Nicholas of Cusa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Cusa[08/16/2014 10:59:12 PM]

Nicholas of Cusa
Nicholas of Cusa
Nicholas of Cusa, by Master of the Life of the
Virgin
Born 1401
Kues, Electorate of Trier,
Holy Roman Empire
Died 11 August 1464
Todi, Umbria,
Papal States
Other names "Nicolaus Chrypffs", "Nicholas
of Kues", "Nicolaus Cusanus"
Era Medieval philosophy,
Renaissance philosophy
Region Western philosophy
Influences
Influenced
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Cusa" redirects here. For other uses, see CUSA (disambiguation).
"Cusanus" redirects here. For the lunar crater, see Cusanus (crater).
Nicholas of Kues (1401 August 11, 1464), also
referred to as Nicolaus Cusanus and Nicholas of
Cusa, was a German philosopher , theologian , jurist,
and astronomer . One of the first German proponents of
Renaissance humanism, he made spiritual and political
contributions in European history. A notable example of
this is his mystical or spiritual writings on "learned
ignorance," as well as his participation in power struggles
between Rome and the German states of the Holy
Roman Empire.
Papal legate to Germany from 1446, he was appointed
cardinal for his merits by Pope Nicholas V in 1448 and
PrinceBishop of Brixen two years later. In 1459 he
became vicar general in the Papal States .
Contents [hide]
1 Life
2 Works
3 Philosophy
4 Science and Mathematics
5 Politics
6 Nicholas and other religions
7 See also
8 References
9 Modern editions
10 Further reading
11 External links
Life [edit]
Nicholas of Cusa or Kues (Latinized as "Cusa") was the
second of four children of J ohan Krebs (or Cryfftz) and
Katherina Roemer. His father was "a prosperous boat owner
and ferryman."
[1]
He entered the Faculty of Arts of the
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Cusa
Nicholas of Cusa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Cusa[08/16/2014 10:59:12 PM]
Birthplace in Kues
Heidelberg University in 1416 as "a cleric of the Diocese of
Trier", studying the liberal arts . He seemed to have left
Heidelberg soon afterwards, as he received his doctorate in
canon law from the University of Padua in 1423. In Padua, he
met with the later cardinals J ulian Cesarini and Domenico
Capranica and became friends with the mathematician Paolo
dal Pozzo Toscanelli. Afterwards, he entered the University of
Cologne in 1425 as "a doctor of canon law," which he appears to have both taught and practiced there. In
Cologne, he made friends with the scholastic theologian Heymeric de Campo .
Following a brief period in Cologne, Nicholas returned to his hometown and became secretary to Otto of
Ziegenhain, the PrinceArchbishop of Trier . Otto appointed him canon and dean at the stift of Saint
Florinus in Koblenz affiliated with numerous prebends . In 1427 he was sent to Rome as an episcopal
delegate. The next year he travelled to Paris to study the writings of Ramon Llull. At the same time he
rejected a calling by the newly established University of Leuven . He acquired great knowledge in the
research of ancient and medival manuscripts as well as in textual criticism and the examination of
primary sources . In 1433 he identified the Donation of Constantine as a fake, confirmed by Lorenzo Valla
a few years later, and revealed the forgery of the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals. He made friends with the
Austrian astronomer Georg von Peuerbach and advocated a reform of the J ulian calendar and the Easter
computus , which, however, was not realized until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582.
After the Archbishop Otto of Trier had died in 1430, Pope Martin V appointed the Speyer bishop Raban of
Helmstatt his successor. Nevertheless the Electorate was contested by opposing parties, and in 1432
Nicholas attended the Council of Basel representing the Cologne dean Ulrich von Manderscheid, one of the
claimants,
[2]
who hoped to prevail against the new Pope Eugene IV. Nicholas stressed the determining
influence of the cathedral chapter and its given right to participate in the succession policy, which even
places the pope under an obligation to seek a consent. His efforts were to no avail in regard to Ulrich's
ambitions; however, Nicholas' pleadings earned him a great reputation as an intermediary and diplomat.
While present at the council, he wrote his first work, De concordantia catholica (The Catholic
Concordance), 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.
[3]
Initially as conciliarist, Nicholas approached to his university friend Cardinal J ulian Cesarini, who had tried
to reconcile pope and council, combining reform and hierarchic order. Nicholas supported transfer of the
council to Italy to meet with the Greeks, who needed aid against the Ottoman Turks . He arbitrated in the
conflict with the Hussites . Between the summer of 1437 and early 1438 he was a member of the delegation
sent to Constantinople with the pope's approval to bring back the Byzantine emperor and his representatives
to the papally summoned Council of Florence of 1439, which was attempting to bring the Eastern Orthodox
Church into union with the Western Catholic Church . The reunion achieved at this conference turned out to
be very brief. Nicholas would later claim (in the postfaced dedicatory letter of On Learned Ignorance,
which Nicholas finished writing on 12 February 1440) that he had chosen to write on this metaphysical
topic because of a shipboard experience of divine illumination while on the ship returning from this mission
to Constantinople.
After a successful career as a papal envoy, he was made a cardinal by Pope Nicholas V in 1448 or 1449. In
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Nicholas of Cusa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Cusa[08/16/2014 10:59:12 PM]
Tomb in S.Pietro in Vincoli, Rome,
with the relief "Cardinal Nicholas before
St Peter" by Andrea Bregno
1450 he was both named Bishop of Brixen , in Tyrol, and commissioned as a papal legate to the German
lands to spread the message of reform. This latter role, his 'Great Legation' of 1450-2, involved travel of
almost 3000 miles, preaching, teaching and reforming. He became known as the Hercules of the
Eugenian cause.
[4]
His local councils enacted reforms, many of which were not successful. Pope
Nicholas canceled 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. His work as bishop
between 1452 and 1458 trying to impose reforms and reclaim lost diocesan revenues was opposed by
Duke Sigismund of Austria. The duke imprisoned Nicholas in 1460, for which Pope Pius II
excommunicated Sigismund and laid an interdict on his lands. Nicholas of Cusa returned to Rome, but
was never able to return to his bishopric.
He died at Todi on 11 August 1464. Sigmund's capitulation in 1464 came a few days after Nicholas's death
at Todi in Umbria.
[5]
Upon his death, Cusanus's body was interred in the church of
San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome, probably near the relice of
Peter's chains; but it was later lost. His monument, with a
sculpted image of the cardinal, remains. Two other
tombstones, one medieval and one modern, also are found in
the church. In accordance with his wishes, his heart rests
within the chapel altar at the Cusanusstift in Kues. 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.[1]
Nicholas was widely read, and his works were published in the
sixteenth century in both Paris and Basel. Sixteenth-century French scholars, including J acques Lefvre
d'taples and Charles de Bovelles, cited him. Lefvre even edited the Paris 1514 Opera.
[6]
Nonetheless,
there was no Cusan school, and his works were largely unknown until the nineteenth century, though
Giordano Bruno quoted him, while some thinkers, like Gottfried Leibniz, were thought to have been
influenced by him.
[7]
Neo-Kantian scholars began studying Nicholas in the nineteenth century, and new
editions were begun by the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften in the 1930s and published by
Felix Meiner Verlag [2] .
[8]
In the early twentieth century, he was hailed as the 'first modern thinker',
[9]
and much debate since then has centered around the question whether he should be seen as essentially a
medieval or Renaissance figure. Societies and centers dedicated to Cusanus can be found in Argentina,
J apan , Germany, Italy and the United States.
Works [edit]
Nicholas of Cusa wrote a large number of works, which include:
De auctoritate praesidendi in concilio generali (1434), a proposal for resolving the question of
presidency over the deliberations of the Council of Basil.
De concordantia catholica (The Catholic Concordance) (1434), a synthesis of ideas on church and
empire balancing hierarchy with consent.
[10]
Reparatio kalendarii (1434/5), a plan for reforming the church's calendar.
De Docta ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) (1440).
[11]
De coniecturis (On Conjectures) (1441-2)
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Dialogus concludens Amedistarum errorem (1441), an ecclesiological explanation of his papal
advocacy.
De Deo abscondito (On the Hidden God) (1444/5)
[11]
De quaerendo Deum (On Seeking God) (1445)
[11]
De date patris luminum (On the Gift of the Father of Lights (1445/6)
De transmutationibus geometricis
De arithmetricis complementis (1445)
De filiatione Dei (On Divine Sonship)
De genesi (On Genesis)
Apologia doctae ignorantiae (The Defense of Learned Ignorance) (1449), a response to charges of
heresy and pantheism by the Heidelberg scholastic theologian J ohn Wenck in a work entitled De ignota
litteratura (On Unknown Learning).
[12]
Idiota de mente (The Layman on Mind) (1450). This is formed of four dialogues: De Sapientia I-II,
De Mente III, and De staticis experimentis IV.
De visione Dei (On the Vision of God) (1453), completed at the request of the monks of the
Benedictine abbey at Tegernsee .
De pace fidei (1453), written in response to the news of the fall of Constantinople to the Turks.
De theologicis complementis, in which he pursued his continuing fascination with theological
applications of mathematical models.
Caesarea circuli quadratura (1457)
De beryllo (On the Beryl) (1458), a brief epistemological treatise using a beryl or transparent stone as
the crucial analogy.
De aequalitate (1459)
De principio (1459)
Reformatio generalis, (1459) a treatise on the general reform of the church, written at the request of
Pope Pius II , but generally ignored by the Pope and cardinals.
[12]
De possest (1460)
Cribratio Alkorani, a Christocentric evaluation of the Koran written at the request of Pope Pius II ,
based on the twelfth-century translation of Robert of Ketton .
De non aliud (On the Not-Other) (1462)
De venatione Dei (1462)
De ludo globi (1463)
Conpendium (1463)
De mathematicis complementis
De apice theoriae (On the Summit of Contemplation) (1464), his last work.
[11]
Philosophy [edit]
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". Cusanus wrote of the enfolding of creation in God and their unfolding in creation. He
was suspected by some of holding pantheistic beliefs, but his writings were never accused of being
heretical .
[13]
Physicist and philosopher Max Bernhard Weinstein wrote that Nicholas was, to a certain
extent, a Pandeist .
[14]
Nicholas also wrote in De coniecturis about using conjectures or surmises to rise to
better understanding of the truth. The individual might rise above mere reason to the vision of the intellect,
Nicholas of Cusa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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but the same person might fall back from such vision.
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 Christs agony.
Science and Mathematics [edit]
Most of Nicholas of Cusa's 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. He also wrote on
squaring the circle in his mathematical treatises.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913 edition):
The astronomical views of the cardinal are scattered through his philosophical treatises. 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.
[15]
Like Nicole Oresme , Nicholas of Cusa also wrote about the possibility of the plurality of worlds.
[16][17]
Norman Moore , M.D., tells us in The Fitz-Patrick Lectures of 1905:
In medicine he introduced an improvement which in an altered form has continued in use to
this day. This improvement was the counting of the pulse which up to his time had been felt
and discussed in many ways but never counted. ...Nicholas of Cusa proposed to compare the
rate of pulses by weighing the quantity of water run out of a water clock while the pulse beat
one hundred times. ...The manufacture of watches with second-hands has since given us a
simpler method of counting, but the merit of introducing this useful kind of observation into
clinical medicine belongs to Nicholas of Cusa.
[18]
Politics [edit]
In 1433, Nicholas proposed reform of the Holy Roman Empire and a method to elect Holy Roman
Emperors. 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. His proposal preceded Borda's work by
over three centuries.
[19]
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. Protestant writers were happy to cite a
cardinal against Rome's pretensions. Protestants, however, found his writings against the Hussites wrong.
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 .
[20]
Nicholas' own thought on the church changed with his departure from Basel. He tried arguing that the Basel
assembly lacked the consent of the church throughout the world, especially the princes. Then he tried
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arguing that the church was unfolded from Peter (explicatio Petri).
[21]
This allowed him to support the
pope without abandoning ideas of reform. Thus he was able to propose to Pius II reform of the church,
beginning with the pope himself. Then it was to spread through the Roman curia and outward throughout
Christendom.
[22]
Nicolas of Cusa noted that government was founded on the consent of the governed :
Accordingly, since by nature all men are free, any authority by which subjects are prevented from doing
evil and their freedom is restrained to doing good through fear from penalties, comes solely from
harmony and from the consent of the subjects, whether the authority reside in written law or in the
living law which is in the ruler. For if by nature men are equally strong and equally free, the true and
settled power of one over the others, the ruler having equal natural power, could be set up only by the
choice and consent of the others, just as a law also is set up by consent.
[23][24]
Nicholas and other religions [edit]
Shortly after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Nicholas wrote De pace fidei, On the Peace of Faith.
This visionary work imagined a summit meeting in Heaven of representatives of all nations and religions.
Islam and the Hussite movement in Bohemia are represented. The conference agrees that there can be
una religio in varietate rituum, a single faith manifested in different rites, as manifested in the eastern and
western rites of the Catholic Church . The dialog presupposes the greater accuracy of Christianity but gives
respect to other religions.
[25]
Less irenic but not virulent, is Cusanus' Cribratio Alchorani, Sifting the
Koran, a detailed review of the Koran in Latin translation. While the arguments for the superiority of
Christianity are still shown in this book, it also credits J udaism and Islam with sharing in the truth at least
partially.
[26]
Cusanus' attitude toward the J ews was not always mild; on September 21, 1451 he ordered that J ews of
Arnhem were to wear badges identifying them as such. The De pace fidei mentions the possibility that the
J ews might not embrace the larger union of una religio in varietate rituum, but it dismisses them as
politically insignificant. This matches the decrees from Cusanus' legation restricting J ewish activities,
restrictions later canceled by Pope Nicholas V .
[27]
See also [edit]
List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
Universit degli Studi Niccol Cusano
73700 von Kues
I know that I know nothing
References [edit]
1. ^ Donald F. Duclow, "Life and Works", in Christopher M. Bellitto, Thomas M. Izbicki, Gerald
Christianson (Eds.), Introducing Nicholas of Cusa, A Guide to a Renaissance Man, Paulist Press,
2004, p25
2. ^ Donald F. Duclow, "Life and Works", in Christopher M. Bellitto, Thomas M. Izbicki, Gerald
Christianson (Eds.), Introducing Nicholas of Cusa, A Guide to a Renaissance Man, Paulist Press,
2004, pp. 25-56 at pp. 26-29.
3. ^ Paul E. Sigmund, Nicholas of Cusa and Medieval Political Thought, Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1963.
4. ^ Duclow, "Life and Works," pp. 29-38.
Nicholas of Cusa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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5. ^ Duclow, "Life and Works," pp. 38-48.
6. ^ The Prefatory Epistles of Jacques Lefvre D'Etaples and Related Texts, ed. Eugene F. Rice,
New York: Columbia University Press, 1972; P. M. Sanders, "Charles de Bovelle's Treatise on
Regular Polyhedra," Annals of Science 41 (1984): 513-566.
7. ^ Leo Ctana, "The Meaning of contractio in Giordano Bruno's Sigillus sigillorum." In Giordano
Bruno: Philosopher of the Renaissance, ed. Hilary Gatti, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2002, pp. 327-341;
Thomas P. McTighe, "Nicholas of Cusa and Leibniz's Principle of Indiscernibility," The Modern
Schoolman 42 (1964): 33-46.
8. ^ Morimichi Watanabe, "The origins of modern Cusanus research in Germany and the
establishment of the Heidelberg Opera Omnia," in Nicholas of Cusa: In Search of God and
Wisdom: Essays in Honor of Morimichi Watanabe by the American Cusanus Society, ed. Gerald
Christianson and Thomas M. Izbicki (Leiden: Brill, 1991), pp. 17-42.
9. ^ Ernst Cassirer, Individuum und Kosmos in der Philosophie der Renaissance, (1927).
10. ^ English translation in De concordantia catholica (The Catholic Concordance), tr. P Sigmund,
Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought, (Cambridge: CUP, 1991).
11. ^
a

b

c

d
English translation in Bond, H. Lawrence (ed.), Nicholas of Cusa: Selected Spiritual
Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York: Paulist Press, 1997).
12. ^
a

b
Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p435.
13. ^ J asper Hopkins, Nicholas of Cusa's Debate with John Wenck: A Translation and an Appraisal of
De Ignota Litteratura and Apologia Doctae Ignorantiae , 3rd ed., (Minneapolis, MN: Banning,
1988).
14. ^ Max Bernhard Weinsten, Welt- und Lebensanschauungen, Hervorgegangen aus Religion,
Philosophie und Naturerkenntnis ("World and Life Views, Emerging From Religion, Philosophy and
Nature") (1910), page 306: "Er ist bis zu einem gewissen Grade Pandeist. Gott schafft die Welt nur
aus sich (de nullo alio creat, sed ex se); indem er alles umfat, entfaltet er alles aus sich, ohne
doch sich dabei irgend zu verndern."
15. ^ Hagen, J . (1911). "Nicholas of Cusa" . The Catholic Encyclopedia 11. Robert Appleton
Company. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
16. ^ Dick, Steven J . Plurality of Worlds: The Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Democritus to Kant.
Cambridge University Press (J une 29, 1984). pgs 35-42.
17. ^ "Medieval & Renaissance Astronomy", Australia Telescope National Facility. Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Retrieved from
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/cosmicengine/renaissanceastro.html on
March 14, 2014.
18. ^ Moore, Norman, M.D. "The Fitz-Patrick Lectures for 1905" . The Lancet, Vol.2, Part 2, p.1525
(Oct-Dec, 1905). J . Onwhyn. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
19. ^ Gunter Hagele and Friedrich Pukelsheim, "The electoral systems of Nicholas of Cusa in the
Catholic Concordance and beyond," in The Church, the Councils, & Reform: The Legacy of the
Fifteenth Century, ed. Gerald Christianson, Thomas M. Izbicki and Christopher M. Bellitto,
Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2008, pp. 229-249.
20. ^ Thomas M. Izbicki, "'Their Cardinal Cusanus': Nicholas of Cusa in Tudor and Stuart polemics," in
Izbicki, Reform, Ecclesiology, and the Christian Life in the Late Middle Ages, Aldershott: Variorum,
2008, IX, pp. 1-30.
21. ^ Izbicki, "The Church," in Introducing Nicholas of Cusa, pp. 113-140.
22. ^ Morimichi Watanabe and Thomas M. Izbicki, Nicholas of Cusa: A General Reform of the
Church, in Nicholas of Cusa on Christ and the Church: Essays in Memory of Chandler McCuskey
Brooks for the American Cusanus Society, ed. Gerald Christianson and Thomas M. Izbicki
(Leiden: E. J . Brill, 1996), pp. 175-202.
23. ^ De concordantia catholica II xiv
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24. ^ George Holland Sabine (1937) A History of Political Theory, p 319, Holt, Reinhart and Winston
25. ^ Thomas P. McTighe, "Nicholas of Cusa's Unity-Metaphysics and the Formula Religio una in
rituum varietate", in Gerald Christianson and Thomas M. Izbicki (edd.), Nicholas of Cusa in Search
of God and Wisdom: Essays in Honor of Morimichi Watanabe by the American Cusanus Society,
ed. Gerald Christianson and Thomas M. Izbicki (Leiden: Brill, 1991), pp. 161-172.
26. ^ J asper Hopkins, The Role of Pia Interpretatio in Nicholas of Cusas Hermeneutical Approach to
the Koran, in Gregorio Piaia ed., Concordia discors: Studi su Niccol Cusano e lumanesimo
europeo offerti a Giovanni Santinello Padua: Antenore, 1993, pp. 251-273.
27. ^ Thomas M. Izbicki, "Nicholas of Cusa and the J ews," in Conflict and Reconciliation: Perspectives
on Nicholas of Cusa, ed. Inigo Bocken, Leiden: Brill, 2004, 119-130.
Modern editions [edit]
Opera omnia, ed. E Hoffmann et al., (Hamburg: Felix Meiner, 1932-2006) [The modern critical
edition, begun under the editorship of Ernst Hoffmann and Raymond Klibansky ]
Acta Cusana, ed Erich Muethen and Hermann Hallauer, (1976-) [A series designed to publish all extant
documents, letters, deeds and other materials in which Cusanus and his activities are mentioned]
On Learned Ignorance, tr. J Hopkins, (Minneapolis, MN: Banning, 1985)
J asper Hopkins, Nicholas of Cusa's Dialectical Mysticism: Text, Translation, and Interpretive
Study of De Visione Dei , (Minneapolis, MN: Banning, 1985)
Dialectical Mysticism, tr. J Hopkins, (Minneapolis, MN: Banning, 1988)
De auctoritate praesidendi in concilio generali, tr. HL Bond et al., Church History 59, (1990), 19-
34
De concordantia catholica (The Catholic Concordance), tr. P Sigmund, Cambridge Texts in the
History of Political Thought, (Cambridge: CUP, 1991)
A Miscellany on Nicholas of Cusa, tr. J Hopkins, (Minneapolis, MN: Banning, 1994)
On Wisdom and Knowledge, tr. J Hopkins, (Minneapolis, MN: Banning, 1996)
Metaphysical Speculations, tr. J Hopkins, 2 vols, (Minneapolis, MN: Banning, 1997-2000) [Contains
translations of: Vol 1: De apice theoria; Vol 2: De Coniecturis and De Ludo Globi]
Bond, H. Lawrence (ed.), Nicholas of Cusa: Selected Spiritual Writings, Classics of Western
Spirituality, (New York: Paulist Press, 1997). ISBN 0-8091-3698-8 [Contains translations of On
Learned Ignorance, Dialogue on the Hidden God, On Seeking God, On the Vision of God, and
On the Summit of Contemplation.]
Hopkins, J asper (ed.), Complete philosophical and theological treatises of Nicholas of Cusa, 2
vols., (Minneapolis: AJ Banning Press, 2001)
Izbicki, Thomas M., ed., Nicholas of Cusa, Writings on Church and Reform, (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 2008).
Further reading [edit]
English language
Beierwaltes, Werner , 'Cusanus and Eriugena', Dionysius, 13 (1989), 115-152.
Bellitto, Christopher, Thoma M Izbicki and Gerald Christianson, eds, Introducing Nicholas of Cusa: A
Guide to a Renaissance Man, (New York: Paulist Press, 2004).
Cat, Cesare, 'Perspicere Deum. Nicholas of Cusa and the European Art of Fifteenth Century', Viator 39
no. 1 (Spring 2008).
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Cusa[08/16/2014 10:59:12 PM]
[show] V T E
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Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Nikolaus
von Kues.
McGinn, Bernard, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), pp432483.
Meuthen, Erich, Nicholas of Cusa: A Sketch for a Biography. (Washington, DC: The Catholic
University of America Press, 2010).
Miller, C. Lee, Reading Cusanus: Metaphor and Dialectic in a Conjectural Universe,
(Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2003).
Yamaki, Kazuhiko, ed., Nicholas of Cusa: A Medieval Thinker for the Modern Age, (Routledge,
2001).
Foreign language
Cat, Cesare, 'La Croce e l'Inconcepibile. Il pensiero di Nicola Cusano tra filosofia e predicazione',
EUM, Macerata (2009).
D'Amico, Claudia, and Machetta, J ., eds, 'El problema del conocimiento en Nicols de Cusa: genealoga
y proyeccin', Editorial Biblos , (2004).
Flasch, Kurt, Nikolaus von Kues: Geschichte einer Entwicklung , (Georg Olms Verlag: 1998).
Hoff, J ohannes , Kontingenz, Berhrung, berschreitung. Zur philosophischen Propdeutik christlicher
Mystik nach Nikolaus von Kues, (Alber: Freiburg/Br. 2007) [ Contingency, Tangency, Transgression. A
Philosophical Propaedeutics of Christian Mysticism subsequent to Nicholas of Cusa]
J aspers, Karl , Nikolaus Cusanus , (Mnchen, 1964).
Kern, Ralf, Wissenschaftliche Instrumente in ihrer Zeit , 4 Bde. (Kln: Walther Koenig, 2010).
Kijewska, Agnieszka, Roman Majeran, Harald Schwaetzer (ds), Eriugena Cusanus . (Lublin, 2011).
External links [edit]
Bernkastel-Kues tribute to Nikolaus von Kues
MacTutor biography, focusing on mathematical
achievements
A biography of Nicholas of Cusa
Chronological list of the works of Nicholas of Cusa
Catholic Encyclopedia article on Nicholas of Cusa
Website of the Cusanusstift (German)
American Cusanus Society
Cusanus-Portal (DFG-Project by the Institut fuer Cusanus-Forschung and the Center for Digital
Humanities at the university of Trier with a digitized version of the Opera Omnia, the critical edition
of the Latin texts from Nicholas of Cusa, published by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, with the
English translations of J asper Hopkins, several German translations, a German encyclopedia and an
international bibliography)
J asper Hopkins, Ph.D. has produced English translations with some commentary of much of
Nicholas's work. PDF versions are available at this site.
Cusa's Peace of Faith
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Bishop of Brixen
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