In the second of two written defences, Campanella sought to justify and legitimate his own initiative by placing it within a prophetic context, so that it would not be regarded as an act of rebellion, which would entail the death penalty. He later developed this work as the Articuli prophetales, but during his trial he decided that presenting it to his judges would be a futile effort. Instead, he resorted to a clever ploy in order to avoid capital punishment. The death penalty could not be infli