Abstract
Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464), also known as Nicolaus Cusanus, was not an abstract thinker whose work was detached from the real world, rather he was an influential politico-religious figure, who not only thought through and interpreted the social and normative world of Christian life but also played a decisive role in shaping it. He lived and worked in a time defined by a fragile ecclesiastical order marked by crises of schism, conciliarism, and Hussitism, which influenced his work as much as the struggle for the survival of spiritual power against secular sovereignty. From 1432 to 1437 he worked on the Council of Basel as a brilliant young lawyer and then in the 1440s worked on the German Diets. He then ascended to Cardinal and Bishop of Brixen, and in 1458, under Pius II, he became one of the most influential Curia Cardinals. At that same time, Cusa was involved in a conflict with the powerful Duke Sigismund of Austria-Tyrol, causing disruption both politically and mediaistically throughout Europe.
Originally published in Mortimer Sellers and Stephan Kirste, Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, © Springer Nature B.V. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_755-1.
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Woelki, T. (2023). Cusa, Nicholas of. In: Zanetti, G., Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Handbook of the History of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Studies in the History of Law and Justice, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19542-6_18
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