Matthew Gaetano
Ph.D. Student
matthew.gaetano@gmail.com
Education
B.A. summa cum laude in History, Hillsdale College (2005); M.A. in History, University of Pennsylvania (2007)
Fields
Early Modern Europe; Early Modern Spanish World; Medieval and Early Modern Intellectual History
Research Interests
Renaissance intellectual history, particularly the reception of medieval thought; the history of universities; early-modern historiography, especially the different genres of "intellectual history"; the religious orders; Venetian humanism
Exam Committee
Prospective Dissertation Title and Abstract
Thomas Aquinas and the Theological Renaissance at the University of Padua, 1465-1573
This study explores the fortuna of Thomas Aquinas in the Renaissance by focusing especially on the professorships of Thomist theology and metaphysics created in the fifteenth century at the University of Padua. These were not vestiges of the Middle Ages; rather, the Venetian Senate founded chairs of Thomist thought as part of reforms that laid the foundation for Padua's sixteenth-century preeminence. Based on a reconstruction of the institutional history, the dissertation analyzes the lectures and published texts of the professors who held these chairs, studying the use of humanist methods and style in their writings, their adoption of the new Greek editions and Latin translations of Aristotle, and their active participation as expert collaborators in the development of printing in Venice. It examines the concept of Renaissance scholasticism, challenging some of our conventional notions about the relationship of humanism and scholasticism and about the periodization of European history. By considering the development of new perspectives on the authority of Thomas Aquinas in Catholic theology, this study addresses the views of these professors on the relationship of faith and reason, theology and philosophy, and the role of authorities like Aristotle and Aquinas in those disciplines.
Dissertation Advisor
Selected Conference Papers
- Renaissance Aristotelianism in Historical Thought, 1550-1800. The Renaissance Society of America Conference, 2010.
- "The evil poison of the Sorbonne": A Protestant History of Medieval Philosophy, 1550-1750. Early Modern Studies Group at the University of Pennsylvania, 2009.
- The School of Salamanca and the Toleration of Heretics. Society for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies Conference, 2009.
- "The Extreme Opinion of St. Thomas": Re-mapping the Nominalist-Realist Debate in the Sixteenth Century. Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, 2008.
- Cajetan and the Sixteenth-Century Debate on the Role of the Agent Intellect. The European Science Foundation's Summer School (NPHS) in Den Bosch, 2008.
- Justification by Faith Alone in Catholic Controversial Literature: The Case of Domingo de Soto. Patristic, Medieval, and Renaissance Conference, 2006.
Personal Statement
I am currently (spring 2010) conducting dissertation research in Padua, Italy, with the generous support of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. After completing my work here, funding from the Fondazione Lemmermann will make it possible for me to spend two months in Rome. The selection of conference presentations and the brief list of my research interests above will suggest the kinds of topics that I am exploring. The academic, university-based thought of the early-modern period, in both Protestant and Catholic Europe, has generally been neglected, though it has received more attention in recent years. Examining these professors, students, and texts in their institutional and other local contexts will make it possible--in future work--to consider their relationship with the broader intellectual, cultural, and social milieu. If any one has stumbled upon this page and is interested in these or related topics, I'd be more than happy to talk to you about graduate work at Penn in early modern history (which is quite exciting!), to learn more about your research, or to share any of the preliminary results of my own. It's a small world!
