Matteo Ricci nel Collegio Romano (1572–1577): Cronologia, maestri, studi
- Format:
- Journal Article
- Year:
- 2013
- Journal Title:
- Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu
- Volume:
- 82
- Issue:
- 163
- Language:
- Abstract:
The studies in the Collegio Romano were the essential element of Ricci's education, particularly concerning his knowledge of mathematics: an aspect of his learning which was decisive in his missionary method and that—as a consequence of his example—remained central in the Jesuits' action in the Far East (particularly in China). A precise knowledge of those studies is, therefore, a necessary premise for any interpretation of his work. However, his biographers have not dealt with this question very deeply: Ricci's masters in Latin literature and philosophy have not been identified with certainty; even the length and forms of his most decisive pedagogical relationship, that with Cristopher Clavius, the mathematics professor, have been presupposed or only vaguely reconstructed. This article attempts the following: first, to reconstruct the chronology, the masters and the contents of the courses attended by Ricci, employing all relevant documents known so far (part of which comes from outside the Roman Jesuit archives and libraries). Second, to consider the contents of the works in (pure and applied) mathematics he wrote in China as both an effect and a proof of the training modalities previously reconstructed. Third, to suggest ways and directions toward a deeper, 'genetic' analysis of the scientific activity of the Jesuit from Macerata.
- Who (Jesuits):
- What (Subjects):
- Where (Locations):
- When (Centuries):
- Publisher URL:
- Page Range:
- 115–164
- ISSN:
- 0037-8887