Cremonini, Cesare

Abstract

In the complex scenario of the Aristotelian tradition during the second part of the sixteenth century in Italy, Cesare Cremonini is a philosopher who shows a really interesting profile both in his life and in his works. His activity as a university professor took place in two important cities of the Italian Renaissance, Ferrara and Padua, two cruxes in the multifaceted network of centers and peripheries (Burke, Peter, The European renaissance. Centres and peripheries, Wiley, Oxford, 1998), where many aspects of early modernity culture were rooted. Furthermore, owing to the specific history of the University of Padua, Cremonini’s life is also interwoven with the important city of Venice, the Republic guarantor of a greater degree of freedom, and the scenario of rising libertinism. In the existential and intellectual biography of Cremonini, we see the presence of relevant topics such as: the immortality of the soul, the role of experience in learning, the question of method, and the delicate issue of libertas philosophandi. After a long period in which Cremonini’s contribution to Renaissance philosophy was confined to an over-easy contraposition with the revolutionary thought of Galileo Galilei (Renan, Ernest, Averroès et l’averroïsme: Essai historique, Librairie Auguste Durand, Paris, 1852; Mabilleau, Léopold, Étude historique sur la philosophie de la Renaissance en Italie (Cesare Cremonini), Librairie Hachette et C, Paris, 1881; Berti, Domenico, Di Cesare Cremonino e della sua controversia con l’Inquisizione di Padova e di Roma. Nota. In Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Serie 3a, Memorie della Classe di Scienze morali, storiche e filologiche, Vol. II, Salviucci, Roma, seduta del 15 aprile 1877), the last two decades have shown a new interest for this philosopher (Khun, Heinrich C, Venetischer Aristotelismus in Ende der aristotelischen Welt. Aspekte der Welt und des Denkens des Cesare Cremonini (1550–1631), Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, 1996; Poppi, Antonino, Cremonini e Galilei inquisiti a Padova nel 1604. Nuovi documenti d’archivio, Editrice Antenore, Padova, 1992; Poppi, Antonino, Ricerche sulla teologia e la scienza nella Scuola padovana del Cinque e Seicento, Rubettino, Soveria Mannelli, 2001; Muir, Edward, The culture wars of the late renaissance. Skeptics, libertines, and opera, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA/London, 2007).