Jacopo Aconcio () was an Italian jurist, theologian, philosopher and engineer. He is now known for his contribution to the history of religious toleration.

Life

Aconcio was born around 1520 in Trento, Italy, or possibly the nearby town of Ossana. He was the son of Gerolamo Aconcio and his wife, Oliana. He studied law and later became a notary in 1548 when he was admitted to the Collegio dei Notai of Trento. In 1549 he entered the service of Count Francesco Landriano, a courtier serving the emperor, Charles V in Vienna. Aconcio remained with Landriano for seven years and then around 1556 became secretary to Cardinal Madruzzo, the imperial governor in Milan. In Basel he met Bernardino Ochino and other radical Italian reformers. In Switzerland he wrote his first works, Dialogue di Silvio e Mutio, outlining the Lutheran criticisms of the Catholic church and Summa de Christiana religione, which presents a view of religion purged of the controversial points that divided Christendom. Both were published in 1558.

Works

Before reaching England he had published a treatise on the methods of investigation, De Methodo, hoc est, de recte investigandarum tradendarumque Scientiarum ratione (Basel, 1558, 8vo); and his critical spirit placed him outside all the recognized religious societies of his time. His heterodoxy is revealed in his Stratagematum Satanae libri octo, sometimes abbreviated as Stratagemata Satanae, published in 1565 and translated into various languages. The Stratagems of Satan are the dogmatic creeds which rent the Christian church. Aconcio sought to find the common denominator of the various creeds; this was essential doctrine, and the rest was immaterial. To arrive at this common basis, he had to reduce dogma to a low level, and his result was generally repudiated. Stratagemata Satanae was not translated into English until 1647, but afterwards, it became very influential among English liberal theologians.

John Selden applied to Aconcio the remark ubi bene, nil melius; ubi male, nemo pejus ("Where good, none better. Where bad, none worse"). The dedication of such a work to Queen Elizabeth illustrates the tolerance or religious laxity during the early years of her reign. Aconcio later found another patron in Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and died about 1566.

Publications

  • Stratagematum Satanae libri octo (1565)
  • De methodo sive recta investigandarum tradendariumque artium ac scientarum ratione libellus, (1558) (modern edition: De methodo e opuscoli religiosi e filosofici, edited by Giorgio Radetti, Firenze: Vallecchi, 1944)
  • Somma brevissima della dottrina cristiana
  • Una esortazione al timor di Dio
  • Delle osservazioni et avvertimenti che haver si debbono nel legger delle historie
  • English translation, Darkness Discovered (Satans Stratagems), London, 1651 (facsimile ed.,1978 Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, ).
  • Trattato Sulle Fortificazioni, edited by Paola Giacomoni, Giovanni Maria Fara, Renato Giacomelli, and Omar Khalaf (Firenze: L.S. Olschki, 2011).

References

Attribution::

Further reading

  • Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie - online version at Wikisource