Ficino, Pico and Savonarola : the evolution of humanist theology 1461/2-1498

This book presents a study of humanism, theology, and politics in Florence during the last decades of the fifteenth century. It considers the relations between humanists and theologians and between humanism and religion. Modern scholarship on humanism has not taken sufficient account of the deep interest shown by Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) in theology and religion. This book presents a detailed and innovative account of Ficino’s De Christiana religione (1474) and of Pico’s Apologia (1487), in the context of explaining the evolution of a humanist theology. The book ends with a consideration of the stormy events of the 1490s, when Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) became a leading spiritual and political figure in Florentine public life.