Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 880: The Stake
Ke Lan subconsciously looked at the appearance and clothing of the people around her:
The hair color of this group of people is mainly brown and golden, with three-dimensional facial features, fair skin, and most of their pupils are green or blue - this is obviously a typical feature of the Mediterranean European race. But among the crowd, there are also some people with yellowish or even brown skin. These people have softer facial features and their hair color is basically black or close to black... These people have a special appearance, and their bloodline does not seem to be pure... According to Ke Lan's knowledge, this kind of people are often the product of ethnic integration.
Generally speaking, in ancient times, this kind of mixed-race descendants often had a relatively low social status, but here, they were not much different from those Europeans. Even some mixed-race people wore clothes and jewelry of significantly higher quality than the vast majority of Europeans.
First of all, we can determine that the location in the hallucination is in a large city in Europe. The social concept of this city is relatively advanced, and it does not discriminate against certain people because of their bloodline and ethnicity... Has such a large city with a mixed population of multiple ethnic groups existed in history?
Ke Lan shifted his attention from their appearance to their clothes. Most of these people wore cotton or linen robes with white robes inside. The collar, cuffs and hem of the robes had intricate and gorgeous patterns, while the main body of the robes was relatively simple, usually with large diamond-shaped grids or small star-shaped embroidery. Many people also had equally gorgeously decorated swords around their waists.
A few people were still wearing clothes made of silk... Many people thought that this precious fabric could only be produced in a mysterious country in the East in ancient times, but in fact, as early as the fifth century AD, Westerners had mastered the technology of sericulture and silk reeling, and silk gradually became popular in the Western world.
"Renaissance...Roman...costumes?" Ke Lan quickly found a matching style in her memory.
Have I “traveled” to Renaissance Rome?
Speaking of which, Rome is indeed a place where multiple ethnic cultures and bloodlines blend together, which completely fits Ke Lan's first impression of the people on the street.
These people seemed to be rushing towards one place, the crowd was shoulder to shoulder, and even Ke Lan couldn't help but move forward - he found that his strength had dissipated, and at this moment he was just an ordinary young man, wearing a plaid robe that was not much different from the people around him, and a sheathed dagger as long as his forearm was inserted at his waist.
"Excuse me, where are you going?" Ke Lan patted the shoulder of an old man with gray hair beside him. The old man turned around and asked in confusion, "What did you say?"
Ke Lan spoke in Chinese, and the other party also in Chinese, not Latin as Romans should. It was not that the other party did not understand Ke Lan's words, but because the surrounding environment was too noisy, he did not hear clearly.
Ke Lan moved closer and repeated the question in a louder voice: "Excuse me, with so many people, where are they going?"
"You don't know?!" The old man's puzzled expression became more serious, and even added a hint of surprise, "Place de' Fiori!"
Campo de' Fiori? Campo de' Fiori in Rome?
As soon as Ke Lan heard the place name, a person's name that was closely related to this place immediately appeared in his mind.
Then, the old man said the name that popped into Ke Lan's mind: "Don't you know that according to the Vatican's notice, today is the day to burn the heretic Bruno to death!"
Bruno... Giordano Bruno!
Bruno, who firmly believed in and vigorously promoted Copernicus's "heliocentric theory", was eventually convicted of heresy by the Inquisition and burned alive at the stake!
Ke Lan suddenly understood why Neto would immerse himself in such an illusion.
"Bruno is going to be burned to death today...is it because he promoted the 'heliocentric theory' which is contrary to the church's philosophy?" Ke Lan muttered to himself.
For some reason, the old man, who had to shout to be heard by him, actually heard his own words. The surprise on his face turned into horror, and he kept saying, "You can't just say that! We all know that only the earth created by God is the center of the universe. What that heretic preached is simply a fallacy!"
"The 'heliocentric theory' is indeed wrong... but at least..." Ke Lan originally wanted to say that at least this theory is an improvement over the 'geocentric theory', but then he changed his mind and thought, what's the point of arguing with these people in the illusion... In the end, he chose to remain silent.
This was just a replay of a scene that happened in history. Ke Lan knew that no matter what he did in this illusion, it was meaningless... He was not a member of this world, but just a "spectator" in it.
The crowd quickly poured into a square. On the square was a platform more than four meters high. A man in tattered clothes and covered with wounds was weakly tied to a pillar made of rough logs. The rough hemp rope had rubbed his wrists to a bloody mess, and even the white bone stumps were exposed.
"Burn him! Burn him!" The crowd closest to the stake shouted loudly, and the sound quickly spread to the entire Flower Square. Many people, including the old man next to Ke Lan, were shouting -
"Burn him! Burn him!"
A cardinal in a long robe and a tall hat stepped forward, looked at Bruno, and said, "As long as you are willing to admit that the heliocentric theory is wrong and that you were tempted by heresy, we will immediately release you. You don't have to die, and you can bathe in the glory of the Lord again."
Bruno did not raise his head. He was too weak. After nearly half a minute, he gasped and said incoherently: "The sun is the center of the universe... the sun is..."
"Heretic! Burn him!" When the people who were closer to the stake heard Bruno's words, they suddenly burst into great anger and fear. They waved their arms, as if they wanted to rush to the stake, snatch the torch from the executioner's hand, and light the dry firewood piled at Bruno's feet.
"The sun is the center of the universe... This is... the truth!" Bruno seemed to have used up all his strength and shouted to the people in the audience.
In response to him, there were angry shouts from the people... Ke Lan noticed that not everyone was shouting "Burn him to death". A few, like him, remained silent, standing in the crowd, silently staring at Bruno.
Although the "heliocentric theory" was considered heresy, many people still accepted it...
But at this time, no one was willing to stand up and stand on Bruno's side.
