The fear of death makes us cowards. The film tells about the fate of the medieval astrologer and doctor Cecco d’Ascoli, who was born in the town of Ankarano near Ascoli Piceno, who received the name Francesco at birth and was nicknamed Stabilli – Stoy.
Accused of heresy by the Bologna Inquisitor Fra Lamberto in 1324 and arrested by the Florentine Inquisitor Accusio in 1327, he was one of the first scholars sentenced to death at the stake. The Inquisition trials of Giordano Bruno (1600) and Galileo Galilei (1633) will not begin until three centuries later.
The dates of his birth, 1257 according to some sources, 1269 according to others, and his death, 16 or 26 September 1327, are lost in the fog of centuries. But for his time, he was an extraordinary person: possessing encyclopedic knowledge, studied philosophy, theology, medicine, mathematics, astrology and poetry, taught at the medical faculty of the University of Bologna, became a professor of mathematics and astrology.
The main work of Cecco d’Ascoli is the poem “L’Acerba” (" Bitter Thoughts), a kind of encyclopedia of medieval knowledge. It consisted of five books: the first was devoted to astronomy and meteorology, the second was concerned with the influence of stars and celestial bodies on the character and fate of man, there were chapters on physiognomy, human vices and virtues in connection with celestial phenomena, the third book described the world of living and inanimate nature, including fossil plants, the fourth is devoted to moral problems, as well as phenomena of the material world. The fifth book remained unfinished, and the author intended to devote it to theology.
The works of Cecco d'Ascoli have not survived, they were burned at the same stake as the unfortunate astrologer himself. They are known mainly from references in various historical sources.
One of the legends says that Cecco d’Ascoli was a foe and envious of Dante: allegedly his poem “L’Acerba” he wrote, hoping to eclipse the “Divine Comedy”. Other historians claim that he was friends with Dante.
In 1324 in Bologna he was lucky: he got away with a large fine and the seizure of astrological books. Perhaps he was saved by the fact that during a brief stay in Avignon he had the opportunity to treat Pope John XXII, who protected him before the Inquisition.
But with another high patron - Duke Karl of Calabria, in historical references there was a slight confusion, which went accordingly into the film. According to the plot, Cecco d'Ascoli became the court astrologer and personal doctor of the Duke in Florence, where he predicted his near death and the bloody and depraved rule of his daughter. However, this episode of Cecco d’Ascoli’s life refers to an unknown period of his stay in Naples: Duke Charles of Calabria is the heir to the Neapolitan throne (died 1328), his wife Mary Stuart and daughter Giovanna, the future queen of Naples from 1343 from the House of Anjou-Sicily (according to chronicles, “the court of this queen resembleded rather a brothel to laugh at everyone”). And Cecco d’Ascoli was convicted and executed in Florence, where he made many enemies.
His heresy and sorcery consisted in the audacity with which he claimed that it was possible to perform miracles with the help of evil spirits, spells, and with a certain arrangement of the stars. He did not do this himself, he reasoned purely theoretically, but the consequences of this reasoning were serious. And he also had the audacity from the point of view of astrology to interpret the events of the life of Jesus Christ and to compile a horoscope of the Antichrist.
Francesco Persistent withstood torture and did not renounce his convictions. Even in the flames of the fire, his last words were: “I said it, I taught it, I believe it!”
The film calmly and convincingly adheres to a clear historical line, is interesting scenery and costumes, but the plot lacks the brightness and dynamism of images and characters, the actors’ play is static and inexpressive. Therefore, despite the interesting theme, the film seems bland and boring.
4 out of 10