Giovanni Pico’s Spiritual Writings

• In Event: Philosophical Anthropology in the Renaissance

Abstract

Although the duodecalogues Duodecim Regulae, Duodecim arma spiritualis pugnae, and Duodecim conditiones amantis take a fraction of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s work, they enjoyed great diffusion in the 16th century. They were translated into vernacular languages very early, not only into English by Thomas More at the beginning of the 16th century. There is also a translation into Czech printed in 1520 and later translation into Spanish, both almost unknown for the international scholarship. It was their spiritual content which made them so popular in the Renaissance, and this content, on the other hand, is one of reasons, why they were nearly omitted in modern historiography of Renaissance philosophy. Another reason of their neglect lies in some doubts about their authenticity. This paper will put these writings into the context of Pico’s philosophy as far as spiritual life can be considered as a part of his anthropological thought.

Author

• Tomas Nejeschleba, Palacký University