PICA, or Pye, had formerly the same sense as ordinal, meaning a table or directory, pointing out the order in which the devotional services appointed for different occasions were to be performed. Accordingly we are told it is derived from π∕, a contraction of π∕∣>αξ, a table ; and by others from litera picata, a great black letter at the beginning of some new order in the prayer. The term was used in a similar sense by officers of civil courts, who called their calendars or alphabetical catalogues, directing to the names and things contained in the rolls and records of their courts, the pyes.

Pica, or Picus, John, prince of Mirandola and Concordia, was born in the year 1463, under the pontificate of Pius II. He was the youngest son of John Francis of Mirandola, and Julia, a lady of the noble family of Boiardo. Some of the credulous historians of the time have related, that at his birth a globe of fire was seen to rest upon his mother’s bed; portending, say they, by its shape the perfection of his genius, and by its element the celestial turn of his mind. As soon as he was capable of receiving instruction, he was placed by his mother’s care under the most able masters, and very early distinguished himself by the vigour of his application, and the strength of his memory, of which such prodigies are related as would be very difficult to credit, were we not assured, by some modern instances, of the perfection to which that faculty may be carried. At the age of fourteen he was, by the direction of his mother, who was desirous that he should assume the clerical functions, sent to Bologna, at that time the principal resort of those who studied the pontifical law. After spending two years there, he became disgusted with this pursuit; although such was his industry, even at that early age, that he compiled an epitome of the pontifical epistles or decretals. His disposition, however, led him strongly to the pursuit of philosophy, and excited an eager curiosity to penetrate the secrets of nature and science. With this view he travelled over Italy and France, visited the most celebrated schools of each, and studied under the most famous teachers of both countries.

After seven years spent in this course of instruction, and at the age of twenty-three, he went to Rome, and, after the fashion of the scholars of that time, brought himself into notice by publicly proposing literary questions for disputation. This sort of challenge was very common in that age, and, when printing was scarcely practised, and the name of a man of learning less rapidly extended than it is now, was almost the only method that a person of superior attainments could adopt to make himself known. Mirandola proposed nine hundred questions, or, as they were called, Conclusiones, in dialectics, mathematics, natural philosophy, and divinity; drawn not only from the stores of the Latin and Greek, but from the mysteries of the Hebrews and the arcana of the Chaldeans and Arabians. In addition to the endless topics of metaphysics, theology, and the ordinary subjects of disputation, into which he entered very profoundly, the Conclusiones involved the ancient and obscure philosophy of Pythagoras, Trismegistus, and Orpheus; the doctrines of the Cabbala, or mystical interpretation of the sacred writings, according to the Hebrews, taught by Origen and Hilarius; and the extent, uses, and learning of natural magic, which was vindicated from the vulgar reproach of impiety and necromancy. Seventy-two new physical and metaphysical dogmas of the author’s invention were likewise proposed and defended. These propositions, according to the ostentatious practice on these occasions, were fixed in the most public places in Rome; and the proposer engaged to defray the expenses of any one who should come from a distance for the purpose of disputing with him. This challenge did not bring forward any disputants, but exposed Mirandola to much envy and jealousy, particularly from the professors of science at Rome, who felt the reflection that would be thrown upon their credit by their declining a competition which they durst not encounter.

Unable to injure his fame as a scholar, they made a much more dangerous attack upon the soundness of his faith. Thirteen questions were selected, which were charged with the terrible suspicion of heresy, and contempt of the ordinances of the church; a suspicion very readily listened to by the church when directed against great learning, which the increasing influence of philosophy and letters began to make her watch with extreme jealousy. Mirandola repelled this attack by publishing his Apologia, or Defence of the accused propositions, which, if he did not effectually clear away the suspicions he had incurred, tended to confirm his enemies in their dread of [7:17:736]his learning and powers; and it must be owned that, overlooking the misapplication of talents to such subjects, the Apologia exhibits a command of profound and well-digested learning and keen argument, truly astonishing at the age of twenty-three. This work, and the discussions it contained of certain delicate points, added to some hints of the limit of pontifical control in matters of faith, were so disagreeable to Pope Innocent VIII. that he interdicted the reading both of the Apology and the disputed questions. The love of glory, however, was not Mirandola’s only passion. His youth, splendid accomplishments, and the graces of his person, for which he is said to have been remarkable, attracted the admiration and caresses of many distinguished Roman ladies, who united the love of letters to that of pleasure, a taste very common amongst the Italian ladies of that age. The young philosopher yielded to the force of these allurements, or rather, according to the account of his nephew and biographer, Francisco di Mirandola, eagerly followed the bent of his disposition, naturally inclined to obey the attractions of beauty.

But this life of pleasure, however suitable to his condition and inclinations, was of a short continuance. Irritated by the restless persecutions of his enemies, and obliged perpetually to defend himself against the imputation of heresy, the most formidable calumny which in that age any man could have to contend with, he detached himself from vicious pleasures, and regulated his manner of life by rigidly observing the laws of abstinence imposed by Christianity; for being a firm adherent of the Christian doctrines, the charge of infidelity and the vigilance of his enemies made him the more solicitous to guard against the appearance of disobeying them. From this time becoming wholly devoted to learning, he soon acquired such celebrity that the most eminent scholars from all parts of Italy came to visit him for conversation or instruction. As a proof of the sincerity of his reformation, he committed to the flames five books of elegiac poetry which he had composed upon the subject of his amours, together with numerous pieces in Tuscan verse, which had been addressed to his various mistresses. There is perhaps reason to lament that the zeal of the new convert could not be satisfied without this sacrifice. It must, however, be considered that the spirit of religion at that period exacted many sacrifices from the professors of Christianity, which the lenient temper of these times does not call for. An example of this severity is to be met with amongst the works which still remain of Mirandola, and at the end of which, in the folio edition published by his nephew, we find a learned and entertaining comment, in the Italian language, upon a composition of his friend Girolamo Benivieni, entitled Una Canzone de Amove secundo la mente et opinione de' Platonici, a poetical treatise upon love, explaining the doctrines of the Platonists. The author, Girolamo, informs the reader, in a short preface, that he had determined to suppress this poem and comment, out of regard to his friend’s character and his own, deeming it unbecoming a professor of Christianity, in treating of celestial and divine love, “to treat of it as a Platonist, and not as a Christian ;” but that having lent it to some of his friends for their perusal, an imperfect and erroneous copy was printed, which obliged him, but not until after the death of Mirandola, to publish it correctly. He takes care to allege, in excuse of himself, however, that he has apprised the reader of his plan by the title of the poem, and warned him, in all places where Plato’s opinions depart from those of Christ, that the doctrines of a Gentile and a heathen are not entitled to the least weight compared with the reasonings of the Christian theologists, “and particularly the irrefragable arguments of the angelic doctor St Thomas of Aquino.”

The first fruit of Mirandola’s devotion to sacred literature was the Heptaplus, or Comment upon the Six Days of the first chapter of Genesis, which was written in 1491. Two years afterwards he published a treatise in ten chapters, De Ente et Uno; the object of which was to reconcile the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle, and to demonstrate that the disputes of their respective followers originated in a misconception of the opinions of these philosophers relative to the Ens and the Unum, at that time a subject of mighty strife amongst the learned. This treatise was held in high estimation by both sides. It was the last work of consequence, which the author lived to complete; but he had laid the plan of a vast and comprehensive work, of which his early death prevented the execution. This was no less than to confound the seven enemies of the Christian church, by examining and refuting all their errors. In the prosecution of this design, he had, before his death, composed and perfected twelve books against astrology, the most popular and the most pernicious superstition which then infested the world. Paulus Jovius, bishop of Nocera, has,left a testimony to the merits of this work, which is above all other encomiums. “In this excellent though unfinished work, Mirandola attacked the astrologers with such erudition and keenness, and so ably exposed the absurdity and vanity of the whole art of divination, that he seems to have deterred the professors of the occult sciences from writing.”^[1. Paulus Jovius, Εlog. Doct. Vir. p. 92. ]

This great design, as well as many others which Mirandola had formed, particularly that of a more complete essay towards reconciling the opinions of Plato and Aristotle, was frustrated by his death. From the time that he left Rome, which was soon after the publication of the Apologia, Mirandola generally resided either at Ferrara or at Florence. The friendship of the Prince of Ferrara, and its vicinity to his paternal seat, attracted him to the former place; but Florence was the most agreeable to him, on account of the society of literary men which it afforded, and particularly that of Politian and Lorenzo de’ Medici, with whom he entertained a close friendship. Besides these two illustrious men, his society was cultivated by other eminent scholars, amongst whom was the learned and unfortunate Hieronymus Savanarola, and Hermolaus Barbarus. Petrus Crinitus, the pupil of Politian,^[2. P. Crinitus De IIοnesta Disciplina, lib. iii. c. 2, lib. v. c. J, and lib. ii. c. 2. ] mentions him as excelling all his companions in the erudition and eloquence of his conversation. The same author has left us an account of Pica’s laborious studies; for when Politian had expressed in his presence high admiration of his great genius and learning, Mirandola with singular modesty answered, that he deserved no praise except for his assiduous application: “Gratulandum potius, intelligite, assiduis vigiliis atque lucubrationibus, quam nostro,ingenio plaudendum.”^[3. Ibid. lib. ii. c. 2. ]

His library is likewise celebrated by the same writer, and is said by Francisco di Mirandola to have cost seven thousand pieces of gold. His accomplishments were not confined to subjects of abstruse literature; in his youth he was much attached to music, in which he acquired such skill, that some of his melodies were publicly received, and held in great-esteem. It might also be concluded, from an anecdote related by Petrus Crinitus, that he was not unacquainted with physic; for, according to that author, when Hermolaus Barbarus was seized at Rome with a dangerous fever, Mirandola sent him from Florence a medicine prepared by himself. No man ever testified a more sincere devotion for learning and philosophy, [7:17:737]to the contempt of all other qualifications, than the Prince of Mirandola. He possessed a very large estate, which he bestowed almost entirely upon works of charity, except what was spent in collecting books, and entertaining and providing for literary men. At length, however, about three years before his death, he made over to his nephew Francisco his principality and possessions in Mirandola, and obtained a confirmation of the grant from Maximilian, the Roman emperor, to whom that principality was subject. He reserved to himself only enough to purchase a small estate near Ferrara, where he spent the remainder of his life, except when he resided at Florence, in elegant and learned retirement. His mother, under whose care he received his education, had destined him for the church; and he was often urged by his friends to embrace the sacred profession, with the certainty of the highest honours and emoluments; but nothing could induce him to quit the life which he had chosen for himself. He died of a fever, at Florence, in the year 1494, in the thirty-first year of his age, on the same day that Charles IX. of France entered the city on his famous expedition into Italy. That monarch, hearing of Mirandola’s illness as he approached the city, sent two of his own physicians to his assistance; but, in spite of their aid, the violence of his disorder put an end to his existence in thirteen days.

With respect to the works of this author, something has already been said, and little more remains to be observed. The Conclusiones afford a very complete specimen of the learning of the age, and of what were deemed the most valuable purposes to which learning could be applied. However useless and unprofitable these purposes may appear to us, it will not be denied by any one who has the curiosity to look into the Conclusiones, that the mass of learning possessed by the proposer of them must have been prodigious, when it is recollected, that at the time he proposed them, he was no more than twenty-three years of age. For there is not the least reason to suppose, that a person whose works prove him to have been a man of profound learning, and who, in an age and nation distinguished by some of the brightest scholars that ever appeared, was ranked by their unanimous judgment amongst the first, should have challenged the discussion of any of the proposed subjects, without being well provided with the knowledge necessary for such a debate. The manner in which the questions were propounded leaves little room to doubt that the author was deeply versed in the respective subjects they embrace; and the Apology for the accused propositions, particularly those de Salute Origenis and de Magia atque Cabbala, discover familiarity with the writings of the Fathers, as well as with the Greek and Hebrew classics.

John Pica di Mirandola has been represented by some writers, whose ideas are taken from the encomiums of his contemporaries, as a mighty prodigy of learning and genius. The distaste which the present times entertain towards the subjects upon which he wrote renders it very difficult, upon a review of his works, to believe these encomiums well founded. But, making allowance for this change of opinion, it may be fairly concluded that he was, in reality, a man of very extraordinary powers.