-
Lorenzo Valla · 1431 · Treatise
Lorenzo Valla's De voluptate emerged from the humanist circles of fifteenth-century Italy as a provocative challenge to medieval scholastic ethics. Writing in 1431, the Italian scholar and priest crafted this philosophical dialogue…
-
Unity and Reform Unity and Reform: Selected Writings of Nicholas de Cusa
Nicholas of Cusa · 1433–1464 · Book
This collection gathers key writings from Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), the German cardinal, philosopher, and mystic who lived through one of the most turbulent periods in church history. Writing during the Great…
Free
-
Lorenzo Valla · 1439 · Treatise
Lorenzo Valla's Dialecticae disputationes emerged from his broader humanist project to reform medieval scholastic philosophy through rigorous philological and logical analysis. Writing in the early fifteenth century, Valla witnessed the dominance of…
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1440 · Treatise
Nicholas of Cusa's De docta ignorantia, completed in 1440, emerged from his profound engagement with the theological and philosophical crises of the late medieval period. As a cardinal, diplomat, and mathematician, Nicholas…
-
Lorenzo Valla · 1440 · Treatise
Lorenzo Valla's devastating critique of the Donation of Constantine stands as one of the most influential works of textual criticism in Western history. Written in 1440, this treatise emerged during a period…
Free
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1441 · Treatise
Nicholas of Cusa composed this treatise in 1441 as a companion to his earlier De docta ignorantia, developing further his revolutionary approach to the relationship between human knowledge and divine truth. Writing…
-
Lorenzo Valla · 1442 · Treatise
Lorenzo Valla's treatise on religious profession emerged from his fierce criticism of monastic corruption in fifteenth-century Italy. Writing in 1442 as a humanist scholar and papal secretary, Valla targeted what he saw…
-
Lorenzo Valla · 1444 · Treatise
Lorenzo Valla's Elegantiae linguae Latinae emerged from the humanist conviction that the recovery of classical Latin was essential to both scholarly integrity and spiritual renewal. Writing in the 1440s, Valla observed that…
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1445 · Treatise
Nicholas of Cusa wrote this treatise on divine sonship in 1445, during his most productive period as a cardinal and theological innovator. The work emerged from his broader project of reconciling human…
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1445 · Treatise
Written in 1445 as a letter to the monks of Tegernsee Abbey, Nicholas of Cusa's "On Seeking God" responds to their request for guidance on the mystical path. The German cardinal and…
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1453 · Treatise
Nicholas of Cusa wrote this treatise in 1453, the same year Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire. The collapse of the Byzantine capital sent shockwaves through Christian Europe and intensified existing tensions…
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1453 · Treatise
The Vision of God emerged from Nicholas of Cusa's profound engagement with the mystical tradition and his revolutionary approach to understanding divine knowledge. Written in 1453 as a guide for the monks…
Free
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1458 · Treatise
Written in 1458 during Nicholas of Cusa's later years as a cardinal and seasoned philosopher, De mathematica perfectione represents his mature reflection on the relationship between mathematical reasoning and divine truth. The…
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1458 · Treatise
Nicholas of Cusa wrote this treatise in 1458 as part of his sustained effort to reconcile human knowledge with divine mystery through philosophical theology. The beryl, a transparent crystal used for reading…
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1460 · Treatise
Nicholas of Cusa's De possest, completed in 1460, stands as one of his most philosophically sophisticated explorations of divine nature and human knowledge. Writing in the mature phase of his intellectual career…
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1462 · Treatise
Written in 1462 during Nicholas of Cusa's final years as cardinal-bishop of Brixen, De li non aliud (On the Not-Other) represents the culmination of his philosophical theology. The treatise emerged from Cusanus's…
-
Nicholas of Cusa · 1463 · Treatise
Nicholas of Cusa's "The Hunt for Wisdom" represents the culmination of his philosophical and theological career, written in 1463 as he approached death. The treatise emerged from his decades of wrestling with…
-
Poems Poems of Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola · 1490–1498 · Poem
Girolamo Savonarola's poems emerged from his years as a Dominican friar and reformer in late fifteenth-century Florence, written during his rise to prominence as a fiery preacher calling for moral and ecclesiastical…
Free
-
Girolamo Savonarola · 1494–1498 · Treatise
Savonarola composed these meditations on the Miserere during his final years as prior of San Marco in Florence, as his prophetic ministry faced mounting opposition from Pope Alexander VI and the city's…
Free
-
Girolamo Savonarola · 1495 · Treatise
The Compendium Revelationum is Savonarola's systematic account of the visions and prophecies he claimed to receive during his years as prior of San Marco in Florence. Written in 1495 at the height…
-
Girolamo Savonarola · 1495 · Letter
Written in 1495 during the height of Savonarola's influence in Florence, this letter emerges from the Dominican friar's passionate campaign to reform both church and society. Savonarola penned this work amid his…
-
Girolamo Savonarola · 1496 · Treatise
Written in 1496 during Savonarola's tumultuous final years as Florence's dominant religious voice, this treatise emerged from his conviction that all human knowledge must serve divine purposes. As the Dominican friar faced…
-
Girolamo Savonarola · 1496 · Treatise
Written in 1496 during the height of Savonarola's influence in Florence, this treatise emerged from the Dominican friar's urgent conviction that the Christian life had been corrupted by worldly complexity and ecclesiastical…
-
Girolamo Savonarola · 1496–1497 · Sermon
These sermons on the prophets Amos and Zechariah emerged from Girolamo Savonarola's pulpit ministry at San Marco in Florence during the tumultuous years of 1496-1497. Delivered as the Dominican friar's conflict with…
