Dominus dat sapientiam. Erasmism and wisdom as backbone elements of the action and the image of Charles V
Carlos Jesús SOSA RUBIO
Original title: Dominus dat sapientiam. Erasmismo y sabiduría como elementos vertebradores de la acción y de la imagen de Carlos V
Published in Mirabilia Journal 34
Keywords: Erasmus of Rotterdam, King David, King Solomon, Philip II, Strength, Wisdom.
Wisdom acted as a backbone in the image of Charles V, especially during his first years of government, and in this matter Erasmus of Rotterdam had a relevant role. Starting from this premise, it is convenient to analyze the origin of that decision and, above all, the consequences it had for the shaping of his effigy, whose unquestionable evolution in the 30s and 40s of the century did not necessarily mean a total break with the ideological substratum of that previous period. This paper analyzes Charles V’s wisdom sources, with Erasmus as the main point of reference, as well as its effects and manifestations, to subsequently study the relationship that through this “gift from heaven”, and the other great biblical virtue, which is strength, Charles V and Philip II establish with David and with Solomon. Legitimacy, Davidic Covenant and messianism are other issues addressed that are closely related to the propagandistic use of these two great figures of the House of Judah.
The Knowledge that Beautifies the Soul. Philosophy according to Diotima of Mantinea, Herrad of Hohenbourg and Christine de Pizan
Georgina RABASSÓ
Original title: El saber que embellece el alma. La filosofía según Diotima de Mantinea, Herrada de Hohenbourg y Christine de Pizan
Published in The Medieval Aesthetics
Keywords: Beauty, Liberal Arts, Medieval Aesthetics, Medieval Philosophy, Wisdom, Women Philosophers.
Diotima of Mantinea’s arguments in Plato’s Symposium (5th century BC) and the writings of Herrad of Hohenbourg (c. 1125-c. 1195) and Christine de Pizan (1364-1430) show the deep influence the study of philosophy had on them, in varying ways. Analysis of texts (and certain images) in which these writers speak of their relationships with the discipline of philosophy evidences the importance they give to their intellectual work, knowledge and critical analysis, not only for themselves but also as a distinctive component of female beauty as narrated by women themselves. This ideological contribution was key to the genesis of concepts such as “merit”, “nobility” and “excellence”, terms through which the women thinkers of the querelle des femmes (14th-18th centuries) took on the auctoritates of the male gender, who had stipulated that the overriding, exclusive beauty of women was corporeal and, occasionally, spiritual.
