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The influence of the Italian Renaissance
The influence of the Italian Renaissance
The influence of the Italian Renaissance
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The Cheese and the Worms Book Review
The rise of literacy towards the end of the Middle Ages brought with it a torrent of individuals ready to think fro themselves and formulate their own theories and ideas regarding God and the Christian faith. For a long time, the church held a near monopoly on literacy and used this to maintain control over people’s lives and beliefs. While some of these new intellectuals created ideas that would forever change the way people envision themselves and their relation to God and the universe, some simply patched together tidbits of ideas that were not born out of deep philosophical inquiry, but had more of an instinctive type of logical grounding. This was the line of thinking that made up Domenico Scandella’s beliefs.
Known as Menocchio, The Cheese and the Worms tells the story of his inquisition and the events leading up to it. Menocchio was a well-to-do miller who lived in the region of Friuli. He was unlike how many modern people might imagine a peasant miller, as he was highly literate, and, though not luxuriously rich, was wealthy enough to not have to worry too extensively about something like a bad harvest. He had been, for some time, the mayor of the village of Montereale where he lived. What made Menocchio the subject of a religious inquisition was the fact that he was a very vocal man who deeply enjoyed openly telling everyone he knew about his musings on religion. Most just brushed of his eccentric views, but eventually someone told the local clergy of his words. This led to him being investigated on the grounds of spreading blasphemous ideas.
Some of his musings involved disparaging remarks made about the church itself. He considered the church to be corrupt and exploitative...
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...a Sixteenth-century Miller. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1992. Print.
2. Keller, Alex. "Review: The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller." Technology and Culture 23.4 (1982): 650-51. JSTOR. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. .
3. Valeri, Valerio. "Review: The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller." The Journal of Modern History 54.1 (1982): 139-43. JSTOR. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. .
4. Phythian-Adams, Charles. "Review: The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller." Social History 7.2 (1982): 213-15. JSTOR. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. .
Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization: Volume I: To 1715, 8th Edition, (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012), 90.
Baxandall, Michael. “Conditions of Trade.” Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-century Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Kleiner, Fred, Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History, Fourteenth Edition The Middle Ages, Book B (Boston: Wadsworth, 2013), 348.
When people think of the ancient Roman civilization, notions of trained legions bent on conquering territory and evocative oratory from celebrated politicians often come to mind. And while early Romans will always be credited for both their insatiable military expansion and their enlightened ideas of government, the rapid growth of Rome was not built on these two pillars alone. Indeed, what led to the rise of such a dominating power in a matter of centuries was not simply from the end of a sword, but from that which grew from the earth -- what the people cultivated, traded and consumed. One very significant agricultural need of a growing population that transformed the bounty of the harvest into a cultural ritual and tradition of Roman life was wine. This presentation will demonstrate how the beverage became a locally grown and manufactured staple that played a powerful role in the social, institutional and economic life of the civilization.
Price, Douglas. " Chapter2: The First Europeans, Chapter 3: The Creative Explosion." In Europe before Rome: A Site-by-site Tour of the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. Oxford University Press, 2013. 15-122.
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.
The Renaissance has not ceased to be an age of discussion and debate among historians throughout the recent centuries. The vibrant nature of the era marks it as a most fascinating period of history. The Renaissance can be described as an age carrying the essence of “self-discovery and fulfillment, of recognition of human worth, and a dynamic outpouring of artistic activity.” This new world flourishing with art and creative optimism was also steeped in a spirit of “revolt of the Medievalists.” In an effort of “rebirth,” the previous culture of the Middle Ages was rejected, and even scorned. Foundational principles in all fields were overstepped, and old cultural norms were practically obsolete. It was an era whose humanistic philosophy greatly impacted the lens through which man viewed himself and the world.
Castiglione, Balclesar. "The Book of the Coutier ." Castiglione, Balclesar. The Third Book. London: Norton & Company, 1523. 147-187.
Howe, Helen, and Robert T. Howe. A World History: Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Volume 1. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1992. 533.
Food is commonly mentioned throughout Old English and Medieval literature. In “Beowulf”, much of the action revolves around the mead hall where great banquets are held. In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, the poem begins in the banquet hall and the Green knight first appears before King Arthur and his guests at a feast. Since most of the recipes which I used are from the 14th century I focused most of the literary aspect of my presentation on Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.” First of all the whole reason that the pilgrims tell their tales is because the inn keeper agrees to give the teller of the best story a free dinner at the end of the pilgrimage. Three characters, in particular, are described in the general prologue in relation to food, the nun or prioress, the franklin, and not surprisingly the cook.
et al. Vol. 1. New York: Facts on File, 2008. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Web.
Baxandall, Michael. “Conditions of Trade.” Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-century Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Ziolkowski, Eric. "Ancient Newcomer to Modern Culture." World Literature Today 81.5 (2007): 55-57. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. .
Rice, Eugene E. and Anthony Grafton. The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559. 2nd. ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1994.
Have you ever argued against a force that has been around longer than you, saying they know what is best and what they say goes, sound familiar? Well they are not necessarily wrong just that force does not fully give the evidence that prove themselves to be right. Those forces can be parents, bosses, or any type of influential people in life because it has become a norm for there to be someone that is right and someone that is wrong. In Carlo Ginzburg book, The Cheese and the Worms: the Cosmos of a 16th-Century Miller writes about Domenico Scandella, known as Menocchio. At first Menocchio, and many other people in medieval and in the early modern European world believed sole in the Christian faith, that Gods word is law. No one else can interpret