Andrea Fiamma

L’article brosse un portrait de l’humanisme en Autriche au milieu du xv e siècle à travers l’analyse des lettres et des sermons, encore inédits, de Bernard de Kraiburg († 1477), évêque de Chiemsee, collaborateur de Nicolas de Cues et de Enea S. Piccolomini et détenteur d’une extraordinaire bibliothèque personnelle. La production de Bernard aide à comprendre la triangulation culturelle entre l’enseignement universitaire à Vienne (Thomas Ebendorfer), la tradition spirituelle bénédictine (Bernard de Waging) mise à l’épreuve par la réforme de Melk (Jean Schlitpacher) et les débats issus dans les récents conciles à Constance et Bâle. Se dessine un humanisme autrichien, caractérisé par l’influence de l’humanisme padouen (en particulier de Pétrarque), par une tentative de retour à la théologie du xii e siècle et par une ouverture spirituelle au mysticisme.

John Schlitpacher (†1482), who was prior of Melk in the 15th century, encouraged both the circulation of manuscripts at his Abbey and their transcription, even in abbreviated form to the benefit of the Abbey School students. This article looks at the sources and diffusion of texts to and from Melk Abbey in that period, examining the case of a codex purchased by Nicholas of Cusa, registered in his Library as no. 58, and subsequently loaned to the monks in Melk to be copied. It contained the Scala Paradisi by John Climacus and the De spiritualibus deliciis by John of Dambach. In the article, I underline that both of these works, copied in codex 58, were in accordance with John Gerson’s theological approach, which was prevalent in Melk at that time. Moreover, I confirm that there are doctrinal similarities between the two works mentioned above and two, hitherto, unedited writings by Schlitpacher from the same period – the treatise De ascensionibus cordis, which is a summary of the De spiritualibus ascensionibus by Gerard Zerbolt of Zutphen, and another entitled De felicitate beatorum (or De gaudiis electorum).

L’article retrace l’histoire de l’historiographie de Nicolas de Cues au XXe siècle, en s’appuyant sur le livre d’Ernst Cassirer Individu et cosmos dans la philosophie de la Renaissance. L’hypothèse de recherche est la suivante : l’interprétation que Cassirer propose de la modernité de la philosophie de Nicolas de Cues a été le point de départ de la formation de deux courants historiographiques différents au XXe siècle : le premier essaie de comprendre la genèse de la subjectivité moderne et le second, de définir l’identité de l’humanisme italien dans l’histoire de la philosophie de la Renaissance.

The article reconstructs the history of historiography on the philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa in the 20th century and focuses on the book of Ernst Cassirer entitled Individuum und Kosmos in der Philosophie der Renaissance. The research hypothesis is that Cassirer’s position on the modernity of the Cusanus’ philosophy was the starting point of the formation of two different historiographical currents in the 20th century : the former interested in the understanding of the genesis of what is called modern subjectivity and the latter, in defining the image of Italian humanism in the history of Renaissance philosophy.

Il volume ripercorre lo sviluppo del pensiero del giovane Nicola Cusano dalla frequentazione del maestro albertista Eimerico da Campo presso l’Università di Colonia (1425) e dal confronto con le posizioni filosofiche dei domenicani dello Studium coloniense, fino agli anni della maturità a Roma (1450). Il saggio illustra il contesto storico-culturale della genesi del De docta ignorantia, testo che suggella la presa di distanza di Cusano dal proprio passato universitario ma anche, al contempo, la sua insoddisfazione nei confronti dell’umanesimo diffuso in Italia negli anni del Concilio di Ferrara-Firenze; e lo segue nella sua ‘caccia della Sapienza’, nell’incontro con differenti tradizioni e contesti, fino alla formulazione dell’ideale del ‘Socrate cristiano’ nell’Idiota. Il volume, riccamente documentato anche sul piano della storia delle interpretazioni e degli studi su Cusano, contribuisce a far luce sulla formazione del suo pensiero e sulle questioni che ne hanno segnato la vita.

Considering the historical background and the transmission of the manuscripts, the paper discusses the relations between Nicholas of Cusa and the so-called “Cologne School” – Albert the Great, Ulrich of Strasbourg, Ugo Ripelin of Strasbourg, Dietrich of Freiberg, Meister Eckhart and Berthold of Moosburg. In this context are highlighted a few moments of the biography of Nicholas of Cusa, especially the friendship with Heymeric de Campo between 1425 and 1429, the debate with Johannes Wenck and the meeting with Dionysius the Carthusian in 1451.

Il presente articolo mira a ricostruire la formazione intellettuale di Nicola Cusano negli anni 1425-1432. Nonostante la scarsità di fonti oggi a disposizione per quel periodo, l’autore raccoglie numerose informazioni in merito alle istituzioni universitarie ed ecclesiastiche frequentate da Cusano e alle sue amicizie. Nello specifico, l’articolo affronta la questione del rapporto di Cusano con Eimerico da Campo e avanza alcune ipotesi in merito ad un coinvolgimento di Cusano nelle attività accademiche della Bursa Laurentiana dell’Università di Colonia. Il binomio Cusano-Eimerico viene inoltre utilizzato come chiave interpretativa per comprendere alcuni momenti ancora oscuri della biografia di Cusano, quali il rifiuto della cattedra presso l’Università di Lovanio nel 1435 e il dibattito con Johannes Wenck avvenuto tra il 1442 e il 1449.

Nicholas of Cusa in De staticis experimentis presents his perspective on the human knowledge of the world through the concept of measurement. Cusanus thinks that humans can measure the world, because the world is constituted by the trinitarian structure “pondus”, “numerus” and “mensura”: an ontological perspective that is also seen in the biblical book of Wisdom 11:21. For this reason in De staticis experimentis Cusanus tries to measure the world through numbers and weights and using a balance. Academic research on Cusanus has identified Augustine of Hippo as the source of this epistemology. In this paper, we will try to ask if Augustine of Hippo should indeed be recognized as a correct source.