by Master of the Life of the Virgin
Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – August 11, 1464) was a German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, a philosopher, jurist, mathematician, and an astronomer. Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study He is widely considered as one of the greatest geniuses and polymaths of the 15th century. He is also referred to as Nicolaus Cusanus and Nicholas of Kues.
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Biography
He was born Nikolaus Krebs in Kues (Latinized as "Cusa") to a merchant family, and received his doctorate in Canon law from the University of Padua in 1423. Bernkastel-Kues (ˌbɛɐ̯nkastəlˈkuːs is a town over 700 years old located on the Middle Moselle river in the district of Bernkastel-Wittlich, in Rhineland-Palatinate Canon Law, the Ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system with all the necessary elements courts lawyers judges a fully articulated The University of Padua ( Italian Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) located in Padua, Italy, was founded in 1222 He attended the Council of Basel (1431–49), representing one claimant to the archbishopric of Trier. The Council of Florence (originally Council of Basel) was an Ecumenical Council of Bishops and other ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church The Archbishopric of Trier (Erzbistum Trier was a Roman Catholic Diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the
While present at the council, he wrote De concordantia catholica, a synthesis of ideas on church and empire balancing hierarchy with consent. This work remained useful to critics of the papacy long after Nicholas left Basel. Nicholas was close to Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini, who had tried to reconcile pope and council, combining reform and hierarchic order. Julian (Giuliano Cesarini ( Rome 1398 &ndash Varna Bulgaria November 10, 1444) was one of the group of brilliant cardinals created by Nicholas supported transfer of the council to Italy to meet with the Greeks, who needed aid against the Ottoman Turks. The Ottoman Turks were the subdivision of the Ottoman Muslim Millet that dominated the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. He supported Pope Eugenius IV in his effort to bring the Eastern churches into union with the Western at such a "council of union. Pope Eugene IV (1383 &ndash February 23, 1447) born Gabriele Condulmer, was Pope from March 3, 1431, to his death " While returning from a mission to Constantinople to persuade the Greeks to attend the Council of Florence, Nicholas had a shipboard experience that led to his writing thereafter on metaphysical topics. The Council of Florence (originally Council of Basel) was an Ecumenical Council of Bishops and other ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church Nicholas then represented the pope in Germany, becoming known as the Hercules of the Eugenian cause.
After a successful career as a papal envoy, he was made a cardinal by Pope Nicholas V in 1448 or 1449, and was named Bishop of Brixen in 1450. See also Antipope Nicholas V. Pope Nicholas V (Italian Niccolò V; November 15, 1397 &ndash March The Bishopric of Brixen (modern Brixen (Bressanone) in what is now the province of Bolzano-Bozen) is a former Roman Catholic Diocese and also His role as papal legate to the German lands included wide travels. A Papal Legate – from the Latin authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the Pope to Foreign nations or to some part of the Catholic His local councils enacted reforms, many of which were not successful. Pope Nicholas cancelled some of Nicholas' decrees, and the effort to discourage pilgrimages to venerate the bleeding hosts of Wilsnack (the so-called Holy Blood of Wilsnack) was unsuccessful. Bad Wilsnack is a town in the Prignitz district in Brandenburg, Germany. The Holy Blood Wilsnack were allegedly miraculous hosts which became the site of medieval Pilgrimages to Bad Wilsnack, Germany. His work as bishop - trying to impose reforms and reclaim lost diocesan revenues - was opposed by Duke Sigismund of Austria. Sigismund of Austria, Duke, then Archduke of Further Austria ( October 26, 1427 &ndash March 4, 1496) was a The duke imprisoned Nicholas in 1460, for which Pope Pius II excommunicated Sigismund and laid an interdict on his lands. Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini ( Latin Aeneas Sylvius; October 18, 1405 &ndash August 14, 1464) Excommunication is a religious Censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community In the Roman Catholic Church, the word interdict (in’tér-dikt usually refers to an Ecclesiastical penalty Nicholas of Cusa was never able to return to his bishopric, however. Sigmund's capitulation in 1464 came a few days after Nicholas's death at Todi in Umbria. Todi is a town and Comune (municipality of the Province of Perugia ( Umbria) in central Italy. Umbria is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. The capital is Perugia.
Upon his death, his body was interred in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome, but was later lost. For other churches of this dedication see St Peter ad Vincula (disambiguation. His monument, with a sculpted image of the cardinal, remains. In accordance with his wishes, his heart rests within the chapel altar at the Cusanusstift in Kues. Cusanusstift (St Nikolaus-Hospital is a historic building in Bernkastel-Kues, Germany. To this charitable institution that he had founded he bequeathed his entire inheritance: it still stands, and serves the purpose Nicholas intended for it, as a home for the aged. The Cusanusstift houses also many of his manuscripts.
Influence on philosophy
Nicholas of Cusa was noted for his deeply mystical writings about Christianity, particularly on the possibility of knowing God with the divine human mind — not possible through mere human means — via "learned ignorance". Mysticism (from the Greek grc μυστικός mystikos, an initiate of a Mystery religion) is the pursuit of communion with identity Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings He was suspected by some of holding pantheistic beliefs, but his writings were never accused of being heretical. Pantheism ( Greek: πάν ( 'pan') = all and θεός ( 'theos') = God it literally means " God is All Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief Most of his mathematical ideas can be found in his essays, De Docta Ignorantia (Of Learned Ignorance), De Visione Dei (On the Vision of God) and On Conjectures. De docta ignorantia (On learned ignorance is a Book on Philosophy and Theology by Nicholas of Cusa (or Nicolaus Cusanus) who finished Theologically, Nicholas anticipated the profound implications of Reformed teaching on the harrowing of Hell (Sermon on Psalm 30:11), followed by Pico della Mirandola, who similarly explained the descensus in terms of Christ’s agony. The Harrowing of Hell is a doctrine in Christian theology referenced in the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed (Quicumque vult, which states that Count Giovanni Pico della Mirandola ( February 24, 1463 - November 17, 1494) was an Italian Renaissance Philosopher.
Nicholas was widely read, and his works were published in the sixteenth century. Nonetheless, there was no Cusan school. Giordano Bruno quoted him; and some thinkers, like Gottfried Leibniz, were thought to have been influenced by him. Giordano Bruno (1548 – February 17, 1600) was an Italian Philosopher best-known as an early proponent of Heliocentrism and Neo-Kantian scholars began studying Nicholas in the nineteenth century, and new editions were begun by the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften in the 1930s. Neo-Kantianism means a revived or modified type of Philosophy along the lines of that laid down by Immanuel Kant in the Eighteenth century or (sometimes Societies and centers dedicated to Cusanus can be found in Japan, Germany, Italy and the United States.
Influence on science
Nicholas is also considered by many to be a genius ahead of his time in the field of science. A genius is a person of great Intelligence or remarkable abilities in a specific subject who shows an exceptional natural capacity of intellect and/or ability especially Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and Giordano Bruno were all aware of the writings of Cusanus as was Johannes Kepler (who called Cusanus 'divinely inspired' in the first paragraph of his first published work). Galileo Galilei (15 February 1564 &ndash 8 January 1642 was a Tuscan ( Italian) Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, and Philosopher Giordano Bruno (1548 – February 17, 1600) was an Italian Philosopher best-known as an early proponent of Heliocentrism and Johannes Kepler (ˈkɛplɚ ( December 27 1571 &ndash November 15 1630) was a German Mathematician, Astronomer Predating Kepler, Cusanus said that no perfect circle can exist in the universe (opposing the Aristotelean model, and also Copernicus' later assumption of circular orbits), thus opening the possibility for Kepler's model featuring elliptical orbits of the planets around the Sun. He also influenced Giordano Bruno by denying the finiteness of the universe and the Earth's exceptional position in it (being not the center of the universe, and in that regard equal in rank with the other stars). He was not, however, describing a scientifically verifiable theory of the universe: his beliefs (which proved uncannily accurate) were based almost entirely on his own personal numerological calculations and metaphysics. Numerology is any of many Systems Traditions or Beliefs in a mystical or Esoteric relationship between Numbers and physical
Cusanus made important contributions to the field of mathematics by developing the concepts of the infinitesimal and of relative motion. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and He was the first to use concave lenses to correct myopia. A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate Axial symmetry which transmits and refracts Light, converging or diverging Myopia (from Greek: μυωπία myopia "near-sightedness" also called near- or short-sightedness, is a refractive defect His writings were essential for Leibniz's discovery of calculus as well as Cantor's later work on infinity. Infinity (symbolically represented with ∞) comes from the Latin infinitas or "unboundedness
From the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913 edition): "The astronomical views of the cardinal are scattered through his philosophical treatises. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia They evince complete independence of traditional doctrines, though they are based on symbolism of numbers, on combinations of letters, and on abstract speculations rather than observation. The earth is a star like other stars, is not the centre of the universe, is not at rest, nor are its poles fixed. The celestial bodies are not strictly spherical, nor are their orbits circular. The difference between theory and appearance is explained by relative motion. Had Copernicus been aware of these assertions he would probably have been encouraged by them to publish his own monumental work. "
Influence on Political Thought
In 1433, Nicholas proposed reform of the Holy Roman Empire and a method to elect Holy Roman Emperors. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in The Holy Roman Emperor (Römischer Kaiser or Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser Romanorum Imperator was the elected monarch ruling over the many varying numbers of states Although it was not adopted by the Church, his method was essentially the same one known today as the Borda count, which is used in many academic institutions, competitions, and even some political jurisdictions, in original form and a number of variations. The Borda count is a single-winner election method in which voters rank candidates in order of preference His proposal preceded Borda's work by over three centuries. Jean-Charles chevalier de Borda ( May 4, 1733 – February 19, 1799) was a French Mathematician, Physicist
Nicholas' opinions on the Empire, which he hoped to reform and strengthen, were cited against papal claims of temporal power in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Protestants writers were happy to cite a cardinal against Rome's pretensions. Protestants, however, found his writings against the Hussites wrong. The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus or John Huss (c Nicholas seemed to give the church too much power to interpret Scripture, instead of treating it as self interpreting and self-sufficient for salvation, the principle of sola scriptura. In Theology, salvation can mean three related things being saved from or Liberation from something such as Suffering or the punishment of Sola scriptura ( Latin ablative, "by scripture alone" is the assertion that the Bible as God's written word is self-authenticating
Bibliography
- Catà, Cesare, "Perspicere Deum. Nicholas of Cusa and the European Art of Fifteenth Century", in "Viator" 39 no. 1 (Spring 2008)
- Bellitto, Christopher (ed. ), Introducing Nicholas of Cusa: A Guide to a Renaissance Man , Paulist Press (2004)
- D'Amico, Claudia, and Machetta, J. (edd. ), El problema del conocimiento en Nicolás de Cusa: genealogía y proyección, EDITORIAL BIBLOS (2004)
- Kazuhiko Yamaki (ed. ), Nicholas of Cusa: A Medieval Thinker for the Modern Age, Routledge, 2001.
- Bond, H. Lawrence, Nicholas of Cusa: Selected Spiritual Writings [Classics of Western Spirituality]. Paulist Press, 2002. ISBN 0809136988
- Sigmund, Paul (ed. ) The Catholic Concordance [Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought]. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
External links
- Translations of numerous philosophical and theological treatises
- Bernkastel-Kues tribute to Nikolaus von Kues
- MacTutor biography, focusing on mathematical achievements
- A biography of Nicholas of Cusa
- Catholic Encyclopedia article on Nicholas of Cusa
- Website of the Cusanusstift (German)
- American Cusanus Society
| Preceded by Johann Röttel |
Bishop of Brixen 1450–1464 |
Succeeded by Georg Golser |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nicholas of Cusa |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Krebs, Nikolaus; Cusanus, Nicolaus; Nicholas of Kues |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, a philosopher, jurist, mathematician, and an astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1401 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kues |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 11, 1464 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Todi |
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