In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

11 The Electoral Systems of Nicholas of Cusa in theCatholicConcordance and Beyond } günTer hägele anD frieDriCh PUkelsheim Electoral systems form a recurrent theme throughout the writings of Nicholas of Cusa. They are admittedly just a side theme within his broad scope of interests,yet they appear in his first major work,theCatholic Concordance (De concordantia catholica), as well as in later publications written when he was traveling in Germany as a papal legate in 1451–52. Surprisingly, the electoral systems designed by Cusanus have only recently been rediscovered in political science literature, where the Cusan system is known under the name of Borda. In this chapter we review Cusanus’s writings on electoral systems.1 First we describe his proposed system for the election of the king appearing in the Catholic Concordance. Next we argue that the Concordance system abounds with novel ideas to such an extent that it undoubtedly deserves an independent standing beside the electoral systems of Ramon Llull. Our discussion then turns to the clerical electoral systems 1.We build on Günter Hägele and Friedrich Pukelsheim,“Die Wahlsysteme des Nikolaus von Kues,”in Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften,Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Klasse,SitzungsberichteJahrgang2001 –2003(Munich,2004),1–47;HägeleandPukelsheim,“DasKönigswahlsystemder Concordantia Catholica,” MFCG 29 (2005): 81–94 [Akten des Internationalen Symposiums über “Das Mathematikverständnis des Nikolaus von Kues—mathematische,naturwissenschaftliche und philosophisch-theologische Dimensionen,” 8.–10. Dezember 2003, Schwäbisches Tagungs- und Bildungszentrum Kloster Irsee]. 229 that Cusanus mentions in his later writings. Finally, we relate the electoral systems of Cusanus and Llull to those of Jean Charles de Borda (1733–99) and the Marquis de Condorcet (1743–94). The Electoral System in the Catholic Concordance (De concordantia catholica) Cusanus authored his first major work,the Catholic Concordance, while he was an incorporated member of the Council of Basel in 1433–34.2 He was thirty-three years old,serving as a lawyer to the archbishop of Trier.The first two books of the Concordantia catholica treat ecclesiology and the theory of councils.The two books were originally intended to stand on their own, to be published under the title Libellus de ecclesiastica concordantia. When news spread in Basel that Emperor Sigismund was about to visit the council—in fact,he arrived on October 11,1433— Cusanus hastened to add a third book dealing with the reform of the empire.3 He rearranged some of the contents of the Libellus and added new material to create the Concordantia catholica. Cusanus’s use of the term concordantia reaches beyond the traditional concordance of established authorities.4 It indicates a view peculiar to Cusanus:a convergence in harmony that respects individual differences.5 Already the Libellus text featured an electoral system,intended for the elections of clerical officeholders. This first draft was then extended to include a system for the election of the king of the Romans,which formed chapter 37 of book 3 (#535– 41 [h XIV, 448–50]) of the Catholic Concordance. The work was edited in 1968 as volume 14 of the Operaomnia; the issue with book 3 appeared in 1959.6 When Cusanus authored the Catholic Concordance in 1433, he had not witnessed any elections of the king of the Romans.The last election had taken place on July 21,1411,when Cusanus was ten years old;and the next election would not take place until March 18, 1438.7 Hence Cusanus drew on what he had read (III, 2.Citations are from Deconcordantiacatholica, ed.Gerhard Kallen,in NicolaideCusaoperaomniaiussuetauctoritateAcademiaeLitterarumHeidelbergensis (Hamburg,1964),vol.14 of NC. 3. Roger Bauer, “Sacrum imperium et imperium germanicum chez Nicolas de Cues,” Archives d’histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Âge 21 (1954): 207–40; Bernhard Töpfer, “Die Reichsreformvorschläge des Nikolaus von Kues,”ZeitschriftfürGeschichtswissenschaft 13 (1965):617–37. 4. Franz Gillmann, “Wann kam das Wort concordantia auf?” Archiv für katholisches Kirchenrecht 112 (1932): 482–87. 5. Hans Gerhard Senger, “Allumfassende Eintracht,” in Senger, Ludus Sapientiae: Studien zum Werk und zur WirkungsgeschichtedesNikolausvonKues (Leiden:Brill,2002),19–42. 6. Morimichi Watanabe, “The Origins of Modern Cusanus Research in Germany and the Establishment of the Heidelberg Opera omnia,” in Nicholas of Cusa in Search of God and Wisdom, ed. Gerald Christianson and Thomas M.Izbicki (Leiden:Brill,1991),17–42. 7. Silvinus Müller, “Die Königswahlen und Königskrönungen,” in Krönungen. Könige in Aachen—Geschichte undMythos.KatalogderAusstellung, ed.Mario Kramp,2 vols.(Mainz:P.von Zagern,2000),1:915...

Share