Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was an Italian humanist,...

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was an Italian humanist, philosopher, scholar, Neo-Platonist and writer whose main passion was the reconciliation of philosophy and religion. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was born on the 24th of February 1463 to a wealthy and illustrious family and died on the 17th of November 1494. Being the youngest son of three boys, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was mostly outlived by his elder brothers who took on presumably significant roles; his brother Antonio became an imperial army general while Galeotto 1 continued their father’s dynasty. Leaving behind his share of ancestral wealth and principality, he went on to become one of the world’s respected writers after fully devoting himself to studying theology and†¦show more content†¦He then changed course and went to the University of Ferrara to study philosophy. He then continued his studies from 1480 to 1482 at the University of Padua that was well known for Aristotelianism where he stu died Arabic and Hebrew. He spent the next few years visiting other humanist centers and the University of Paris which was Europe’s most significant center for scholastic theology and philosophy (Craven, 1981). Giovanni’s movement to Florence marked a big change in his life especially regarding his philosophical career. In Florence, around 1484 he met Ficino Marsilio and Lorenzo de’ Medici. Ficino, a renaissance philosopher who was about to publish translations of Plato’s works from Greek to Latin under the supervision of Lorenzo. (Edelheit, 2008). Later on he briefly moved to Perugia where he was introduced to Hebrew Kabbalah. It is this Kabbalistic doctrine he used to support Christian theology becoming the first Christian to do so. After travelling to Rome, Giovanni invited scholars from all over Europe to Rome to debate and defend his 900 theses drawn from Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic writers. 13 of these were however denounced as heretical by a papal commission and prohibited assembly. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola decided to flee to France despite his apologia for the 13 theses where he was arrested. After his release he went back to settle in Florence. He settled in a villa prepared for him by Lorenzo near