Desiderius Erasmus wrote his seminal masterpiece of christian humanism “Praise of Folly” in 1511, yet the effects and influence of this small piece of cathartic, witty banter would permeate social consciousness in the european renaissance mind and play a significant role in the revolutionary state of church politics in the days before and after Martin Luther’s reformation. In his mere 40,000 words, Erasmus succeeded in highlighting most of contemporary critical theory about the Catholic church and the state of spiritualism as a whole through the ingenious conceit of the lady, Folly. Folly is the prism through which Erasmus can pass his views unaltered, despite the fact he continued to receive excessive criticism following the publication and was forced to defend himself ceaselessly after it’s incredible popularity, as explained in the successive editions of Listrus’ commentary on Folly that usually accompanied the book. Erasmus’ criticism come from a place however, not of scorn or disdain, but of hope. He remains an ardent catholic despite his criticisms and feels that the majority of issues within his piece stem from those who are actively attempting to subvert christian teaching as opposed to expressing the inherent flaws of the system as a whole. Indeed, even though his colleague, Martin Luther shared many of the same criticisms of the contemporary church, Erasmus could never make the leap of faith into leaving Catholicism for some other purpose. The criticisms were always representative of a higher desire for correction within the church, as though Catholicism and spirituality had strayed from the path, particularly in reference to the misappropriation of praise to Mary and the saints rather than Christ or in the devious natur...
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Everyone has aspirations; whether they are ginormous or microscopic, they hold a great deal of importance in our lives. They become so important that with adherence and diligence, a person has the ability to set their mind to anything. It is absolutely true that when a person tries to reach a goal, they are going to experience a few obstacles here and there; this is the time when they must step it up a notch and fight their way to the top. In this particular book, a man named Desiderius Erasmus must fight to keep the worldwide body of Christians united as Catholicism attempts to tear the people apart, limb-by-limb.
Virgil. Vergilius Vaticanus. Vollstandige Faksimile-Ausgage im Originalformat von Codex Vaticanus Lat. 3225. Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1980. Print.
Ruskin, John. “Grotesque Renaissance.” The Stones of Venice: The Fall. 1853. New York: Garland Publishing, 1979. 112-65. Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1989. 21-2.
Luther, a pastor and professor at the University of Wittenberg, deplored the entanglement of God’s free gift of grace in a complex system of indulgences and good works. In his Ninety-five Theses, he attacked the indulgence system, insisting that the pope had no authority over purgatory and that the doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the gospel. Here lay the key to Luther’s concerns for the ethical and theological reform of the church: Scripture alone is authoritative (sola sciptura) and justification is by faith (sola fide), not by works. While he did not intend to break with the Catholic church, a confrontation with the papacy was not long in coming. In 1521 Luther was excommunicated; what began as an internal reform movement had become a fracture in western
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...art for any lack of seriousness. Here we see the culmination of Folly’s progression towards Erasmus’s most serious subject and away from humor.
In this brief monograph, we shall be hunting down and examining various creatures from the bestiary of Medieval/Renaissance thought. Among these are the fierce lion of imperious, egotistical power, a pair of fantastic peacocks, one of vanity, one of preening social status, and the docile lamb of humility. The lion and the peacocks are of the species known as pride, while the lamb is of an entirely different, in fact antithetical race, that of humility and forgiveness. The textual regions we shall be exploring include the diverse expanses, from palace to heath, of William Shakespeare, the dark, sinister Italy of John Webster, and the perfumed lady's chambers of Ben Jonson and Robert Herrick.
Kleiner, Fred S. A History of Roman Art. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
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Humanists had been calling for reform in the Catholic Church long before Martin Luther penned his Ninety-Five Theses. Humanism was an intellectual and cultural movement of the Renaissance that emphasized the expansion of mans’ capacities. “[Humanism] was an attempt to discover humankind’s own earthly fulfillment. . . [it] developed an increasing distaste for dogma, and embraced a figurative interpretation of the scriptures and an attitude of tolerance toward all viewpoints” (Sporre 310). This perspective could not differ more from the Church’s strict reliance on tradition. People’s outlook on the world changed, but the Church continued on with what had previously worked. It soon became clear that reform in the Church was not in the foreseeable future, so people decided to take matters into their own hands. As humanism spread throughout Italy and northern Europe, more and more people agr...
The renaissance and the reformation were two of the most significant changes in history that has shaped our world today. Both of these great time periods are strikingly similar in some ways and totally different in others. This is because the renaissance was a change from religion to humanism whether it is in art or literature; it is where the individual began to matter. However, the reformation was,” in a nutshell,” a way to reform the church and even more so to form the way our society is today. The first half of this paper will view the drop in faith, the economic powers, and the artistic and literary changes during the renaissance, while the second half will view the progresses and changes the church makes during the reformation.
Larmann, R., & Shields, M. (2011). Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe (1400–1750). Gateways to Art (pp. 376-97). New York: W.W. Norton.
In the Northern European Renaissance lived a scholar by the name of Erasmus. Erasmus was particularly concerned with the corruption going on within the Church. Since he was so intrigued by the abuses of the church, he decided to write an essay titled, “In Praise of Folly”. In this essay, Erasmus describes many different hypocritical actions and thoughts played out by the church. One of these included looking for guidance and intersession through statues, relics, specific prayers, idols, and saints. Erasmus did not this was necessary because it was only distraction someone from finding Jesus. One of the things the church did that Erasmus thought was hypocritical was being a part of Holy Orders. Erasmus saw this at hypocritical because though you were supposed to be humbled and help others, being a part of this typically only made one more self-absorbed. Most of the people in Holy Orders got consumed in the power and wealth received from being in this position, and forgot why they became a part of Holy Orders in the first place. Another issue Erasmus saw within the church had to do with the Pope. The Pope was supposed to be the leader of the church and a complete representation of Christ, yet the Pope was holding huge parties and spending ample amounts of money. Erasmus believed the church needed to reevaluate what it was doing and use the Spirit as guidance and defense instead...
Harr, James. Essays on Italian Poetry and Music in the Renassisance: 1350-1600. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.