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Concept
Jacopo Aconcio
Summary
Jacopo Aconcio (1520-1566) was an Italian jurist, theologian, philosopher and engineer. He is now known for his contribution to the history of religious toleration.
Aconcio was born around 1520 in Trento, Italy, or possibly the nearby town of Ossana. He was the son of Gerolamo Aconcio and his wife, Oliana. He studied law and later became a notary in 1548 when he was admitted to the Collegio dei Notai of Trento. In 1549 he entered the service of Count Francesco Landriano, a courtier serving the emperor, Charles V in Vienna. Aconcio remained with Landriano for seven years and then around 1556 became secretary to Cardinal Madruzzo, the imperial governor in Milan.
Aconcio later wrote that he became attracted to the ideas of the Reformation while in service to Landriano. He knew that it was dangerous to express these beliefs openly while living in Italy and decided to pursue a career in military engineering that would allow him to live safely in exile. He taught himself the basics of engineering through conversations with military men like Landriano and Giovanni Maria Olgiati. He also took careful note of fortifications he had the opportunity to visit while travelling through Europe.
When conservative Paul IV became pope in 1555, he instituted a rigorous campaign to suppress heresy in the Italian States. Aconcio felt threatened and in June 1557 he renounced his Catholic faith and fled first to Basel and then on to Zurich. In Basel he met Bernardino Ochino and other radical Italian reformers. In Switzerland he wrote his first works, Dialogue di Silvio e Mutio, outlining the Lutheran criticisms of the Catholic church and Summa de Christiana religione, which presents a view of religion purged of the controversial points that divided Christendom. Both were published in 1558. At the same time he published a secular work, De Methodo, hoc est, de recte investigandarum tradendarumque Scientiarum ratione, which lays out an approach to intellectual inquiry that emphasizes a rational, almost mathematical approach, proceeding from clear and concrete first principles.
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