Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Description
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, he proposed to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, natural philosophy, and magic against all comers, for which he wrote the Oration on the Dignity of Man, which has been called the "Manifesto of the Renaissance", and a key text of Renaissance humanism and of what has been called the "Hermetic Reformation". He was the founder of the tradition of Christian Kabbalah, a key tenet of early modern Western esotericism. The 900 Theses was the first printed book to be universally banned by the Church. Pico is sometimes seen as a proto-Protestant, because his 900 theses anticipated many Protestant views.
Facts
| Born | (1463-02-24)24 February 1463, Mirandola, Duchy of Mirandola |
| Died | 17 November 1494(1494-11-17) (aged 31), Florence, Republic of Florence |
| Education | University of BolognaUniversity of FerraraUniversity of PaduaUniversity of Paris |
| Era | Renaissance philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Renaissance philosophyChristian humanismNeoplatonism |
| Main interests | Politicshistoryreligionesotericism |
| Notable ideas | Christian Kabbalah |
Life & work in brief
Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.
| Work / contribution | Significance |
|---|---|
| Biography | Giovanni was born at Mirandola, near Modena, the youngest son of Gianfrancesco I Pico, Lord of Mirandola and Count of Concordia, by his wife Giulia, daughter of Feltrino Boiardo, Count of Scandiano. |
| Writings | In the Oratio de hominis dignitate (Oration on the Dignity of Man, 1486), Pico justified the importance of the human quest for knowledge, masterfully blending Neoplatonism and Aristotelian Scholasticism. |