Giovanni Dominici

Posted on By Oriol Catalán

(1356-1419). Dominican Friar, Bishop and Cardinal. He spent the first part of his career as preacher in Venice and Florence, then was appointed bishop of Ragusa (1407). He was the confessor of Pope Gregory XII, who created him cardinal (1408).

Dominici often identified with lower classes an attacked the Church hierarchy (mainly symony and greed) and local governments’ policies. Dominici’s political position lead to his expulsion from Venice (1399), after supporting the Bianchi movement.

Beyond a preacher, he was a reputated author, writing works about pagan authors (Lucula Noctis), the faith from a mystic point of view (Trattato delle dieci questioni) or the importance of the Christian family in the society (Regola del governo di cura familiare)

Bibliography:

  • BEN-ARYEH DEBBY, Nirit, «The Preacher’s Agenda: A Dominican versus the Italian Renaissance», The European legacy, 20 (2015), pp. 462-476.
    • «Political Views in the Preaching of Giovanni Dominici in Renaissance Florence, 1400-1406», Renaissance Quarterly 55-1 (2002), pp. 19-48. (PDF)
    • Renaissance Florence in the Rhetoric of Two Popular Preachers: Giovanni Dominici (1356- 1419) and Bernardino da Siena (1380-1444). Turnhout: Brepols, 2001
    • «Jews and Judaism in the rhetoric of popular preachers: The Florentine Sermons of Giovanni Dominici (1356-1419) and Bernardino de Siena (1380-1444)», Jewish History, 14 (2000), p. 175-200.
  • FIELD, Arthur, The Intellectual Struggle for Florence: Humanists and the Beginnings of the Medici Regime, 1420-1440. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017, p. 80-83, 104-126.
  • GALETTI, A., «Prediche inedite di Giovanni Dominici», in A. de la Torre (ed.), Miscellanea di studi critici in onore di Guido Mazzoni. Florence, 1907, pp. 253-278.

Manuscripts:

Editions:

  • Lettere spirituali, ed. by M.-T. Casella and G. Pozzi. Fribourg: Edizioni Universitarie, 1969.
  • Lucula noctis, ed. by Edmund Hunt. South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame, 1940.
  • Regola del governo di cura familiare, ed. by Donato Salvi. Florence: Angiolo Garinei, 1860.
  • Trattato delle dieci questioni e lettere a madonna Bartolomea. ed. by Arrigo Levasti. Florence: Libreria Editrice Fiorentina, 1957.
Christian preachers, preacher / author