Nicholas of Cusa,

Nicholas of Cusa:  born 1401 in Bernkastel-Kues; died 11 August 1464 in Todi.
Papal Vicar, Papal Legate, Cardinal, Prince-bishop, Diplomat, Lawyer,
Mathematician, Astronomer,
Humanist, Theologian, Philosopher,  Historian.

The American Cusanus Society by Thomas Izbicki;  includes description of the society, links to members, links to other sites, and a list of Cusanus' writings and translations. Very good starting point for resources and contacts.

Jasper Hopkins; that scholar's personal page with downloadable translations into English of De Docta Ignorantia; De Coniecturus; De Deo Abscondito; De Quaerendo Deum; De Filiatione Dei; De Dato Patris Luminum; De Genesi; De Ignota Litteratura (Wenck); Apologia Doctae Ignorantiae; De Sapientia; De Mente; De Staticis Experimentis; De Pace Fidei; De Visione Dei; De Theologicis Complementis; De Beryllo; De Aequalitate; De Principio; De Possest; Cribratio Alkorani; De Li Non Aliud; De Ludo Globi; De Venatione Sapientiae; Compendium; De Apice Theoriae; his introduction to the translations: "Cusa on Wisdom and Knowledge;"  and his essays "Glaube und Vernunft im Denken des Nikolaus von Kues" and "Cusa on Faith and Reason."  Excellent access to writings by Cusanus and some good scholarly reads upon them by a major figure in the field.

Nicolas de Cues site in French/au Français by Jean-Marie Nicolle;  includes detailed biography, bibliography, sources, glossary, mathematical demonstrations, and numerous pictures.  Very good site, especially for understanding Cusanus' mathematical studies.

Clyde Lee Miller;  that scholar's personal page with links to his essays:  "Human Knowledge and God in Cusanus' De docta ignorantia," "Remarks on Eckhart's influence on Cusanus' 1456 sermon: "Ubi est qui natus est rex Iudeorum?," "A translation of Cusanus' Ubi est qui natus est rex Iudaeorum? Where is he that is born king of the Jews? (1456)," and "Thoughts on Cusanus’ De li non aliud."  The site is useful for understanding these aspects of Cusanus.  

Deutsche Cusanus Gesellschaft in German/auf Deutsch with pages on biography, his works, sights and institutions in Bernkastel-Kues, lists of events.  Good pictures and brief descriptions.  

Nikolaus von Kues (Cusanus) in German/auf Deutsch by Franz-Peter Kropp as part of his famous people of the Mosel site.  Includes biography, timeline, many pictures.  

Nicholas of Cusa by J.G. Hagen; a concise, if dated, biography from The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1911, sympathetic to his political and ecclesiastical actions. Good general introduction in English.  

Institut für Cusanus-Forschung site in German/auf Deutsch by Prof. Dr. Klaus Reinhardt and the Institut; includes description of the institute, its members, its publications.  The site is particularly useful for the Cusanus-Forum, which includes useful postings of recent scholarship.  

Nicholas of Cusa by Robert I. Bradshaw, B.Sc., C.D.R.S.; part of  his Internet Resource for Studying the Church in the Middle Ages.  Usefully lists some recent and available primary and secondary books for Cusanus, with links to lists of related subjects.  

Nicholas of Cusa by John J. O'Connor and Edmund F Robertson; a brief biography as part of The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive;  emphasizes his mathematical and astronomical interests, with picture, birthplace location, cross references and a few bibliographic references.   Useful for quick impressions of his work on math.  

Internationaal Cusanus Studiecentrum a Dutch site with menus also in English, German/Deutsch and Latin by Dr. Inigo Bocken;  with a description of the center's program, the article "On finding concordance," the summary thesis "The Truth in the Picture," several other pieces in German and Dutch, and brief Latin excerpts from a few of Cusanus' works.  Useful for Bocken's works of scholarship that explain specific ideas of Cusanus.  

Nikolaus von Kues (Nicolaus Cusanus) in German/auf Deutsch from the Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon.  Brief survey of life and thought.  

The Philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa from the Radical Academy; a brief view of Cusa's philosophy and concept of God.  Useful for understanding that part of his thought.  

"The Map as Metaphor for Access to Knowledge," by Nicholas of Cusa; excerpt from the Compendium, translation and Commentary by Victoria Morse as part of the History of Cartography project.  Limited to that context.  

"Nicholas of Cusa, Alberti and the Architectonics of the Mind" by Graziella Federici Vescovini, abstract of a paper which shows comparisons in the thought of Cusa and Alberti, from a conference on Alberti in 1998.

Nicholas of Cusa and the Finite Universe by Tyrone Lai; the page only has an abstract of an article that appears in the Journal of the History of Philosophy from 1973;  the author argues that contrary to what some early astronomers suggest, Cusa did not think the universe was infinite.

Nicholas of Cusa by Elton Hall; a lengthy biography and interpretation of Cusa's ideas from the viewpoint of Theosophy.  Useful for understanding this unique perspective.  

A Contribution for Nicolaus of Cusa's 600th Birthday: A Dialogue of Cultures
by Helga Zepp LaRouche; a curious 2001 address comparing some of Cusanus' ideas about politics and nations with those of the fringe American politician Lyndon LaRouche.  Only useful for helping to understand this particular aspect of his thought.

Nicholas of Cusa by David Chen, a college student;  with pop-up windows.  Not very useful.  It does have a very brief biography and many quotes taken from the Mysticism in World Religions: About Nicholas of Cusa [link no longer works?] by Deb Platt, an amateur scholar supporting a mystic interpretation, quoting (somewhat out of context) from Nicholas of Cusa: Selected Spiritual Writings. Trans. Hugh Lawrence Bond. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1997.  

Brian A. Pavlac's Scholarship on Cusanus

• Chapter 3: Reform, in Introducing Nicholas of Cusa: A Guide to a Renaissance Man, edited by Christopher M. Bellitto, Thomas M. Izbicki, and Gerald Christianson (Paulist Press, 2004).

• "The Curse of Cusanus: Excommunication in Fifteenth Century Germany," in Nicholas of Cusa and His Age: Intellect and Spirituality, edited by Thomas M. Izbicki and Christopher Bellitto (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2002): 199-213; reviewed by Cary Nederman in The Medieval Review.

• Review of Wilhelm Baum and Raimund Senoner, ed. Nikolaus von Kues: Briefe and Dokumente zum Brixner Streit. Vol. 2: Nikolaus von Kues als Seelsorger. Briefe. Denkschriften (1453-1458) in the American Cusanus Society Newsletter, 18, no. 1 (June 2001): 37-38.  

• "The Curse of Cusanus: Excommunication and Politics in Fifteenth-Century Germany," Abstract in American Cusanus Society Newsletter, vol. 17, no. 1 (June 2000): 45-46.

• "From Theory to Practice: the Failure of Nicholas of Cusa as Bishop of Brixen" Abstract in American Cusanus Society Newsletter, vol. 14, no. 1 (June 1997): 36.

• "Nicolaus Cusanus as Prince-Bishop of Brixen (1450-64): Historians and a Conflict of Church and State," Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques 21 (1995): 131-54; annotated in Deutsches Archiv 52 (1996): 734.

URL: http://staff.kings.edu/bapavlac/cusanus.html

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