Pico’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man” dates back from about was a formal speech created by Pico to help introduce his”… 900 theses from numerous authorities—ancient and medieval, pagan and Christian, Muslem and Jewish.”(PLATO). His Oration was thought to be groundbreaking at the time as he contested the status quo of Church teachings and explained the idea that man has free will and the ability to talk to God. At the time the Renaissance was beginning and Italian philosophers such as Francesco Petrarch and Pico della Mirandola were beginning to create the idea of Humanism. Pico’s “Oration of a Dignity of a Man” should be preserved for future generations because he was one of the first to challenge church doctrine and introduced new thoughts to the way humans could communicate with God<!--more-->

At the time of Pico’s work the Renaissance was occurring and it was a time of great new invention and great new sciences being discovered all across Europe. The Renaissance occurred out of Europe coming out of the medieval and dark ages with a time period of great intellectual enlightenment. There was major changes happening across the continent, whether there were new forms of art, music, dance, literature, architecture, sculpture, or literature there were new and vast forms being created. Most of the texts at the time were from the Church and there was an obvious power struggle between church and state among most catholic countries. The church tried to instill that the word of the bible and the teachings of the church were final, and anything that went against these doctrines would be considered church heresy and dogma. Therefore when Pico created the <em>900 Theses”…</em> thirteen of these theses were deemed heretical by the papacy, and yet Pico refused to change or withdraw a single one.”(IEP)  In the work Pico tried to explain that man was given free will to decide how he wanted to live his life, and that anyone could communicate with God, not just the monks &amp; priests. This work was very unusual at the time because there were very few people who would dare directly challenge Church authority. He made a claim “Describing the individual's position as only “a little lower than the angels,” he stressed man's capacity to determine his own destiny on the hierarchical “chain of being” that linked the divine and brute realms.”(FIERO-B3.29). This was revolutionary in the 1400s as the dark age ideals were starting to be challenged and looked at as possibly not the best explanation of life on earth as well as the views on afterlife. In today’s times Pico is just as influential as he was in the renaissance, but for different reasons than his initial significance. At the time there was nothing like its kind, this was a first for the eyes of the Italian public all who ensued afterwards to gain the wisdom of Pico. Its significance nowadays serves us the purpose to gain access to the thoughts of Pico and fellow Italian scholars of humanism who he collaborated with to create the <em>900 theses</em> and the “Oration of the Dignity of Man”. The resources available to Pico as he was writing the oration are invaluable pieces of literature that may or may not even exist anymore, he was guided by some of the greatest scholars whose writings and teachings haven’t been preserved and were only able to learn through later accounts of writings and recordings.  I have found the personal insights about one being able to be in complete control, to have strong willpower, and the theory of individualism to be all very refreshing. Im not quite how sure mysticism will lead to my direct communication with God, but I am aware of some of the great moral raising ideals of the text. It spurs from a time period where the idea of individualism was nonexistent, the idea of being in the center of one rational universe and not needing the approval of the church to be in tune with God are all things I personally believe in.  Pico had ideals that were focused on God, and the individual himself, the idea of the individual was a rising topic in the Renaissance and Castiglione wrote about the subject as well in his <em>The Book of the Courtier</em> (1518). Castiglione discussed the changes over time that had been occurring from the dark ages in the modern times of his life.”Castiglione's preoccupation with manners rather than morals, with how individuals act and how their actions may impress their peers, rather than with the intrinsic moral value of those actions.”(FIEROB3.31) separates him with Pico. Castiglione strayed away from challenging the church or putting in any controversial ideals as did Pico. Pico took an angle that he knew would cause a reaction amongst the church and the church followers.

There are numerous reasons as to why the preservation of this piece of literature is needed for future generations, we first need to have an example of what it took to create a change in the world, the need to have an opinion and be free to express it. Pico was one of the first start to challenging the church’s authorities in an age were text printing was able and his words of wisdom would be able to reach audiences larger than previously imagined. His works which weren’t published before his death, lived on after he lived to prove just how siginificant the information was whether it was traditionally published. Pico suffered exile and exoneration from his church and from his home-state of Italy. The devotion this man had towards his work is essentially indescribable, to have such strong beliefs for something one believes is very recognizable and Pico della Mirandola’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man” definitely deserves to be included in my space museum for future preservation.

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<p align="center">WORKS CITED</p>
Fiero: The Humanistic Tradition Vol 2, 6<sup>th</sup> Ed., Online e-book,

&gt; <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pico-della-mirandola/" target="_blank">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pico-della-mirandola/</a>
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&gt; <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/neoplato/" target="_blank">http://www.iep.utm.edu/neoplato/</a>

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