The Secret Letters of Gasparo Contarini to Trifon Gabriele

Abstract

Gasparo Contarini (1483-1542) was born into one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the Venetian Republic, and rose to become one of the most prominent intellectuals of the first half of the Cinquecento. His philosophical work is mainly known for the dispute with his teacher Pietro Pomponazzi on the immortality of the soul. His vast philosophical oeuvre has gone practically unnoticed. It is my intention here to examine certain features of Contarini’s thought that might serve to illustrate his intellectual sophistication as well as his views on the immortality of the soul. My focus will be on three letters that Contarini sent to Trifon Gabriele (1470-1549), who was known as the “new Socrates” because he left no written documents. The correspondence between these two “titans” of Venetian culture in the Cinquecento is of the utmost interest not only because of the calibre of the writers themselves, but also because Contarini urges Gabriele not to divulge their letters. The fact that Contarini calls for secrecy for these letters, however, is a matter of interest: what do they contain? Was there anything that might compromise Contarini in a context of extreme Counter-Reformation tension?