Francesco Patrizi was born in 1529, on the island of Cherso (now Cres), he was known for his anti-Aristotelianism views, yet he actually began his study of philosophy from Aristotelianism. Before his interest in philosophy, he planned to study medicine. He studied at the University of Padua starting in 1547 and focused mainly on Aristotelian philosophy. Francesco Patrizi moved to Cyprus and went on trips to other Italian cities and Spain. Apparently, he was unable to secure his material life during those years, and he sold many of his collections of Greek manuscripts to Philip II of Spain. Francesco Patrizi received an offer from the University of Ferrara in 1578 as a professor teaching Platonic philosophy (Ferrara is in Northern Italy). He had a few arguments with his opponents on philosophy during his time at the University of Ferrara. In 1592, Francesco Patrizi was invited by Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini to be a professor at the University of Rome. He published one of his most important and well-known works Nova de Universis Philosophia (New Philosophy of Things in its entirety) during his late years, and this work caused troubles from the Roman Inquisition and finally being banned due to the theological criticisms within this work. Francesco Patrizi passed away on his position at the University of Rome in 1597.
Francesco Patrizi wrote a considerable amount of works, whether published or not, and his broad interests could be seen from his works. Other than natural philosophy (which he actually had his own set of theories regarding metaphysics, see in his work New Philosophy), Francesco Patrizi touched upon other fields, such as history, poetry, literature, science (physics, mathematics), and even music. He even published works on military and construction management. Patrizi was influential for later philosophers and scientists as he had offered his theories regarding time, physical space, and mathematical space, which was a nuanced interpretation than the Aristotelian concepts that were well spread during the renaissance time. Similar to other philosophers, Francesco Patrizi also had his own view of cosmology, in which he adopted some of the Platonist views. In the earlier works of Francesco Patrizi, there were fewer criticisms of Aristotelianism, but after decades, he began to criticize Aristotelian views, and clearly his ideas were changing.
- Francesco Patrizi of Cherso could be confused with another Italian humanist and bishop named also Francesco Patrizi of Siena, which lived about a century before him.
- Though Francesco Patrizi is famous for being a Platonist, he was also dedicated to pre-Platonic philosophy. Since one of his reason for opposition to Aristotelianism was regarding how Aristotle used earlier philosophers’ views, it is somewhat reasonable to see his interests in other ancient Greek philosophers.
- Francesco Patrizi’s theory on space and other metaphysical views were influential to other philosophers we know, such as Galileo and Newton.
- During the early years before his occupation at the University of Ferrara, Francesco Patrizi was traveling between different cities to earn a living.
- Francesco Patrizi was often attacked by his opponents for his theological and philosophical views. Some of his opponents accused him of using unreliable sources (mainly pre-Platonic works). Patrizi was not strict coming to the usage of sources.
Purnell, Fred, "Francesco Patrizi", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/patrizi/>.