Cusa. Nicholas of
Cusa, Nicholas of
Cardinal, born Cues, Germany, c.1401; died Todi, Umbria, 11 August 1464. At the Council of Basel he labored for a reform of the calendar and the union of Christendom, but upheld the superiority of the council over the pope, though he, as legate to Germany, was particularly noted for his reform work under Nicholas V. In 1450 he was named Bishop of Brixen, but was driven from his see by Sigmund, Count of the Tyrol, who vehemently opposed his attempted reforms. In his philosophy Nicholas of Cusa cast off Aristotelean methods and definitions for deep speculations and mystical forms of his own; in theology, he discussed the Trinity profoundly, and though some have proclaimed his idea of God pantheistic, his writings are all strictly Christian. Among his theological treatises the most famous is “De visione Dei.”
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Cusa. Nicholas of
(1401-1464) Born in Cusa (family nameKrebs), educated in the mystical school of Deventer, and at the Universities of Heidelberg, Padua and Cologne. He became a Cardinal in 1448, Bishop of Brixen in 1450, and died at Todi. He was interested in mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and ecclesiastical policy. His thought is Neo-Platonic and mystical, he is critical of Aristotelian Scholasticism. His theories of “learned ignorance” and the “concordance of contraries” have been historically influential. Chief worksDe concordantia Catholica, De docta ignorantia, De conjecturis (Opera, Paris, 1514). E. Van Steenberghe, Le Card. N. de Cuse,l’action, la pensee (Paris, 1920). — V.J.B.