Nicholas of Cusa

Nicholas of Cusa, also known as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus, was a German Catholic bishop and polymath active as a philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1401 to 1464. One of the first German proponents of Renaissance humanism, he made spiritual and political contributions to European culture, notably his mystical or spiritual writings on learned ignorance, and he participated in power struggles between Rome and the German states of the Holy Roman Empire. As papal legate to Germany from 1446 he was appointed cardinal by Pope Nicholas V in 1448 and Prince-Bishop of Brixen two years later, and in 1459 he became vicar general in the Papal States. In 2001 the sixth centennial of his birth was celebrated on four continents and commemorated with publications on his life and work.