemasonry even though he died four years after his imprisonment.

Chronology

* 1703-12-21 Born at Poppi (Arezzo, Tuscany)
* 1726 Law degree in Pisa
* 1733 Fifth Italian adept of the Masonic lodge in Florence (the first in Italy, founded by English agent Philipp von Stosch)
* 1739-05-09 Arrested in Florence by the Holy Inquisition, imprisoned for 16 months in S. Croce Church
* 1741-04 Released from prison and sentenced to house arrest in Poppi
* 1745-03-27 Died in Poppi and was buried in a common grave in S. Fedele Abbey
* 1747-10-15 Literary works were put on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum and burned in Piazza della Signoria in Florence

References