Renaissance and Medieval history questions.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Judah Sussman

AP European History

9/28/03

Renaissance and Medieval history questions

The Renaissance is a term used to indicate that time period which denotes the transition from the period of history which is called the Middle Ages to that of the modern era. The Renaissance also implies the changes in the intellectual and moral attitude by which the transition was characterized. The Renaissance or “rebirth” brought back the intellectual, artistic, and literary fields that once flourished during the days of Antiquity. Also during the Renaissance the Church as well as Empires, which were the main fabrics of the middle ages began to unwind. The inventions of the printing press and gun powder also caused major changes by bringing about higher literary rates in the vernacular and the rise of Nationalities.

Question # 1

The most decisive and the most traumatic ear in the entire history of the Church was the period from the middle of the 14th century to the middle of the 16th century. By the end of the 1300’s, conflict over power started when the monarchs who resented the Pope’s interference had risen to power.

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Philip the Fair, of France, refused to listen to the Pope when he ordered him to free one of his subjects. Phillip was supported by the nobles in defying the Pope’s demand. The Pope died shortly afterwards and to prevent any further trouble, Philip dominated the election of the next pope that a Frenchman was elected and the seat of the papacy was transferred from Rome to Avignon the beginning of the “Babylonian Captivity”. Other monarchs resented the emergence of the increasing power France had over the church, and as a result the church was less respected and lost lots of its power. Another big issue which arose in this time frame was the Great Schism. After the church moved back to Rome, France elected a new pope and thus at the same time there were two popes. Confused by the Great Schism, many people did not know which pope to follow and thus lost faith altogether in the church. A third factor which led to the downfall of the church’s authority was in the manner the clergy lived and the manner in which the church operated. The clergy dressed richly and lived luxurious lives. Therefore a feeling arose that the church was using its power for its own advantage, instead of the good of the common people. Such ideas destroyed confidence in many people’s church goodness and their reverence of the churches authority. The churches concept of indulgence would be the straw the broke the camels back. In 1517, Pope Leo X began to sell indulgences in order to raise funds for the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica. The reaction against this practice ignited the Reformation.

In essence, the church’s decline came both internally as well as externally. As it was becoming self evident that the church was becoming more and more corrupt and the clergy continued to perform practices which took away from the individuals as well as corrupting the individuals soul many reformers started to attack the church. Finally, the development of nationalism and the growing reluctance of kings to obey any opposing institution, including the church, were evident in the encounters between Boniface VIII and the French ruler Philip IV.

Question # 2

Humanism is the term generally applied to the predominant social philosophy and intellectual and literary currents of the period from 1400 to 1650. The return to favor of the pagan classics stimulated the philosophy of secularism including the appreciation of worldly pleasures, and above all, intensified the assertion of personal independence and individual expression. Humanism, it may be said, provided the intellectual foundation for the Renaissance in Europe. Zeal for the classics was a result as well as a cause of the growing secular view of life. Expansion of trade, growth of prosperity and luxury, and widening social contacts generated interest in worldly pleasures, in spite of formal allegiance to ascetic Christian doctrine. Looking to ground themselves in an authoritative literature, the humanists sought out classical writers who maintained similar social values and secular attitudes. Humanism thus began as an educational program called the “humanities” which inculcated those ancient secular values which were consistent with Christian teachings. The Renaissance humanists were often devout Christians, but they promoted secular values and a love of pagan antiquity. Moreover, there were also significant regional differences in how the Renaissance developed over the course of time.

The founder of Italian Renaissance humanism was Petrarch (1304-74), an Italian poet and man of letters, who attempted to apply the values and lessons of antiquity to questions of Christian faith and morals in his own day. By the late 14th century, the term studia humanitatis ("humanistic studies") had come to mean a well-defined cycle of education, including the study of grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy, based on Latin authors and classical texts. Key in ensuring the permanence of humanism after Petrarch's initial success was the Florentine chancellor Coluccio Salutati (1331-1406), who wrote many learned treatises and kept up a massive correspondence with his literary contemporaries. Salutati, together with his younger follower, Leonardo Bruni (1369-1444), used the studia humanitatis as the basis for a life of active service to state and society. Bruni, in particular, created a new definition of Florence's republican traditions, and defended the city in panegyrics and letters.

Ironically, the development of humanist thought in Italy, although often radical, did not lead to radical changes in the Catholic Church despite the fact that the Vatican was to be found in Rome. By contrast, the more conservative Northern Renaissance, especially in Germany directly led to the Protestant Reformation. Luther, no Humanist, still was profoundly influenced by the idea that the individual, not the Church, was the true center of existence. Indeed, all his major ideas including “vocation,” “justification by faith” and “the priesthood of all believers” is based on a “modern” reevaluation of the place of the individual in the cosmos.

In conclusion, Humanism helped to bring about individualism. It showed that the individual, not the group, matters most and that the world is something of value and not just a road from here to the world to come. It literally gave the “meaning of life” a new meaning which continues to shape the way we see the world we live in and one another.