Il De salute Origenis e la sua ricezione nella Francia del XVII secolo: tra erudizione, polemica e devozione

This article examines the reception of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s De salute Origenis in seventeenth-century France. Although Pico’s defense of Origen had become a standard reference in debates on the Alexandrian theologian’s orthodoxy and salvation, its uses varied significantly across different intellectual and confessional contexts. Focusing on works that explicitly cite Pico’s text, the study identifies three principal modes of reception. An erudite reception, represented by Pierre Halloix and Pierre-Daniel Huet, employed the Quaestio as a scholarly source for the reconstruction of Origen’s life and thought. A polemical reception, exemplified by the Jansenist Pasquier Quesnel, used Pico’s apology to support contemporary arguments concerning ecclesiastical authority and papal judgments. Finally, a devotional reception, embodied by the Jesuit Étienne Binet, transformed Pico’s scholastic defense into a moral and spiritual narrative for a wider audience. These diverse appropriations reveal the enduring influence and adaptability of Pico’s apology in early modern France.