Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and the reform of astrology

On the 24th of February 1463, the Renaissance philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was born at Mirandola, near Modena in Italy. In 1486, at the young age of 23, he famously offered to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, natural philosophy and magic. The intellectual journey of Pico is very complex. In his book Disputationes he criticized firmly astrology. In this book Pico presents arguments against the practice of astrology that have had enormous resonance for centuries, up to our own time. This refutation of astrology has provoked many reactions. In the opinion of Bellanti and Pontano, criticism of Pico were inspired by Savonarolas's propaganda.