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Tyrol, 1457. A man escapes from the diocesan town of Brixen in South Tyrol. There are rumours that troops are waiting to seize him. Briefly he takes refuge in the ancient fortress town of Säben, high above the Isarco Valley, but he does not feel safe. He hastens to move on. Making a tremendous effort, he crosses several passes through the Dolomites in one day. Finally he reaches a mountain fortress in the far south, remaining there for over a year. The man so desperate to evade his pursuers is the Bishop of Brixen, a cardinal in Rome, one of the greatest philosophers and theologians of his day: Nikolaus von Kues, known as Cusanus.
He was born in Kues, on the River Mosel, in 1401, son of a wealthy ship-owner. But his career was unusual and highly impressive for the offspring of a non-aristocratic family. He studied law in Padua, was a member of the Council of Basel, and was later commissioned by the Pope to negotiate reconciliation with the Orthodox Church and better relations with the German churches. His reforms of the Church, like his ambitious plans as Bishop of Brixen, came to nothing. However, Nikolaus von Kues certainly left a considerable legacy.
In the documentary "The Cardinal" author Martina Schönfeld and cameraman Klaus Medrow have created a fascinating portrait of a man who attained one of the highest positions in the Roman Catholic Church. A man who always suffered because that he came from a middle-class background but at the same time was proud of his unusual career. A character who was torn between renunciation of worldly matters and the politics of power, against the background of a century tormented by a similar conflict. The 15th century was dominated by deeply medieval patterns of thought and belief - but also by the dawn of a new age. Renaissance scholars rediscovered the ancient philosophers and writers afresh, adopted a critical approach to their own past and present, and started to venture towards new shores, both literally and figuratively. In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered America. In his words and deeds Cusanus was one of the founding fathers of modern natural sciences, and he struggled to reform the chaotic structure of the Church itself. He is frequently described as a reformer who predated the Reformation, as a scholar whose vision extended beyond the horizon.
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Remark