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Religion throughout history essay
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Catherine de’ Medici played an important role in Sixteenth Century France. She has been blamed for starting the French Wars of Religion, yet it is impossible to blame one person for a war. Catherine de’ Medici’s full name is Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de Medici. She was born in Florence, Italy, on April 13, 1519. Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne, Countess of Boulogne, were her parents. Even though she was a female, they still adored her. Unfortunately, they both died within weeks of her birth. and she was left to be raised by her grandmother, Alfonsina Orsini, the spouse of Piero de Medici. Alfonsina died within a year, and Catherine was sent to stay with her aunt, Clarissa de Medici. Clarissa educated Catherine, along with her own children, and Catherine was happy in her new atmosphere living with her aunt. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Catherine married fourteen-year-old Henry, the second son of King Francis I of France. Pope Clement arranged Catherine’s wedding. Their marriage was meant to bring great wealth. On March 31,1547, her husband became King Henri II, and Catherine became the Queen of France. She loved Henry from the start of their marriage, but he was more interested in his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, a French noblewoman. Catherine had ten children, three who would temporarily reign as king. All of Catherine's children’s names were, Francis II, Elisabeth of Valois, Claude of Valois, Louis, Charles IX, Henry III, Marguerite of Valois, Francois, Duke of Anjou, Victoria of Valois, and Joan of Valois. Unfortunately, three of them didn’t survive infancy, but four of their boys and 3 of their girls survived. At the wedding of Philip II and Elisabeth, who was the teena... ... middle of paper ... ...ieve that the cabinets were more likely used to hold small works of art or secret papers than a poison “stash”. On January 5, 1589, Catherine de’ Medici died at Chateau de Blois, in France, of natural causes. Her last words were, “Enough cut off, my son,” when Henry III came to her death-bed to tell her that the the great enemy of the crown was dead. She is also known for introducing many new foods to France. She taught the French how to eat with a fork and introduced new foods such as; Broccoli, cakes, cream puffs, custards, lettuce, parsley, pasta, spinach, sweetbreads, and many others. Without Catherine, it is unlikely that her sons would have remained in power. Also, religion may have been different today, because of the French Wars of Religion, government, because Catherine played a central role, and The Wars of Religion could still be occurring today.
Catherine of Siena and Joan of Arc were small lapses in this model, since they did not come to power by wealth or economic status. Although they share many similarities, they have a few differences. Joan and Catherine stood out among millions of women and challenged the system of the time. Catherine of Siena was said to have received visions of Jesus, telling her to be kind to others and help the poor and sick. She was incredibly religious and did everything possible to help people at every turn. She also played a major role in moving the papacy from Avignon back to Rome. This made her very influential to others, and she gained a following. Joan and Catherine were incredibly similar in the ways that they gained fame through their visions, however, they differed in the motives that they had for their actions. Catherine went on to help many people in need, and was eventually made a saint of the Catholic Church. Her actions of kindness and grace ranked her in religious
Marie Antoinette was born on November 2, 1755 at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, and in a rich family. She was one of the fifteen children of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa. She was the youngest daughter but second youngest child among those fifteen children. She lacked of education, so her handwriting was not easy to understand. Instead of liberal art lessons, she had more interested in entertainment lessons, so she was educated on dance, music, manners, and appearance. With these entertainment lessons, she learnt them better than liberal art lessons. She also learnt three languages included Italian, French, and German, and history of Austria and France. But at the age of ten, she still had trouble in reading, writing, and speaking.
Were the Medicis the great heroes of the Renaissance or the great villains? The Medici’s were a prominent family in the Renaissance, who ruled Florence from 1434 to 1737. They are regarded as being one of the most powerful and richest families in the whole of Europe. The Medics used this great status and wealth to develop an improved Florence, one that was significantly influenced by the Renaissance.
Catherine de Medici’s culpability for the turbulent events in France in 1559-72 remains a topic of some debate. Highly personal protestant pamphleteers associated Catherine with sinister comparisons to the contemporary evil Machiavelli which eventually developed into the ‘Black Legend’. Jean.H. Mariégol consolidates this interpretation, overwhelmingly assuming Catherine’s wickedness; the Queen Mother was deemed to be acting for ‘personal aggrandizement’ without an interest in the monarchy. Neale provides a corrective arguing a ‘dominant maternalism’ drove Catherine’s policies. Sutherland critiques Neale, suggesting he is guilty of using misconceived qualifying phrases from the ‘Black Legend’ stemming from the contemporary pamphlets, instead Sutherland and Heller attempt to disentangle Catherine from the context of the xenophobic Protestant pamphleteers that shaped much of Catherine’s historical analysis thus far, revealing the ‘politique’ whose moderate policies were a force for stability. Knecht is most convincing in his assertion that whilst the ‘Black Legend’ is a misrepresentation of her character and policies, Sutherland goes too far in whitewashing Catherine. Ironically, Catherine as a ‘politique’ aimed for complex policies and yet her role in French politics was over-simplified by contemporaries and arguably even by modern historians contributing to overly polarised interpretations. Instead we should bear in mind the violent pressures Catherine faced in the context of the collapse of monarchical authority and follow the more nuanced interpretation of her role.
Queen Isabella had many accomplishments as an adult. One of them was she tried to change the religion of Castile as much as she could. Isabella banned all religions other than Roman Catholic. Most of Castile was Muslim and if you weren’t willing to change to Catholic, then you would be punished or banned. She made war on Muslims who held part of Southern Spain. Also, all Jews had to be baptized in a church. Obviously, religion took a major role in the Renaissance (Phillips par 4).
In the seventeenth century there were different types of leaders in Europe. The classic monarchial rule was giving way to absolutist rule. Absolute kings claimed to be ruling directly from God, therefore having divine rule that could not be interfered with. In 1643 Louis XIV began his reign over France as an absolute king.
Historians and scholars often overlook the part that women played in the Renaissance. Did women have a Renaissance? The period did not occur in a male only vacuum; women played an important part in the changes taking place across Europe. No matter a woman’s station in the class system, women, were still considered the sinful daughter of Eve, the downfall of man. Into this world stepped Isabella d’Este, one of the great women of the Renaissance.
Mary Tudor or Queen Mary I of England was infamously known as Bloody Mary. While many believe Bloody Mary was an evil monster, others believe she was a great queen because of her many accomplishments. Mary was actually a good devoted Catholic others still to this day believe she was an evil woman, but with these interesting facts it will be determined that Mary was a good queen.
Marie Antoinette’s last words were thought to be polite as she braved her fate in a simple white dress, already having wished her children the best (“The Grand Dauphin”), “Pardon me Sir, I meant not to do it", to the executioner, whose foot she accidentally stepped on before she was executed. Her body was thrown into an unmarked cemetery, rue d'Anjou until exhumed in 1815 and properly reburied (Buzzi).
Through all the hardships and blood, Joan of Arc was a fierce warrior and led the French to complete victory. Starting out in a maiden village, and more of a shock for being a woman, Joan completely transform herself and France. Advancing in a year and a month, crowned a reluctant king, rallied broken people, reversed the course of a great war, and shoved history into a new path (Richey 1); Joan made a name for herself. No one can ever suppress what she achieved at such a young age.
Catherine of Siena was born in Italy in 1347 at a time when political and religious changes were affecting the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Dedicating her life to the Holy Spirit from a very young age, Catherine pursued a life of purity and simplicity that served as a background to her great literary work, The Dialogue of the Divine Providence . Her work focuses on the importance of prayer and its transcendent power in human life.
The effect of Joan of Arc can be best understood and explained by looking at some of the events surrounding her birth and childhood. She was born in the later half of the Hundred Years’ War. The war was between France and England, which began over the land and control of Aquitaine, located in the southern part of France. Both countries had made legitimate claims of the land, but the dispute was unresolved and war was declared. The war was mainly fought in France and by 1429, England had gained a great portion of France. Joan also entered the world at a time that there was a lot of turmoil not only in her country but also within the church. At this time the Christian theology was not catering enough to the nobility or to the needs of the townspeople. Many were upset and wanted to instill a different type of church. The people became upset with the clergy because they were unaware of or involved in their society. So in order to expel the church leaders and those that stood in their way, rumors of heresy and accusations were thrown. The church began to spiral into much upheaval. Commoners were accusing priests and clergy of heresy and thus weakening the church and their message. So when Joan was born into a town that was associated with a large group of witches and heretics, rumors began to spread about her also.
During her stay in France, King Henry gave Mary precedence over his own daughters, since she was going to marry his son in the future. Later, in April 1558, she married Henry’s son, the Dauphin Francis, when she was 15 years old. Soon after, in July 1559, when King Henry died, Francis became King Francis II of France, thus making Mary the Queen of France also (Haws Early Life par 1-2). Since Fran...
Florence, Italy was a city just like any other during the Renaissance. It was city of 50,000 people, less than there were in Paris and Venice but more than most other European cities. The busiest parts of the city were the Ponte Vecchio, a place lined with markets and houses, the neighborhood of the Orsanmichele and Mercato Vecchio, or the Old Market. Florence was a place of beauty and leisure. A Venetian visitor once said, “There is in my opinion no region more sweeter than that wherein Florence is a placed for Florence is situated in a plain surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains…And the hills are fertile cultivated, pleasant…” (Unger, pg. 1). Florence was a very prosperous city; it made fortunes off of wool and banking trades. A certain Florentine family contributed to the vast wealth as well. The Medici family was no doubt the foundation of prosperity for Florence.
During the early fifteenth century in France, we see the birth of a young peasant girl known as Joan whom became a celebrity or divine figure. Also known as “The Maid of Orleans,” the martyr of the church of France and the saint of the Roman Catholic Church, Joan of Arc, played a significant role in manifesting popular Christian piety, influencing developments with bureaucratic states, and initiating major changes with European societies during the fifteenth century through her trial with the Catholic Church known as the Trial of Joan of Arc.