The typical European peasant living in the sixteenth century would have been completely unaware of the slow political and social changes brewing in Europe, a period of time historians now refer to as the Renaissance. No one at the time could foresee the chains of circumstance that would free Europeans of their medieval mindset and bring them into the modern, forward-thinking era. While many individual events lead to this rebirth of art, education, and social reform, the source of these changes can be attributed to the rise of humanist thinkers. Many humanist inspired change throughout Europe most importantly including the increase of education and scientific discovery and the reform of the Catholic Church, ultimately loosening European’s dependency …show more content…
Despite the fact that Erasmus was a devout Christian, he disapproved of the forces of corruption present in the Church’s functions. He condoned the Church and enlightened the common folk about the Church’s misconduct through works of satire, attacking “priestly greed, the abuse of ex-communication, miracles, fasting, relic-mongering, and lechery in the monasteries” (Manchester 126). Another valuable player in the clash between humanism and the Catholic Church was Martin Luther. Luther was a monk who recognized the injustices in the Catholic Church and protested aragonite them, such as his ninety-five theses against indulgences. Many Europeans agreed with Luther’s stance and supported him in the Protestant Reformation, a split away from the corruptions of the Catholic Church. Following Luther’s influence this “early Protestant strength sprang from tradesmen; from anti-clericals; from the educated middle class, whose humanistic studies had convinced them that Catholicism was rooted in superstition” (Manchester 175). Therefore, humanists exposure of the Church’s misconduct weakened Europeans faith in the system, and broke them away from their dependency on the Church to live a purposeful
Martin Luther, was “temperamental, peevish, egomaniacal, and argumentative” (Hooker, www.wsu.edu), but played a pivotal role in history. During Luther's time as a monk, the Catholic Church was selling indulgences. Luther took notice to the corruption and began to reason that men can only get their salvation through Jesus Christ, not the Pope or indulgences, let alone the Church itself. Luther began ...
During the Renaissance, people were dedicated to studying human works. They would observe from real life to gain inspiration, new ideas, and to try to recreate the world as they saw it in their art. New techniques such as scientific and atmospheric perspective were created, changing art forever. Artists would use their skills to create works for patrons, from the Church, various guilds, and other religious orders. During the High Renaissance, Julius II commissioned Raphael to decorate the Vatican Palace. The first of the rooms he decorated was The “Room of the Signature”, where he painted The School of Athens. Originally, this room housed Julius II’s personal library, but later on it would be the room where papal documents were signed. In 1508, Raphael began painting four frescoes that represented theology, philosophy, law, and the arts. As stated in Janson’s History of Art Volume II, This fresco “represents a summation of High Renaissance humanism, for it attempts to represent the unity of knowledge in one grand scheme.” Raphael’s The School of Athens is a prime example of humanistic art, as evidenced by the subject of the art itself, the classical elements in the piece, and it’s scientific and illusionistic rendering.
Throughout its history, Europe went through several periods of dynamic change. From the 16th to the 17th century, however, these changes took a drastic shift in both religious as well as educational standards. As clearly seen through the writings of both Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis and Thomas More’s Utopia, these changes reflected a deeper movement in human culture. Referred to as the Christian Humanist movement (16th c) and the Scientific Revolution (17th c), Bacon and More capture the heart of the movement and portray it to their audiences in utopian societies. These works, then, demonstrate not only the authors’ attitudes towards the monumental changes of their time, but also the dramatic shift in ideology in approximately one hundred years.
During the renaissance, there was a renewed interest in the arts, and the traditional views of society came into question. People began to explore the power of the human mind. A term often used to describe the increasing interest in the powers of the human mind is humanism. Generally, humanism stresses the individual's creative, reasoning, and aesthetic powers. However, during the Renaissance, individual ideas about humanism differed.
Humanism The introduction of the concept of humanism greatly affected the Renaissance. The Humanistic influence shaped Renaissance art, writing, education and thinkers, its ideas were spread among all aspects of life. Machiavelli’s writings during the Renaissance were also affected by the ideas of humanism. His ideas reflect the thoughts of humanism in the way he thought governments and societies should be organized.
The renaissance lay dormant in the minds of men from the 13th and 14th centuries. Their work was considered heretical and they were burned at the stake. The repression of the 13th and 14th centuries was undone as the power of the church and its scholastic knowledge was transferred to any literate men with access to a local printer's workshop and money to buy a library of ancient works that were now being copied at incredible speeds. This created a threat to the doctrinal power of the church which gave way to a scientific revolution. The new power of scientific knowledge and the engines that it was to build was a subject of two of the greatest playwrights of the period, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Marlowe identified the perceived threats that came from irreverence of the church and tradition. Shakespeare wrote a play that focused on the great promise that the renaissance turned out to be. Many in power feared that the promise of returning to old ideas was actually a demonic illusion of prosperity which undermined traditional doctrine. Others enjoyed the thought of the new power that might be enjoyed from conquering distant lands and using the old books as tools to master earth.
Martin Luther began as a simple Augustinian Friar in the Roman Catholic Church, the reigning power of Western Europe for hundreds of years, and he soon became the leader of the most important stand against the Catholic Church. I call Luther’s actions a stand rather than a revolt because he did not willingly mean to disrespect the entire church or even start a new denomination of Christianity, he was only trying to bring truth to it. Luther published writings such as The Ninety-five Theses, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation and A Treatise on Christian Liberty, all which produced outrage in the Church for the fact that it blatantly accused the clerics, and especially the pope, of many wrong doings in their practice.
The idea that the practices of the church such as indulgences went against the humanist approach led to the break out of reformation. According to Professor Shegan, Martin Luther (1483-1546) one of the reformers did understand that the church held some sort of key for people to go to heaven. However, Luther despised the Catholic Church sacraments most especially the ideal of infant baptism. This is one of the reasons why reformation seemed to be harmful to the Catholic Church as it created a schism. Professor Shegan in lecture 4, also elaborated how Luther despised the teaching of salvation from the catholic church. Luther, said people did not have to work to earn salvation. While the Catholic church, stated that there were a number of things that people had to do to earn salvation. The Catholic leadership blamed the renaissance because it allowed for many reformers to ultimately go against the Church which unified all Europe. Both humanists such Eramsus and reformers were against the the church was selling indulgences for cash. They both agreed that Christ specifically stated in the bible had already forgiven everyone of their sins through
The radical shift in European culture, covering almost a century and a half of the region’s history, is commonly referred to as the Age of Reason, or simply, The Enlightenment. This period, spanning from about 1650-1800, is best characterized by rapid political, philosophical, and cultural reform. Many influential and radical thinkers spearheaded the movement, questioning the current societal norms while continuing to stress the importance of employing reason and logic rather than relying on blind faith when making decisions. These thinkers, including the likes of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, advocated for a shift in power away from the church and state, and are responsible for the subsequent decline in the influence of the two over-controlling entities. Focusing specifically on the
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.
The Renaissance Period and the Start of Humanism The Renaissance was an incredibly important turning point in Western Intellectual and Cultural Tradition. All of these changes centered around the idea of Humanism -- in which, people became less "God Centered" and more "Human-centered".
The main difference in the Renaissance that differentiated it from the middle ages was the push for Humanism, the glorification of man rather than that of God. In medieval times, art was used solely for the spreading of the message of God. Especially because the medieval world was largely illiterate, art was an excellent way of communicating the stories of the Bible to the everyday peasant. Among many other artistic decisions, Art was intentionally not made beautiful, depicted flat scenes with no background, and used a hierarchical scale to represent its characters and message. Not only was this to help emphasize the importance in a piece, but their lack of realism and beauty prevented the art as being an object of worship in itself.
The European Renaissance was a time of great change. The people of that time were beginning to take an interest in learning and also began to follow the idea of humanism. Humanism was a way of life where a person would reject most religious beliefs and focus on the here and now. One of the main things Humanist believed in was individual achievement. This gave many artists the opportunity to be known around Europe for his or her talent and not be criticized for being selfish. This is exactly what Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, or more commonly known as Donatello did. This gifted Italian sculptor was born in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, around the year 1386. Donatello grew up already set up on the path to be a great craftsman. His father was a member of the Florentine Wool Combers Guild, this influenced Donatello’s choice of career. Donatello’s name started to become known after he created an Annunciation carved in stone for the church of S. Croce in his hometown, Florence. After this, Donatello was hired to create art for many well-known patrons such as the Medici family. He also collaborated with other talented sculptors and artist of his time, like Ghiberti. Donatello was a huge influence to Renaissance art because of the realism of his work, the effect his art had on other sculptors, and his revival of classical art.
When the Black Death arrived in Europe in 1347, it completely overtook the country and left nothing but chaos. Europe was desperate for a rebirth. Luckily, a new beginning of the modern world arose, the Renaissance. Not only was this a new era for Europe, but also a great turning point in Western intellectual and cultural tradition due to changes in multiple, important subjects
Many diverse ideas flourished during the European Renaissance which had a lasting impact on the world. Humanism is a worldview and a moral philosophy that considers humans to be of primary importance. The aspect of humanism first thrived in 14th century Italy, and later spread north in the 15th century. Initially humanistic ideas about education were quickly adopted by the Italian upper class. The Italian ideas and attitudes towards life and learning impacted nobility in other parts of Europe. They were able to accept and adapt to this new lifestyle. Humanism during the Renaissance helped to spread ideas about the basic nature of human beings, how people should be educated to become well rounded individuals, and how education impacts an individual’s life.