By John Monfasani (NHC Fellow, 2011–12) Bessarion (d. 18 November 1472) first made a name for himself as one of the Greek spokesmen at the Council of Ferrara-Florence in 1438-39. After becoming a cardinal, he several times entered conclaves as a serious candidate for the papacy. The library he bequeathed to the Republic of Venice, destined … Continued
By Paul F. Grendler (NHC Fellow, 1988–89; 1989–90) Italian Renaissance universities were Europe's intellectual leaders in humanistic studies, law, medicine, philosophy, and science. Employing some of the foremost scholars of the time—including Pietro Pomponazzi, Andreas Vesalius, and Galileo Galilei—the Italian Renaissance university was the prototype of today's research university. This is the first book in … Continued
By ErasmusEdited by Nelson H. Minnich (NHC Fellow, 2004–05) This new volume of the CWE presents three of Erasmus' polemic works against Alberto Pio, Prince of Carpi. A leading diplomat of the period, patron of artists and humanists, and conservative Catholic, Pio continually angered Erasmus by criticizing him for his denunciations of church practices and … Continued
Translated by Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr. (NHC Fellow, 1981–82; 1982–83) and Laura F. Banfield
By Rona Goffen (NHC Fellow, 1986–87) Giovanni Bellini, a master of the Venetian school of painting, is one of the most important figures in Italian Renaissance art. This lavishly illustrated book is the first major study to consider the artist’s work both stylistically and in its full cultural and historical context. Born in the early … Continued
By John Monfasani (NHC Fellow, 2011–12) Although the immense importance for the Renaissance of Greek émigrés to fifteenth-century Italy has long been recognized, much basic research on the phenomenon remains to be done. This new volume by John Monfasani gathers together fourteen studies filling in some of the gaps in our knowledge. The philosophers George … Continued
Edited and translated by D. Mark Possanza (NHC Fellow, 2015–16) and Dennis Looney Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), one of Italy’s greatest poets, was a leading figure of sixteenth-century Italian humanism. After some years working in the household of Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, to whom he dedicated his dazzling romance epic Orlando Furioso (1516), Ariosto settled in Ferrara under the patronage … Continued
By Timothy Kircher (NHC Fellow, 2007–08) This study evaluates the way Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) assessed humanist moral philosophy in Renaissance Italy. It helps us understand not only the allure of Renaissance humanism, but also its shortcomings, through the writings of a leading humanist of the time. Alberti’s writings employ irony in order to illustrate … Continued
By Thomas Pfau (NHC Fellow, 2010–11) In this brilliant study, Thomas Pfau argues that the loss of foundational concepts in classical and medieval Aristotelian philosophy caused a fateful separation between reason and will in European thought. Pfau traces the evolution and eventual deterioration of key concepts of human agency—will, person, judgment, action—from antiquity through Scholasticism … Continued
By Nicholas of CusaTranslated by Jasper Hopkins (NHC Fellow, 1983–84) Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), sometimes misleadingly referred to as the first "modern" philosopher, was born in Kues, Germany (today Bernkastel-Kues). He became a canon lawyer and a cardinal. His two best-known works are De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) and De Visione Dei (On the Vision of God).