Cornelis Johannes SCHILT Steven MATTHEWS Abstract. This essay examines the influence of ancient Christian sources on Renaissance thought, particularly on and through the works of Marsilio Ficino and Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples. Conscious and unconscious bias makes that these influences are often overlooked, combined with a general lack of knowledge or understanding of Byzantine Eastern theology. […]
Author: dti
Treading the Path of Prisca Theologia: Ficino’s Christian-Platonic Allure for Pagan Practices
Nicolò CANTONI Demetrios PARASCHOS Abstract. Thanks to the works of Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) in the Renaissance, the idea of an ancient theology of the Gentiles that foreshadowed Christianity spread throughout Europe. Yet, underlying the notion of prisca theologia there was not a single and unified doctrine, but diverse philosophical religious conceptions that can be traced […]
Prisca Philosophia, Prophecy and Politics in Tommaso Campanella
Jean-Paul DE LUCCA Abstract. The article examines the role of prisca philosophia, particularly the Hermetic and Sibylline sources, in Tommaso Campanella’s political thought. It analyses how Campanella employs ancient wisdom in two of his works, Articuli prophetales and Atheismus triumphatus, to buttress his eschatological views and his vision of universal religious and political reformation. […]
The Notion of Fire in the Chaldean Oracles: Classical and Innovative Methods of Lexical Analysis for Mapping Intertextuality
Eszter KOVÁCS Demetrios PARASCHOS Abstract. The article proposes a lexical analysis of the Chaldean Oracles, focusing on fire-related vocabulary, to map its influence on early modern philosophy. The research combines both classical qualitative methods and computational approaches to examine distinctive expressions found in this ancient wisdom text. Particular attention is given to the multifaceted symbolism […]
Developing Veritrace’s Computational Approach to Tracing the Influence of Ancient Wisdom in Early Modern Natural Philosophy
Jeffrey C. WOLF Abstract. This article introduces the computational approach of the VERITRACE project, which aims to trace the influence of ancient wisdom writings on early modern natural philosophy using advanced digital tools. It outlines the project’s scope, data sources, and methodology, combining distant and close reading of a large multilingual, diachronic corpus. The article […]
Happily Ever After? Tracing the Elusive Hermes Trismegistus through Fact and Fiction
Cornelis Johannes SCHILT Abstract. In 1614, eminent scholar Isaac Casaubon refuted the antiquity and authenticity of the Corpus Hermeticum and by consequence its author, Hermes Trismegistus. From that moment on, the Hermetic writings with their supposedly pre-Christian revelations would only be studied by a handful of people on the fringe–or so the story goes. In […]
Prisca Sapientia: Between History, Theology, and Natural Philosophy
Nicolò CANTONI Demetrios PARASCHOS Eszter KOVÁCS Jeffrey Charles WOLF Cornelis Johannes SCHILT Intellectual traditions tell a story about themselves. The story told by the Renaissance concept of prisca sapientia is at once powerful and laden with profound implications for early modern Christianity, natural philosophy, and humans’ place in the cosmos. Scattered through the writings of […]
Intelligence Studies and Western Historiography
Francesco SIDOTI Abstract. Intelligence is a typically Western word that refers to the specific history of Western rationalism. Intelligence structures inherit this rationalism, which has been applied to every sector of life and nature. Along with various other factors, Western hegemony has been the masterpiece of intelligence superiority. For centuries, Western intelligence was conducted in […]
Intelligence Sources and the Revisionist Reassessment of the Catholic Question in Anglo-Spanish Relations (1570–1600) Through a Case Study of Jesuit Propaganda
Vittoria FEOLA Abstract. This study reinterprets the ‘Catholic question’ in AngloSpanish relations between 1570 and 1600 through the analytical lens of intelligence history. By examining both English and Continental espionage networks, directed by Francis Walsingham, William Cecil and their Spanish counterparts, such as Bernardino de Mendoza and Robert Persons, this essay challenges the traditional depiction […]
From Crusader to Realist: Revisiting the First Decades of Philip II’s English Strategy
Giulia MARCOLINI Abstract. This article aims to revisit Philip II’s policy toward Elizabethan England, arguing that it was guided primarily by geopolitical pragmatism rather than a messianic Catholic crusade. Traditional historiography has represented the Spanish monarch as the quintessential defender of the faith, emphasizing his alleged zeal to reconvert England and his support for English […]