Il cardinale e l’eretico: Il problema dell’eredità “eterodossa” di Meister Eckhart nel pensiero di Nicola Cusano

The article explores the historical-philosophical link between Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cues (Cusanus). This link is analysed as a revaluation of a condemned medieval tradition of thought offered by a cardinal during the Renaissance. The background of the relationship between Cusanus and Eckhart is the comparison between Thomism and mysticism in the late medieval and Renaissance development of Christianity. The article considers the scholastic philosopher Johannes Wenck’s criticism of Cusanus and his defense in the Apologia doctae ignorantiae, as an affirmation of Eckhart’s philosophical tradition against Aristotelian-Thomism orthodoxy. The article highlights the role of Johannes Scotus Eriugena and Bertold of Moosburg as intermediaries. Finally, it examines the question of how a cardinal was able to develop an heretical theory through his philosophy; a three-fold answer is offered.