New Medicean Humanism
A cultural vision for rebuilding, in the contemporary world, a natural balance between the individual and humankind, and between humankind and the environment, through the values of the Medicean humanistic tradition.
What is New Medicean Humanism?
New Medicean Humanism is a socio-cultural movement which, starting from the study of the ancient Medicean Humanistic Philosophy, affirms the need to restore in the contemporary world a natural balance between the individual and humankind, and between humankind and the environment.
According to this perspective, that balance has been deeply altered by modern individualism, which developed in part from the Enlightenment philosophical concept of the “autonomy of reason”. This has contributed to the present predominance of Reason, understood as the human capacity to distinguish and order, over the integrated practice of the other fundamental human values of civil life: Beauty, Libertas, Nobilitas and Humanitas.
- Beauty
- Libertas
- Nobilitas
- Humanitas
- Reason
New Medicean Humanism therefore seeks to reunite these values within a single vision of the human person, the community and the environment, so that the progress of reason and technology may once again be accompanied by civic responsibility, sensitivity to beauty, conscious freedom, nobility of conduct and care for humanity.
Purpose and Humanistic Governance
The principal purpose of New Medicean Humanism is to identify, through Local Humanistic Laws, philosophical guidelines and socio-cultural activities capable of helping each person rebuild a natural balance between the individual and humankind, and between humankind and the environment.
Alongside this local dimension, the system also envisages a global Humanistic Government, intended to develop Global Humanistic Laws for the prevention of potential harm arising from the major risks of the modern age, which are inherent in technological progress developed in the wake of the Enlightenment concept of the “autonomy of reason”.
The Founding Manifestos
New Medicean Humanism was established by His Royal Highness Grand Duke Ottaviano de’ Medici of Tuscany through the Grand Ducal Decrees of 18 February 2018: the Manifesto of New Medicean Humanism and the Manifesto of the Medicean Humanistic Government.
Manifesto of New Medicean Humanism
It sets out the fundamental guidelines to be followed by all members of the Medicean Grand Ducal People and includes the Calendar of the Humanistic Year.
Manifesto of the Medicean Humanistic Government
It sets out the guidelines to be followed by all legislative bodies of the Medicean Grand Ducal Crown of Tuscany.
Medicean Humanistic Academy
The Medicean Humanistic Academy is the institution of the Medicean Grand Ducal House created to study, deepen and disseminate in the contemporary world the values of New Medicean Humanism, translating them into paths of moral, civic, environmental, cultural and artistic formation.
At the same time, the Academy seeks to revive, in a contemporary form, the humanistic tradition of the ancient Medicean Neoplatonic Academy associated with Marsilio Ficino, supported during the Renaissance by Lorenzo the Magnificent: a tradition in which learning was inseparable from the formation of the human person, civic life, beauty and responsibility toward the community.
From this perspective, the Academy operates as an Advanced School for spiritual, civic, environmental and artistic nobility, under the high patronage of H.R.H. Grand Duke Ottaviano de’ Medici of Tuscany, educating Knights and Dames of the Order of Saint Stephen, citizens of the Medicean Humanistic Fiefs and all those wishing to contribute to the rebirth of a civilisation founded on spirituality, beauty, knowledge and responsibility.
Its programmes include, in an integrated form, the study of Medicean tradition and civic and spiritual nobility, civic and environmental service, leadership in the Fiefs of the Third Millennium, food sovereignty and energy self-sufficiency, the arts and humanistic culture, well-being and conscious nutrition, humanistic enterprise and social cohesion. Activities may take place online and in person at the academic centres of the Medicean Fiefs, also in collaboration with public bodies, universities, religious institutions, research centres, ecological organisations and artistic institutions.
The Academy therefore has a dual function: to preserve and study the Medicean humanistic tradition and, at the same time, to make it active once again in the present through education, culture, service and practical application in local communities.
Almanac of New Medicean Humanism
The Almanac of New Medicean Humanism is the journalistic publication registered with the Court of Florence which accompanies and supports the development of New Medicean Humanism through information and cultural dissemination.
Through articles, news, in-depth features and editorials, the Almanac explores the themes that develop around the five fundamental values of the Medicean humanistic vision — Libertas, Humanitas, Nobilitas, Reason and Beauty — helping to illuminate their contemporary meaning and their possible applications in personal, civic, cultural and community life.
The publication also serves as a link with the life of the Medicean Grand Ducal House of Tuscany, giving space to the calendar of humanistic activities promoted for its supporters and to the cultural, educational and social initiatives through which the principles of New Medicean Humanism are translated into concrete experiences.
In this way, the Almanac represents the informational and cultural voice of New Medicean Humanism: a space in which its values are observed, discussed and disseminated in relation to the challenges and opportunities of the present.
New Medicean Humanism, the Medicean Humanistic Academy and the Almanac thus form three complementary dimensions of a single project: a philosophy for the present, an institution devoted to studying and transmitting it, and a journalistic publication dedicated to explaining its values, activities and dialogue with contemporary society.