Giovanni Pico della Mirandola - Revision history

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	Giovanni was a son of Count Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola. After the death of his father (1467), he was brought up by his mother and prepared for an ecclesiastical career. At the age of 14 he was already occupied with philosophy and the classical languages. In 1477 he began to study law (canon law) in Bologna, but dropped out. After the death of his mother (1478), he moved to Ferrara in 1479, where he turned to studia humanitatis, and to Padua in 1480 to study philosophy. Padua was a centre of Italian Averroism, with which Pico now grappled. In 1483 he moved to Florence and became active in the circle around Lorenzo I de' Medici, which included Marsilio Ficino and Angelo Poliziano. From then on, he had a lifelong close friendship with Ficino, which was not marred by later philosophical disagreements. In this context, Pico explicitly professed the Pythagorean ideal of friendship. From July 1485 to March 1486 he stayed in Paris, where he firmly professed Averroism, but soon returned to Italy. He learned the Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic languages.<ref>Paul Oskar Kristeller: ''Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and his sources''. In: ''L'opera e il pensiero di Giovanni Pico della Mirandola nella storia dell'umanesimo''. Convegno internazionale (Mirandola: 15–18 Settembre 1963), vol. 1: Relazioni, Firenze 1965, p. 35–142, here: p. 70–72.</ref>		Giovanni was a son of Count Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola. After the death of his father (1467), he was brought up by his mother and prepared for an ecclesiastical career. At the age of 14 he was already occupied with philosophy and the classical languages. In 1477 he began to study law (canon law) in Bologna, but dropped out. After the death of his mother (1478), he moved to Ferrara in 1479, where he turned to studia humanitatis, and to Padua in 1480 to study philosophy. Padua was a centre of Italian Averroism, with which Pico now grappled. In 1483 he moved to Florence and became active in the circle around Lorenzo I de' Medici, which included Marsilio Ficino and Angelo Poliziano. From then on, he had a lifelong close friendship with Ficino, which was not marred by later philosophical disagreements. In this context, Pico explicitly professed the Pythagorean ideal of friendship. From July 1485 to March 1486 he stayed in Paris, where he firmly professed Averroism, but soon returned to Italy. He learned the Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic languages.<ref>Paul Oskar Kristeller: ''Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and his sources''. In: ''L'opera e il pensiero di Giovanni Pico della Mirandola nella storia dell'umanesimo''. Convegno internazionale (Mirandola: 15–18 Settembre 1963), vol. 1: Relazioni, Firenze 1965, p. 35–142, here: p. 70–72.</ref>

	In 1486 he began studying the Kabbalah and commissioned the Jewish convert Raimundo Moncada (Flavius Mithridates) to translate Kabbalistic literature into Latin. He was the first Christian scholar to study Kabbalah intensively without being of Jewish descent himself.<ref>Chaim Wirszubski: ''Pico della Mirandola's Encounter with Jewish Mysticism'', Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1989, p. 64; Walter Andreas Euler: ''"Pia philosophia" et "docta religio". Theologie und Religion bei Marsilio Ficino und Giovanni Pico della Mirandola'', München 1998, p. 27.</ref> At the same time, he prepared a journey to Rome where he wanted to publicly defend 900 philosophical and theological theses he had written before all interested scholars of the world. For this purpose, he decided to invite to a large European congress, which was to take place in the presence of the Pope and the College of Cardinals; he wanted to bear the travel expenses of the participating scholars himself. His aim was to show a fundamental agreement of all philosophical and religious teachings, which were ultimately all contained in Christianity, and thus to contribute to a worldwide understanding and peace.		In 1486 he began studying the [[Kabbalah]] and commissioned the Jewish convert Raimundo Moncada ([[w:Flavius Mithridates\|Flavius Mithridates]]) to translate Kabbalistic literature into Latin. He was the first Christian scholar to study Kabbalah intensively without being of Jewish descent himself.<ref>Chaim Wirszubski: ''Pico della Mirandola's Encounter with Jewish Mysticism'', Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1989, p. 64; Walter Andreas Euler: ''"Pia philosophia" et "docta religio". Theologie und Religion bei Marsilio Ficino und Giovanni Pico della Mirandola'', München 1998, p. 27.</ref> At the same time, he prepared a journey to Rome where he wanted to publicly defend 900 philosophical and theological theses he had written before all interested scholars of the world. For this purpose, he decided to invite to a large European congress, which was to take place in the presence of the Pope and the College of Cardinals; he wanted to bear the travel expenses of the participating scholars himself. His aim was to show a fundamental agreement of all philosophical and religious teachings, which were ultimately all contained in Christianity, and thus to contribute to a worldwide understanding and peace.

	On his way to Rome, he fell in love with a married woman whom he kidnapped at her request. The husband had the fugitives pursued and tracked down; the woman was brought back, Pico suffered an injury and had to hide for months. Lorenzo de' Medici protected him from arrest. After this delay, he did not arrive in Rome until November 1486. There he published the Theses on 7 December 1486.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: ''Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole'', Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 123.</ref> However, the public disputation planned for 6 January 1487 did not take place, because Pope Innocent VIII appointed a sixteen-member commission to examine the orthodoxy of the views expressed in the Theses. Pico was not prepared to appear before the commission. After heated debate, the commission concluded that thirteen of the theses were heretical and should therefore be condemned. This did not initially result in any action against Pico. However, when he defended himself in a justificatory writing, the Apologia, without waiting for a statement from the Pope, he was resented by the Curia. In a bull dated 4 August 1487, the Pope condemned the theses in their entirety and ordered the burning of all copies, but he delayed the publication of the bull. However, when he learned that Pico had had the Apologia printed, he interpreted its dissemination as open rebellion, for which he never forgave Pico.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole, Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 125–129.</ref> In this threatening situation, Pico left Rome in November, which his critics interpreted as an escape, for he was now suspected of heresy. Since the Pope demanded his arrest, he was arrested near Lyon on his way to Paris. However, he gained the favour of King Charles VIII, who released and protected him. He was therefore able to return in freedom to Florence in 1488, where he was under the protection of Lorenzo. There, as well as in Fiesole and Corbole near Ferrara, he spent the rest of his life in philosophical and religious studies. In the process, religious themes came more and more to the fore. In the last phase of his life, he professed the views of the radical preacher Girolamo Savonarola, in whose Dominican monastery of San Marco he was buried in 1494. On 18 June 1493, Pope Alexander VI had reversed all the measures imposed on Pico by his predecessor Innocent VIII. Pico died of a fever; the surprising death of the promising scholar caused great consternation and the rumour soon spread that he had been poisoned by his secretary.		On his way to Rome, he fell in love with a married woman whom he kidnapped at her request. The husband had the fugitives pursued and tracked down; the woman was brought back, Pico suffered an injury and had to hide for months. Lorenzo de' Medici protected him from arrest. After this delay, he did not arrive in Rome until November 1486. There he published the Theses on 7 December 1486.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: ''Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole'', Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 123.</ref> However, the public disputation planned for 6 January 1487 did not take place, because Pope Innocent VIII appointed a sixteen-member commission to examine the orthodoxy of the views expressed in the Theses. Pico was not prepared to appear before the commission. After heated debate, the commission concluded that thirteen of the theses were heretical and should therefore be condemned. This did not initially result in any action against Pico. However, when he defended himself in a justificatory writing, the Apologia, without waiting for a statement from the Pope, he was resented by the Curia. In a bull dated 4 August 1487, the Pope condemned the theses in their entirety and ordered the burning of all copies, but he delayed the publication of the bull. However, when he learned that Pico had had the Apologia printed, he interpreted its dissemination as open rebellion, for which he never forgave Pico.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole, Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 125–129.</ref> In this threatening situation, Pico left Rome in November, which his critics interpreted as an escape, for he was now suspected of heresy. Since the Pope demanded his arrest, he was arrested near Lyon on his way to Paris. However, he gained the favour of King Charles VIII, who released and protected him. He was therefore able to return in freedom to Florence in 1488, where he was under the protection of Lorenzo. There, as well as in Fiesole and Corbole near Ferrara, he spent the rest of his life in philosophical and religious studies. In the process, religious themes came more and more to the fore. In the last phase of his life, he professed the views of the radical preacher Girolamo Savonarola, in whose Dominican monastery of San Marco he was buried in 1494. On 18 June 1493, Pope Alexander VI had reversed all the measures imposed on Pico by his predecessor Innocent VIII. Pico died of a fever; the surprising death of the promising scholar caused great consternation and the rumour soon spread that he had been poisoned by his secretary.
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	* Michael V. Dougherty (Hrsg.): ''Pico della Mirandola. New Essays''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-84736-0		* Michael V. Dougherty (Hrsg.): ''Pico della Mirandola. New Essays''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-84736-0
	* Walter Andreas Euler: ''"Pia philosophia" et "docta religio". Theologie und Religion bei Marsilio Ficino und Giovanni Pico della Mirandola''. Fink, München 1998, ISBN 3-7705-3280-5		* Walter Andreas Euler: ''"Pia philosophia" et "docta religio". Theologie und Religion bei Marsilio Ficino und Giovanni Pico della Mirandola''. Fink, München 1998, ISBN 3-7705-3280-5
			* Chaim Wirszubski: ''Pico della Mirandola's Encounter with Jewish Mysticism'', Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1989 ISBN 978-0674667303
	* [[WikipediaDE:Heinrich Reinhardt (Philosoph)\|Heinrich Reinhardt]]: ''Freiheit zu Gott. Der Grundgedanke des Systematikers Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494)''. VCH, Weinheim 1989, ISBN 3-527-17669-1		* [[WikipediaDE:Heinrich Reinhardt (Philosoph)\|Heinrich Reinhardt]]: ''Freiheit zu Gott. Der Grundgedanke des Systematikers Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494)''. VCH, Weinheim 1989, ISBN 3-527-17669-1
	* [[WikipediaDE:Alexander Thumfart\|Alexander Thumfart]]: ''Die Perspektive und die Zeichen. Hermetische Verschlüsselungen bei Giovanni Pico della Mirandola''. Fink, München 1996, ISBN 3-7705-3051-9		* [[WikipediaDE:Alexander Thumfart\|Alexander Thumfart]]: ''Die Perspektive und die Zeichen. Hermetische Verschlüsselungen bei Giovanni Pico della Mirandola''. Fink, München 1996, ISBN 3-7705-3051-9

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	== Works and teaching ==		== Works and teaching ==

			Pico, who died at an early age, did not leave behind an extensive body of work. Of his writings, he published only three: the 900 Theses (''Conclusiones nongentae''), the ''Apology'' and the ''Heptaplus'', written in 1489, an allegorical interpretation of the beginning of the biblical book of [[Genesis]], in which he draws on the medieval exegetical tradition and incorporates cabbalistic ideas. Two years after his death, his nephew Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola published part of the writings he had left behind, but it was not until the complete editions of Basel (1557, 1572-73 and 1601) that the entire body of works known today was included (some works are lost).

			Posthumously published works include the treatise "On the Being and the One" (''De ente et uno'') written in 1490, the "Commentary on a Song of Love" written in 1485/1486, in which he comments on the Canzona d'amore of his friend Girolamo Benivieni, an interpretation of the Lord's Prayer (''Expositio in orationem dominicam''), a pamphlet against [[astrology]] in twelve books (''Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem''),<ref>A congress on this work was held in Mirandola and Ferrara in 2004; congress proceedings: Marco Bertozzi (ed.): ''Nello specchio del cielo. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola e le Disputationes contro l'astrologia divinatoria'', Firenze 2008.</ref> numerous letters as well as 19 Latin and 46 Italian poems. "On Being and the One" was part of a large planned but unfinished work in which Pico wanted to show a fundamental agreement between [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]]. In doing so, he started from an Aristotelian interpretation of Plato, which was directed against the Neoplatonic view of Plotinus and Ficino. The writing against astrology was also part of an unfinished larger project, a defence of the Christian faith against seven enemies (atheism, polytheism, Judaism, Islam, superstition, astrology and magical arts, heresy and indifference of Christians).<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: ''Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole'', Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 161 and note 58.</ref> This late work, whose completion was prevented by Pico's death, reveals Savonarola's influence with its apologetic delimitation of the specifically Christian. It thus forms a counterpoint to the efforts of Pico's early period, when he attempted to prove the compatibility in principle of all philosophical traditions.

			Because of his strong interest in metaphysics and theology, Pico, like Ficino, was not a typical Renaissance humanist, for usually the humanists were very distanced from the metaphysical speculations typical of scholasticism, their philosophical interest used to be limited to moral philosophy. Pico even defended - completely untypical for a humanist - the scholastic philosophers against the criticism of [[w:Ermolao Barbaro\|Ermolao Barbaro]] with the argument that the content of philosophical texts was more important than the aesthetic quality of their style (which was highly deficient among the scholastics from a humanist point of view). The letter ''De genere dicendi philosophorum'' addressed to Ermolao, in which he advocated this position, caused a sensation.

			Pico's relationship with Ficino was not a one-sided teacher-pupil relationship. Although Pico belonged to the circle of more or less Neoplatonically oriented humanists inspired by Ficino, he did not consider himself a Platonist; he did not want to limit himself to adherence to a particular philosophical school. He emphasised his independence by occasionally emphatically distancing himself from Ficino's views. One main difference was in his understanding of unity and being; while Ficino regarded the divine One as super-being, Pico believed that unity and being could not be separated and that God (the One in the sense of Neoplatonism) also belonged to being.

			{{GZ\|Pico de Mirandola, who died at an early age, is a very strange spirit. If one delves into what he thought up and devised, one sees the same inspiration at work everywhere in his thinking, in his senses, which I have just characterised: the continuation of the wisdom of that old initiate on the diversions through the Rosicrucian current. But one sees a kind of retreat in Pico de Mirandola, a retreat from this knowledge. He assures us, for example, that everything that happens on earth, that stones are formed on earth, that plants live, grow and bear fruit on earth, that animals live on earth, does not come from the forces of the earth. - If someone were to believe that the earth is there and that the forces of the earth bring about what is on the earth, he would have a wrong view. The correct view, according to Pico de Mirandola, is that it is the stars and that everything that happens on earth depends on the stars. According to Pico de Mirandola, the smallest things that happen on earth depend on the stars. You have to look up at the sky if you want to understand what happens on earth. And it is already spoken in the sense of Pico de Mirandola when one says: You shake hands with me, my brother man, but it is not only your feeling that causes you to shake hands, but it is the star that stands above you that gives you the impulse to shake hands with me. - In the end, everything is caused by that which is founded in the heavenly, in the cosmic, and the reflection of it alone happens on earth.

			Pico de Mirandola expresses this as a certain conviction, and at the same time he says: "But men are obliged not to look at these starry causes, but to consider only the proximate cause on earth. - From this point of view, Pico de Mirandola - this is extraordinarily characteristic - fights the astrology that has come down to him. He knows that the old, real, genuine astrology expresses itself in the destinies of men. He knows this, he believes it to be true. But he says that one should not practise astrology, one should only seek the proximate causes.

			Do you realise what is actually at hand here? Here, for the first time, the idea of the limits of knowledge is presented in a very peculiar way, but, I would like to say, in the form in which it is entirely human. If you look later in Kant, in Du Bois-Reymond, you will be told: Man cannot transcend the limits of knowledge, it is based on an inner necessity. - This is not the case with Pico de Mirandola in the 15th century, but he says: Yes, that which is here on earth is caused by cosmic causes, but man should refrain from recognising these cosmic causes. Man should confine himself to the earth, - And so in the 15th century we encounter the voluntary renunciation of the highest knowledge in such a characteristic personality as Pico de Mirandola. This is a cultural-historical spiritual fact of the most far-reaching significance imaginable.\|233a\|48ff}}

	=== Oratio de hominis dignitate ===		=== Oratio de hominis dignitate ===

Odyssee at 20:33, 10 February 2022

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	On his way to Rome, he fell in love with a married woman whom he kidnapped at her request. The husband had the fugitives pursued and tracked down; the woman was brought back, Pico suffered an injury and had to hide for months. Lorenzo de' Medici protected him from arrest. After this delay, he did not arrive in Rome until November 1486. There he published the Theses on 7 December 1486.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: ''Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole'', Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 123.</ref> However, the public disputation planned for 6 January 1487 did not take place, because Pope Innocent VIII appointed a sixteen-member commission to examine the orthodoxy of the views expressed in the Theses. Pico was not prepared to appear before the commission. After heated debate, the commission concluded that thirteen of the theses were heretical and should therefore be condemned. This did not initially result in any action against Pico. However, when he defended himself in a justificatory writing, the Apologia, without waiting for a statement from the Pope, he was resented by the Curia. In a bull dated 4 August 1487, the Pope condemned the theses in their entirety and ordered the burning of all copies, but he delayed the publication of the bull. However, when he learned that Pico had had the Apologia printed, he interpreted its dissemination as open rebellion, for which he never forgave Pico.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole, Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 125–129.</ref> In this threatening situation, Pico left Rome in November, which his critics interpreted as an escape, for he was now suspected of heresy. Since the Pope demanded his arrest, he was arrested near Lyon on his way to Paris. However, he gained the favour of King Charles VIII, who released and protected him. He was therefore able to return in freedom to Florence in 1488, where he was under the protection of Lorenzo. There, as well as in Fiesole and Corbole near Ferrara, he spent the rest of his life in philosophical and religious studies. In the process, religious themes came more and more to the fore. In the last phase of his life, he professed the views of the radical preacher Girolamo Savonarola, in whose Dominican monastery of San Marco he was buried in 1494. On 18 June 1493, Pope Alexander VI had reversed all the measures imposed on Pico by his predecessor Innocent VIII. Pico died of a fever; the surprising death of the promising scholar caused great consternation and the rumour soon spread that he had been poisoned by his secretary.		On his way to Rome, he fell in love with a married woman whom he kidnapped at her request. The husband had the fugitives pursued and tracked down; the woman was brought back, Pico suffered an injury and had to hide for months. Lorenzo de' Medici protected him from arrest. After this delay, he did not arrive in Rome until November 1486. There he published the Theses on 7 December 1486.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: ''Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole'', Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 123.</ref> However, the public disputation planned for 6 January 1487 did not take place, because Pope Innocent VIII appointed a sixteen-member commission to examine the orthodoxy of the views expressed in the Theses. Pico was not prepared to appear before the commission. After heated debate, the commission concluded that thirteen of the theses were heretical and should therefore be condemned. This did not initially result in any action against Pico. However, when he defended himself in a justificatory writing, the Apologia, without waiting for a statement from the Pope, he was resented by the Curia. In a bull dated 4 August 1487, the Pope condemned the theses in their entirety and ordered the burning of all copies, but he delayed the publication of the bull. However, when he learned that Pico had had the Apologia printed, he interpreted its dissemination as open rebellion, for which he never forgave Pico.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole, Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 125–129.</ref> In this threatening situation, Pico left Rome in November, which his critics interpreted as an escape, for he was now suspected of heresy. Since the Pope demanded his arrest, he was arrested near Lyon on his way to Paris. However, he gained the favour of King Charles VIII, who released and protected him. He was therefore able to return in freedom to Florence in 1488, where he was under the protection of Lorenzo. There, as well as in Fiesole and Corbole near Ferrara, he spent the rest of his life in philosophical and religious studies. In the process, religious themes came more and more to the fore. In the last phase of his life, he professed the views of the radical preacher Girolamo Savonarola, in whose Dominican monastery of San Marco he was buried in 1494. On 18 June 1493, Pope Alexander VI had reversed all the measures imposed on Pico by his predecessor Innocent VIII. Pico died of a fever; the surprising death of the promising scholar caused great consternation and the rumour soon spread that he had been poisoned by his secretary.

	{{GZ\|"One of Savonarola's contemporaries was Pico della Mirandola, the Count Mirandola, who lived at the end of the fifteenth century and was completely in the mood that lived in Florence at that time. You see, we are in the century where the fourth post-Atlantean period passes into the fifth post-Atlantean period. Pico of Mirandola is one of those spirits who belonged to the receptive ones, who felt that the spirit was disappearing from our surroundings, and who at the same time had a deep longing to still feel this spirit, to bring it in. Yes, there were quite a number of people in Florence at that time who lived in this mood. They felt: for normal human life, the spirit is gone; but we have to get it in. These Renaissance people called themselves Neoplatonists. And no one could enter their academy who had not had at least one experience through which he had proved connections in his soul, powers which showed that he still had a direct perception of the spirit that works and is around us. That was still in the fifteenth century. One was not allowed to enter the Academy of Florence, which cultivated Neo-Platonism, the revival of Plato, if one did not first make an effort to have had an experience through which one knew directly: the spirit lives itself into the life of the senses. And Pico had several such moments. And that is why he understood Savonarola's words, which, albeit in a peculiar way, were saturated with such spiritual currents. This Pico understood Savonarola in his own way. Pico of Mirandola was only too vain to respond to what Savonarola wanted for him. He actually wanted to make him his comrade. But Pico of Mirandola could not reconcile this with his vanity. When Pico of Mirandola, still a relatively young man, was close to death, he again had such an experience. And this experience impressed itself on him in this way: As he felt his end approaching - he was still very young - he saw into the spiritual world. The forms in which the beings of the spiritual world then express themselves are determined by the subjectivity of the human being. What revealed itself to Pico from the spiritual world clothed itself in the image of the Madonna. In short, the Madonna appeared to him, we can say, and she said: I will not yet hand you over completely to death. - Mirandola did not even understand this immediately. He believed he could live on as a physical man. Nevertheless, he died, and Savonarola himself delivered the funeral oration. And it is significant to put ourselves in the whole mood that formed the transition between the fourth and fifth post-Atlantean periods. It is perhaps good to recall the words spoken by Savonarola at the tomb of Pico of Mirandola, for one sees in these words how seriously the fact was taken at that time that such a man as Pico of Mirandola had such a relationship to the spiritual world that even before death the spiritual world showed itself to him in such a way in a picture. Savonarola said at the grave of Pico of Mirandola - this is at the same time a sign that funeral orations were not only held for flattery -:		{{GZ\|One of Savonarola's contemporaries was Pico della Mirandola, the Count Mirandola, who lived at the end of the fifteenth century and was completely in the mood that lived in Florence at that time. You see, we are in the century where the fourth post-Atlantean period passes into the fifth post-Atlantean period. Pico of Mirandola is one of those spirits who belonged to the receptive ones, who felt that the spirit was disappearing from our surroundings, and who at the same time had a deep longing to still feel this spirit, to bring it in. Yes, there were quite a number of people in Florence at that time who lived in this mood. They felt: for normal human life, the spirit is gone; but we have to get it in. These Renaissance people called themselves Neoplatonists. And no one could enter their academy who had not had at least one experience through which he had proved connections in his soul, powers which showed that he still had a direct perception of the spirit that works and is around us. That was still in the fifteenth century. One was not allowed to enter the Academy of Florence, which cultivated Neo-Platonism, the revival of Plato, if one did not first make an effort to have had an experience through which one knew directly: the spirit lives itself into the life of the senses. And Pico had several such moments. And that is why he understood Savonarola's words, which, albeit in a peculiar way, were saturated with such spiritual currents. This Pico understood Savonarola in his own way. Pico of Mirandola was only too vain to respond to what Savonarola wanted for him. He actually wanted to make him his comrade. But Pico of Mirandola could not reconcile this with his vanity. When Pico of Mirandola, still a relatively young man, was close to death, he again had such an experience. And this experience impressed itself on him in this way: As he felt his end approaching - he was still very young - he saw into the spiritual world. The forms in which the beings of the spiritual world then express themselves are determined by the subjectivity of the human being. What revealed itself to Pico from the spiritual world clothed itself in the image of the Madonna. In short, the Madonna appeared to him, we can say, and she said: I will not yet hand you over completely to death. - Mirandola did not even understand this immediately. He believed he could live on as a physical man. Nevertheless, he died, and Savonarola himself delivered the funeral oration. And it is significant to put ourselves in the whole mood that formed the transition between the fourth and fifth post-Atlantean periods. It is perhaps good to recall the words spoken by Savonarola at the tomb of Pico of Mirandola, for one sees in these words how seriously the fact was taken at that time that such a man as Pico of Mirandola had such a relationship to the spiritual world that even before death the spiritual world showed itself to him in such a way in a picture. Savonarola said at the grave of Pico of Mirandola - this is at the same time a sign that funeral orations were not only held for flattery -:

	"There is no one among you who did not know Giovanni Pico. God showered him with great benefits and high blessings. His knowledge was manifold and his spirit towered above mortals. His death is also a great loss for the Church. Had his life not been so short, I am firmly convinced that he would have eclipsed all the scholars of the last eight hundred years. A divine voice in his heart called him to take ordination. At times he was willing to heed the call. But he kept postponing his entry into the monastery, whether out of ingratitude to God, or because sensuality held him back, or because he shrank from the exertions of monastic life in view of the delicacy of his body, or finally because he believed that his scientific work could in itself be beneficial to religion. Therefore, for two years I threatened him with the scourge of God, and I confess that I begged the Most High to chastise the defaulter a little. But even towards him God showed himself in his forbearance. Although the soul of the dead has not yet entered into heavenly bliss in the bosom of the Father, neither is it condemned to the torments of hell for ever, for it receives its atonement in the fire of the Purgatory for a certain time. What I announced to you about Pico's death is not contradicted by the promise of the Blessed Virgin that became his. At first I thought this promise was a pretence of a demon" - Savonarola thus speaks of the last vision of Pico of Mirandola - "but then it became clear to me that the dying man, in the confusion of his mind at the last hour, meant by that promise the first death, but the Madonna meant eternal death." In other words, the Madonna told him that he would not be punished forever, but only for a short time after his death - according to Savonarola.		"There is no one among you who did not know Giovanni Pico. God showered him with great benefits and high blessings. His knowledge was manifold and his spirit towered above mortals. His death is also a great loss for the Church. Had his life not been so short, I am firmly convinced that he would have eclipsed all the scholars of the last eight hundred years. A divine voice in his heart called him to take ordination. At times he was willing to heed the call. But he kept postponing his entry into the monastery, whether out of ingratitude to God, or because sensuality held him back, or because he shrank from the exertions of monastic life in view of the delicacy of his body, or finally because he believed that his scientific work could in itself be beneficial to religion. Therefore, for two years I threatened him with the scourge of God, and I confess that I begged the Most High to chastise the defaulter a little. But even towards him God showed himself in his forbearance. Although the soul of the dead has not yet entered into heavenly bliss in the bosom of the Father, neither is it condemned to the torments of hell for ever, for it receives its atonement in the fire of the Purgatory for a certain time. What I announced to you about Pico's death is not contradicted by the promise of the Blessed Virgin that became his. At first I thought this promise was a pretence of a demon" - Savonarola thus speaks of the last vision of Pico of Mirandola - "but then it became clear to me that the dying man, in the confusion of his mind at the last hour, meant by that promise the first death, but the Madonna meant eternal death." In other words, the Madonna told him that he would not be punished forever, but only for a short time after his death - according to Savonarola.

Odyssee at 19:33, 10 February 2022

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 In 1486 he began studying the Kabbalah and commissioned the Jewish convert Raimundo Moncada (Flavius Mithridates) to translate Kabbalistic literature into Latin. He was the first Christian scholar to study Kabbalah intensively without being of Jewish descent himself.<ref>Chaim Wirszubski: ''Pico della Mirandola's Encounter with Jewish Mysticism'', Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1989, p. 64; Walter Andreas Euler: ''"Pia philosophia" et "docta religio". Theologie und Religion bei Marsilio Ficino und Giovanni Pico della Mirandola'', München 1998, p. 27.</ref> At the same time, he prepared a journey to Rome where he wanted to publicly defend 900 philosophical and theological theses he had written before all interested scholars of the world. For this purpose, he decided to invite to a large European congress, which was to take place in the presence of the Pope and the College of Cardinals; he wanted to bear the travel expenses of the participating scholars himself. His aim was to show a fundamental agreement of all philosophical and religious teachings, which were ultimately all contained in Christianity, and thus to contribute to a worldwide understanding and peace.
 On his way to Rome, he fell in love with a married woman whom he kidnapped at her request. The husband had the fugitives pursued and tracked down; the woman was brought back, Pico suffered an injury and had to hide for months. Lorenzo de' Medici protected him from arrest. After this delay, he did not arrive in Rome until November 1486. There he published the Theses on 7 December 1486.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: ''Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole'', Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 123.</ref> However, the public disputation planned for 6 January 1487 did not take place, because Pope Innocent VIII appointed a sixteen-member commission to examine the orthodoxy of the views expressed in the Theses. Pico was not prepared to appear before the commission. After heated debate, the commission concluded that thirteen of the theses were heretical and should therefore be condemned. This did not initially result in any action against Pico. However, when he defended himself in a justificatory writing, the Apologia, without waiting for a statement from the Pope, he was resented by the Curia. In a bull dated 4 August 1487, the Pope condemned the theses in their entirety and ordered the burning of all copies, but he delayed the publication of the bull. However, when he learned that Pico had had the Apologia printed, he interpreted its dissemination as open rebellion, for which he never forgave Pico.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole, Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 125–129.</ref> In this threatening situation, Pico left Rome in November, which his critics interpreted as an escape, for he was now suspected of heresy. Since the Pope demanded his arrest, he was arrested near Lyon on his way to Paris. However, he gained the favour of King Charles VIII, who released and protected him. He was therefore able to return in freedom to Florence in 1488, where he was under the protection of Lorenzo. There, as well as in Fiesole and Corbole near Ferrara, he spent the rest of his life in philosophical and religious studies. In the process, religious themes came more and more to the fore. In the last phase of his life, he professed the views of the radical preacher Girolamo Savonarola, in whose Dominican monastery of San Marco he was buried in 1494. On 18 June 1493, Pope Alexander VI had reversed all the measures imposed on Pico by his predecessor Innocent VIII. Pico died of a fever; the surprising death of the promising scholar caused great consternation and the rumour soon spread that he had been poisoned by his secretary.
 == Works and teaching ==
@@ Line 95: / Line 101: @@
 * {{WikipediaEN|Italian Renaissance}}
 * {{WikipediaEN|Renaissance humanism}}
 == References ==

Odyssee at 19:20, 10 February 2022

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	'''Giovanni Pico (Conte) della Mirandola''' (* 24 February 1463 in [[w:Mirandola\|Mirandola]] in the present-day region of [[w:Emilia-Romagna\|Emilia-Romagna]]; † 17 November 1494 in [[w:Florence\|Florence]]) was an Italian [[philosopher]] of the [[Renaissance]]. He is best known today for his ''Oration on the [[Dignity]] of Man'', in which he poses the question of the nature of [[man]] and his position in the world and emphasises freedom of will as a characteristic feature of man. With his extraordinary education and eloquence, Pico greatly impressed his contemporaries.		'''Giovanni Pico (Conte) della Mirandola''' (* 24 February 1463 in [[w:Mirandola\|Mirandola]] in the present-day region of [[w:Emilia-Romagna\|Emilia-Romagna]]; † 17 November 1494 in [[w:Florence\|Florence]]) was an Italian [[philosopher]] of the [[Renaissance]]. He is best known today for his ''Oration on the [[Dignity]] of Man'', in which he poses the question of the nature of [[man]] and his position in the world and emphasises freedom of will as a characteristic feature of man. With his extraordinary education and eloquence, Pico greatly impressed his contemporaries.

			== Life ==

			Giovanni was a son of Count Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola. After the death of his father (1467), he was brought up by his mother and prepared for an ecclesiastical career. At the age of 14 he was already occupied with philosophy and the classical languages. In 1477 he began to study law (canon law) in Bologna, but dropped out. After the death of his mother (1478), he moved to Ferrara in 1479, where he turned to studia humanitatis, and to Padua in 1480 to study philosophy. Padua was a centre of Italian Averroism, with which Pico now grappled. In 1483 he moved to Florence and became active in the circle around Lorenzo I de' Medici, which included Marsilio Ficino and Angelo Poliziano. From then on, he had a lifelong close friendship with Ficino, which was not marred by later philosophical disagreements. In this context, Pico explicitly professed the Pythagorean ideal of friendship. From July 1485 to March 1486 he stayed in Paris, where he firmly professed Averroism, but soon returned to Italy. He learned the Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic languages.<ref>Paul Oskar Kristeller: ''Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and his sources''. In: ''L'opera e il pensiero di Giovanni Pico della Mirandola nella storia dell'umanesimo''. Convegno internazionale (Mirandola: 15–18 Settembre 1963), vol. 1: Relazioni, Firenze 1965, p. 35–142, here: p. 70–72.</ref>

			In 1486 he began studying the Kabbalah and commissioned the Jewish convert Raimundo Moncada (Flavius Mithridates) to translate Kabbalistic literature into Latin. He was the first Christian scholar to study Kabbalah intensively without being of Jewish descent himself.<ref>Chaim Wirszubski: ''Pico della Mirandola's Encounter with Jewish Mysticism'', Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1989, p. 64; Walter Andreas Euler: ''"Pia philosophia" et "docta religio". Theologie und Religion bei Marsilio Ficino und Giovanni Pico della Mirandola'', München 1998, p. 27.</ref> At the same time, he prepared a journey to Rome where he wanted to publicly defend 900 philosophical and theological theses he had written before all interested scholars of the world. For this purpose, he decided to invite to a large European congress, which was to take place in the presence of the Pope and the College of Cardinals; he wanted to bear the travel expenses of the participating scholars himself. His aim was to show a fundamental agreement of all philosophical and religious teachings, which were ultimately all contained in Christianity, and thus to contribute to a worldwide understanding and peace.

			On his way to Rome, he fell in love with a married woman whom he kidnapped at her request. The husband had the fugitives pursued and tracked down; the woman was brought back, Pico suffered an injury and had to hide for months. Lorenzo de' Medici protected him from arrest. After this delay, he did not arrive in Rome until November 1486. There he published the Theses on 7 December 1486.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: ''Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole'', Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 123.</ref> However, the public disputation planned for 6 January 1487 did not take place, because Pope Innocent VIII appointed a sixteen-member commission to examine the orthodoxy of the views expressed in the Theses. Pico was not prepared to appear before the commission. After heated debate, the commission concluded that thirteen of the theses were heretical and should therefore be condemned. This did not initially result in any action against Pico. However, when he defended himself in a justificatory writing, the Apologia, without waiting for a statement from the Pope, he was resented by the Curia. In a bull dated 4 August 1487, the Pope condemned the theses in their entirety and ordered the burning of all copies, but he delayed the publication of the bull. However, when he learned that Pico had had the Apologia printed, he interpreted its dissemination as open rebellion, for which he never forgave Pico.<ref>Louis Valcke, Roland Galibois: Le périple intellectuel de Jean Pic de la Mirandole, Sainte-Foy 1994, p. 125–129.</ref> In this threatening situation, Pico left Rome in November, which his critics interpreted as an escape, for he was now suspected of heresy. Since the Pope demanded his arrest, he was arrested near Lyon on his way to Paris. However, he gained the favour of King Charles VIII, who released and protected him. He was therefore able to return in freedom to Florence in 1488, where he was under the protection of Lorenzo. There, as well as in Fiesole and Corbole near Ferrara, he spent the rest of his life in philosophical and religious studies. In the process, religious themes came more and more to the fore. In the last phase of his life, he professed the views of the radical preacher Girolamo Savonarola, in whose Dominican monastery of San Marco he was buried in 1494. On 18 June 1493, Pope Alexander VI had reversed all the measures imposed on Pico by his predecessor Innocent VIII. Pico died of a fever; the surprising death of the promising scholar caused great consternation and the rumour soon spread that he had been poisoned by his secretary.

	== Works and teaching ==		== Works and teaching ==
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	[[de:Giovanni Pico della Mirandola]]		[[de:Giovanni Pico della Mirandola]]
			{{Wikipedia\|\|de}}

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	== See also ==		== See also ==
			{{Commonscat\|Giovanni Pico della Mirandola}}
	* {{WikipediaEN\|Giovanni Pico della Mirandola}}		* {{WikipediaEN\|Giovanni Pico della Mirandola}}
	* {{WikipediaEN\|Italian Renaissance}}		* {{WikipediaEN\|Italian Renaissance}}
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	<references />		<references />

			{{DEFAULTSORT:Pico Della Mirandola, Giovanni}}
	[[Category:Philosopher (15th century)]]		[[Category:Philosopher (15th century)]]
	[[Category:Humanism]]		[[Category:Humanism]]
	[[Category:Renaissance]]		[[Category:Renaissance]]
	[[de:Giovanni Pico della Mirandola]]		[[de:Giovanni Pico della Mirandola]]

Odyssee at 18:32, 10 February 2022

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	To return, however, to our review of the chief points of my disputation: I have also adduced my conception of the manner in which the poems of Orpheus and Zoroaster ought to be interpreted. Orpheus is read by the Greeks in a text which is practically complete; Zoroaster is known to them in a corrupt text, while in Chaldea he is read in a form more nearly complete. Both are considered as the authors and fathers of ancient wisdom. I shall say nothing about Zoroaster who is mentioned so frequently by the Platonists and always with the greatest respect. Of Pythagoras, however, Iamblicus the Chaldean writes that he took the Orphic theology as the model on which he shaped and formed his own philosophy. For this precise reason the sayings of Pythagoras are called sacred, because, and to the degree that, they derive from the Orphic teachings. For from this source that occult doctrine of numbers and everything else that was great and sublime in Greek philosophy flowed as from its primitive source. Orpheus, however (and this was the case with all the ancient theologians) so wove the mysteries of his doctrines into the fabric of myths and so wrapped them about in veils of poetry, that one reading his hymns might well believe that there was nothing in them but fables and the veriest commonplaces. I have said this so that it might be known what labor was mine, what difficulty was involved, in drawing out the secret meanings of the occult philosophy from the deliberate tangles of riddles and the recesses of fable in which they were hidden; difficulty made all the greater by the fact that in a matter so weighty, abstruse and unexplored, I could count on no help from the work and efforts of other interpreters. And still like dogs they have come barking after me, saying that I have brought together an accumulation of trifles in order to make a great display by their sheer number. As though all did not concern ambiguous questions, subjects of sharpest controversy, over which the most important schools confront each other like gladiators. As though I had not brought to light many things quite unknown and unsuspected by these very men who now carp at me while styling themselves the leaders of philosophy. As a matter of fact, I am so completely free of the fault they attribute to me that I have tried to confine the discussion to fewer points than I might have raised. Had I wished, (as others are wont) to divide these questions into their constituent parts, and to dismember them, their number might well have increased to a point past counting. To say nothing of other matters, who is unaware that one of these nine hundred theses, that, namely, concerning the reconciliation of the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle might have been developed, without arousing any suspicion that I was affecting mere number, into six hundred or more by enumerating in due order those points on which others think that these philosophies differ and I, that they agree? For a certainty I shall speak out (though in a manner which is neither modest in itself nor conformable to my character), I shall speak out because those who envy me and detract me, force me to speak out. I have wanted to make clear in disputation, not only that I know a great many things, but also that I know a great many things which others do not know.		To return, however, to our review of the chief points of my disputation: I have also adduced my conception of the manner in which the poems of Orpheus and Zoroaster ought to be interpreted. Orpheus is read by the Greeks in a text which is practically complete; Zoroaster is known to them in a corrupt text, while in Chaldea he is read in a form more nearly complete. Both are considered as the authors and fathers of ancient wisdom. I shall say nothing about Zoroaster who is mentioned so frequently by the Platonists and always with the greatest respect. Of Pythagoras, however, Iamblicus the Chaldean writes that he took the Orphic theology as the model on which he shaped and formed his own philosophy. For this precise reason the sayings of Pythagoras are called sacred, because, and to the degree that, they derive from the Orphic teachings. For from this source that occult doctrine of numbers and everything else that was great and sublime in Greek philosophy flowed as from its primitive source. Orpheus, however (and this was the case with all the ancient theologians) so wove the mysteries of his doctrines into the fabric of myths and so wrapped them about in veils of poetry, that one reading his hymns might well believe that there was nothing in them but fables and the veriest commonplaces. I have said this so that it might be known what labor was mine, what difficulty was involved, in drawing out the secret meanings of the occult philosophy from the deliberate tangles of riddles and the recesses of fable in which they were hidden; difficulty made all the greater by the fact that in a matter so weighty, abstruse and unexplored, I could count on no help from the work and efforts of other interpreters. And still like dogs they have come barking after me, saying that I have brought together an accumulation of trifles in order to make a great display by their sheer number. As though all did not concern ambiguous questions, subjects of sharpest controversy, over which the most important schools confront each other like gladiators. As though I had not brought to light many things quite unknown and unsuspected by these very men who now carp at me while styling themselves the leaders of philosophy. As a matter of fact, I am so completely free of the fault they attribute to me that I have tried to confine the discussion to fewer points than I might have raised. Had I wished, (as others are wont) to divide these questions into their constituent parts, and to dismember them, their number might well have increased to a point past counting. To say nothing of other matters, who is unaware that one of these nine hundred theses, that, namely, concerning the reconciliation of the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle might have been developed, without arousing any suspicion that I was affecting mere number, into six hundred or more by enumerating in due order those points on which others think that these philosophies differ and I, that they agree? For a certainty I shall speak out (though in a manner which is neither modest in itself nor conformable to my character), I shall speak out because those who envy me and detract me, force me to speak out. I have wanted to make clear in disputation, not only that I know a great many things, but also that I know a great many things which others do not know.

	And now, reverend Fathers, in order that this claim may be vindicated by the fact, and in order that my address may no longer delay the satisfaction of your desire -- for I see, reverend doctors, with the greatest pleasure that you are girded and ready for the contest -- let us now, with the prayer that the outcome may be fortunate and favorable, as to the sound of trumpets, join battle.\|Giovanni Pico della Mirandola\|Oration on the Dignity of Man<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20201109024052/http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/pico_oration.htm Oration on the Dignity of Man], retrieved 10 February 2022 from [https://web.archive.org web.archive.org] (translation is in the [[w:public domain\|]])</ref>}}		And now, reverend Fathers, in order that this claim may be vindicated by the fact, and in order that my address may no longer delay the satisfaction of your desire -- for I see, reverend doctors, with the greatest pleasure that you are girded and ready for the contest -- let us now, with the prayer that the outcome may be fortunate and favorable, as to the sound of trumpets, join battle.\|Giovanni Pico della Mirandola\|Oration on the Dignity of Man<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20201109024052/http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/web%20publishing/pico_oration.htm Oration on the Dignity of Man], retrieved 10 February 2022 from [https://web.archive.org web.archive.org] (translation is in the [[w:public domain\|public domain]])</ref>}}

			== See also ==
			* {{WikipediaEN\|Giovanni Pico della Mirandola}}
			* {{WikipediaEN\|Italian Renaissance}}
			* {{WikipediaEN\|Renaissance humanism}}

	== References ==		== References ==

Odyssee: /* Oratio de hominis dignitate */

2022-02-10T18:21:41Z

Oratio de hominis dignitate

Show changes

Odyssee at 18:17, 10 February 2022

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	[[File:Pico1.jpg\|thumb\|Pico della Mirandola, Portrait from the [[w:Uffizi\|Uffizi Gallery]], in [[w:Florence\|Florence]]]]		[[File:Pico1.jpg\|thumb\|Pico della Mirandola, Portrait from the [[w:Uffizi\|Uffizi Gallery]], in [[w:Florence\|Florence]]]]

	'''Giovanni Pico (Conte) della Mirandola''' (* 24 February 1463 in [[w:Mirandola\|Mirandola]] in the present-day region of [[w:Emilia-Romagna\|Emilia-Romagna]]; † 17 November 1494 in [[w:Florence\|Florence]]) was an Italian [[philosopher]] of the [[Renaissance]]. He is best known today for his ''Oration on the Dignity of Man'', in which he poses the question of the nature of [[man]] and his position in the world and emphasises freedom of will as a characteristic feature of man. With his extraordinary education and eloquence, Pico greatly impressed his contemporaries.		'''Giovanni Pico (Conte) della Mirandola''' (* 24 February 1463 in [[w:Mirandola\|Mirandola]] in the present-day region of [[w:Emilia-Romagna\|Emilia-Romagna]]; † 17 November 1494 in [[w:Florence\|Florence]]) was an Italian [[philosopher]] of the [[Renaissance]]. He is best known today for his ''Oration on the [[Dignity]] of Man'', in which he poses the question of the nature of [[man]] and his position in the world and emphasises freedom of will as a characteristic feature of man. With his extraordinary education and eloquence, Pico greatly impressed his contemporaries.

	== Works and teaching ==		== Works and teaching ==

Odyssee at 18:16, 10 February 2022

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	[[File:Pico1.jpg\|thumb\|Pico della Mirandola, Portrait from the [[Uffizi\|Uffizi Gallery]], in [[Florence]]]]		[[File:Pico1.jpg\|thumb\|Pico della Mirandola, Portrait from the [[w:Uffizi\|Uffizi Gallery]], in [[w:Florence\|Florence]]]]

	'''Giovanni Pico (Conte) della Mirandola''' (* 24 February 1463 in [[w:Mirandola\|Mirandola]] in the present-day region of [[w:Emilia-Romagna\|Emilia-Romagna]]; † 17 November 1494 in [[w:Florence\|Florence]]) was an Italian [[philosopher]] of the [[Renaissance]]. He is best known today for his ''Oration on the Dignity of Man'', in which he poses the question of the nature of [[man]] and his position in the world and emphasises freedom of will as a characteristic feature of man. With his extraordinary education and eloquence, Pico greatly impressed his contemporaries.		'''Giovanni Pico (Conte) della Mirandola''' (* 24 February 1463 in [[w:Mirandola\|Mirandola]] in the present-day region of [[w:Emilia-Romagna\|Emilia-Romagna]]; † 17 November 1494 in [[w:Florence\|Florence]]) was an Italian [[philosopher]] of the [[Renaissance]]. He is best known today for his ''Oration on the Dignity of Man'', in which he poses the question of the nature of [[man]] and his position in the world and emphasises freedom of will as a characteristic feature of man. With his extraordinary education and eloquence, Pico greatly impressed his contemporaries.