Personal, Domestic, and Republican Values in the Moral Philosophy of Giovanni Caldiera

Abstract

Giovanni Caldiera (ca. 1400 - ca. 1474) was well known in his day as a secondary figure of the Venetian humanist circle. An examination of his three moral philosophical works—the De virtutibus moralibus et theologicis, the De iconomia veneta, and the De praestantia venetae politiae—will provide, it is hoped, an understanding of the fundamental nature of his intellectual activity. Committed as much to the scholastic and Aristotelian as to the humanist traditions, Caldiera draws on each of these to affirm the values of the Venetian patriciate he served as self-appointed spokesman. He merits attention, therefore, not only as a creative thinker, but also as a resourceful apologist for the ideals and objectives of a governing élite seeking to maintain its power at home and to extend it on land and sea abroad.