Francesco Patrizi

Francesco Patrizi (1529–1597) was a brilliant Renaissance philosopher who launched one of the most ambitious, yet ultimately doomed, attempts to institutionalize Hermeticism.

Replacing Aristotle with Hermes

In his Nova de Universis Philosophia (1591), Patrizi formally petitioned Pope Gregory XIV to completely eradicate the teaching of Aristotle in Catholic universities. Patrizi argued that Aristotle's materialism and denial of a creator God bred atheism and heresy. In Aristotle's place, Patrizi demanded that the Pope mandate the study of Hermes Trismegistus, Zoroaster, and the Neoplatonists, arguing that the Corpus Hermeticum was the purest, most ancient theology that perfectly harmonized with the Catholic faith. The Church responded by placing his work on the Index of Prohibited Books.