Friar Reformer And Renaissance Scholar

For the first time the scientific work on Giles of Viterbo, O.S.A. gathered by F.X. Martin, O.S.A., over a span of 40 years, is now presented in book form. Added to this are rich appendixes which contain, also for the first time, English translations of his sermons, letters & other writings. Giles remains a special source for understanding certain aspects of the Renaissance. The reasons are several. He played many roles - orator at the papal court, reforming prior general of the Augustinians, synthesizer - almost syncretizer - of certain strains of Renaissance culture. He was in significant ways a child of the Renaissance, but medieval influences on him sometimes seem stronger. He knew the mainstream of Ficinian Neoplatonism & Paduan Aristotelianism, but also ardently pursued ESOTERICA. A reformer, he was worlds apart from his most famous subject in the Augustinian Order, Martin Luther. Perhaps most important of all, he left behind a large CORPUS, in which we find a curious mix ranging from practical directives as superior general of an important religious order to the most abstruse speculation on theological, historical & other subjects. This book is a valuable culmination of works on the life & writings of Giles of Viterbo. John O'Malley, S.J., states in the foreword: "What we have been missing up to this point has been Frank Martin's Cambridge dissertation, a fundamental instrument for putting the pieces together. The present volume fills that lacuna. It contains supporting materials in the appendixes prepared by other scholars, but the body of the text is a revised form of the dissertation. "The book brings us full circle in accounting for most of the scholarship on Giles of Viterbo during these some thirty years." Volume discounts available from publisher: Augustinian Press, P.O. Box 476, Villanova, PA 19085.