**DOMINICI, GIOVANNI, Blessed.** - Dominican cardinal, born in Florence in 1357 and died in Buda on 10 June 1419.
He was given the name Domenico Banchini (or Bacchini) by his father, who died before his birth. He entered the Order in 1374 (at Santa Maria Novella) and, despite initial difficulties due to his limited education and stutter, he quickly advanced in learning. Later, he overcame his speech impediment and for 25 years became a renowned preacher on the principal pulpits of Italy.
However, the best energies of DOMINICI were devoted to the reform of his Order and to ending the Western Schism, which was then tearing the Church apart.
In Venice (1387), he planted the seed of reform. He was first made vicar general of the convent of San Domenico (19 May 1390), and then of all the reformed convents (20 November 1393). In early 1400, he moved to Florence, where he continued his delicate mission of reform from the cathedral and the pulpit, founding the convent of San Domenico in Fiesole for this purpose (1406). Upon the death of Innocent VII (6 November 1406), DOMINICI spontaneously entered the political arena to help end the schism. For this purpose, he was sent by the Florentine Republic to Rome to prevent the election of a new pope. The mission failed, but DOMINICI gained even greater esteem from the newly elected Gregory XII, who appointed him Archbishop of Ragusa (26 March 1408) and then cardinal of San Sisto the following May. The acceptance of these promotions drew criticism, but he used them for good. Indeed, while recognizing the Roman pontiff as legitimate and carrying out his delicate commissions, he ultimately succeeded in securing his abdication. Presented at the Council of Constance (4 July 1415), he declared his intention to renounce the purple, but this was not permitted. Instead, the new pope, Martin V, entrusted the diplomatic Dominican abbot with the difficult task of a legation in Hungary and Bohemia against the Hussites (10 July 1418). There, he was unable to complete his mission due to his sudden death in Buda. His cult was confirmed by Gregory XVI in 1832. Feast day: 10 June.
DOMINICI left many writings, some unpublished: letters, commentaries on Holy Scripture, and treatises. Among these, the Latin work *Lucula noctis*, written around 1405, deserves special mention for its somewhat severe resolution of the problem of the use of classical authors (ed. R. Coulon, Paris 1908; Moore, Notre-Dame 1940). Also excellent as language texts are the two Italian treatises: *Regola del governo di cura familiare* (Florence 1860) and *Amore di carità*, the latter probably composed between 1392-94 (Bologna 1889).
**DOMINICI’S PEDAGOGICAL THOUGHT.** - DOMINICI sought to oppose the spread of Humanism. As can be seen in his works *Regola del governo di cura familiare* and *Lucula noctis*, he railed against Humanist assertions because the study of classical authors endangered the salvation of the soul. While Humanism, in certain respects, worked toward reconciling the Christian world with the pagan world, DOMINICI resolutely opposed the latter as a denier of the Christian faith, being prior to and outside revealed Truth. Philosophy, like every other natural science, «is not properly science but opinion». All ancient doctrine—including that of Plato and Aristotle—is full of errors harmful to the purity of the faith.
From this thought, it is easy to infer how DOMINICI railed against all humanistic culture, which had revived ancient Greco-Roman learning. Yet, since a man never entirely escapes the ideas and tendencies of his time, one can also discern in DOMINICI himself, despite his firm opposition to the burgeoning Humanism, a new and modern sense of education—especially when he recognizes the rights of the body or affirms the free nature of man. The body is no longer considered the enemy of the soul; rather, it is its «shield or true buckler», which, in defense of the soul, receives all blows. The flesh is not the enemy of the spirit but helps the spirit to triumph. The victory of the flesh lies in being and making itself the servant of the spirit.