Luther and Liberty

Luther and his ideas of liberty (and not exactly the "land of the free and home of the brave" kind):

• What did he mean by liberty?

- Luther used the term "liberty" when referring to the Christian soul. This freedom has nothing to do with things of this world, but rather the divine. So, a man can be spiritually "set free" by studying Scripture and attain religious liberty.

So, going along with this idea of liberty ,what does Luther mean when he says: "A Christian is ...subject to none, and subject to everyone" ? (and no, he wasn't going crazy like all the inbred monarchs)

- Luther believed that every man has two forms : an inward (the soul) and an outward (physical body); meaning that nothing on earth , like the good works and indulgences of the Catholic church, can affect the soul part of a man. If the man studies the Scripture, which came from God, his soul can be free and have liberty in Christ.

- But, looking at the second half of his statement, the man's mortal body still has to carry out the duties expected of him on earth . He still has to listen to authority and be the best servant he can be.

Sadly, Jacques and all his peasant friends stopped listening before they got to that second point

- The peasant class across Germany took the first concept of being "subject to none" and applied it to their lives. Instead of picking apples for their lord, they started organizing rebellions using Luther's teachings.

-Of course, Luther had to step in and refer the peasants to the part of On Christian Liberty  that says they still have to obey the law and be a good servant on earth.

It wasn't just the peasants that were listening (or half listening) to Luther's teachings, though. Many groups started to take up this new religion. These groups included:

 1. Those who sincerely preferred Luther's interpretation of the Scripture being supremely important, and wanted to follow his teachings.

2. Then those who were so angry with the corruption /lack of education in the Catholic church that they figured anything would be better than the Pope and Catholicism. These feelings opened the door for Luther's teachings.

3.  Businesspeople were not enjoying giving their money away for church tithes. So, when a new religion came around where they didn't have to pay to practice, they were all for it.

Other Factors that Contributed to the Growth of Protestantism:

1. the Printing Press - More of Luther's ideas were being printed and sent to widespread areas; people across Europe were learning of the new religion and it's ideas . Through this technology, Luther's social doctrines could be shared . These doctrines included :

             - Role of women within the home; the home was referred to as a woman's world where she could carry out Christian values (ex: patience, respect, love)

              - Getting rid of monastic life; under Luther, every vocation was sacred, not only monks; this appealed to those of lower working class especially

 2. Nation's Background

- While Luther's ideas were taking shape, Germany (in all its fragmented states) had a new leader in Charles V . However, like those before him, the politics he put in place did little to unite Germany or stop the grow of Luther's Protestantism.

- Charles V marked the last of the medieval emperors--> why?

       -He wanted to unite all of Europe under the Catholic faith; Charles was attempting to create political unity for his Holy Roman Empire under the veil of one religion, namely Catholicism

-But, poor Chuck V was just a little delusional about this goal because he was trying to do this at a time when religion was being questioned/undermined

So, we leave off with Germany still being divided, Luther's ideas still spreading, and the Habsburg's still marrying their cousins.

The Inquisition and the Reformation

To Start off: The Inquisition (duh duh dunhhhh)It all started in Spain by a (random) guy named Torquemada      


Spain (coincidentally?) was the most religiously diverse of the European countries at the time, yet our beloved rando decided that it was time to purge Spain of its Muslim and Jewish residents.
                                                                                                     

One may ask why this was such a surprise for the citizens of Spain. 
         The Church decided that with all of these threatening religions being preached, the people may begin to convert from Christianity to Judaism and Islam. Because the Church wanted to keep their parish members (and also their $$$), the solution was an ultimatum: either come and be judged by the Spanish court system or be brutally killed.    

       
A Sign of Unholiness
Surprisingly, this method of cleansing Spain actually backfired for the Church. The ways that the Muslims and Jews were treated went directly against the way Jesus taught us to treat people.
Many people who were cleared by the courts only pretended to be Catholic, thus concluding that the Inquisition as a whole was more of dark time for the Church rather than the intended purification.


The Reformation: ayyyyy
The Reformation can be closely related to the Northern Renaissance. It was a time in the Church when people started realizing that the priests weren't all that smart (literally) and their money wasn't exactly going towards changing the lives of the poor.
           The members of the Church were hit with an epiphany. The Doctrine, or the words of the Scripture, were still something people wanted to believe in. Yet, the way the Church was executing it was something that ultimately had to be changed. 

                

So as everyone begins to recognize the fact that maybe the Catholic Church isn't as holy as it claims it is, a guy named Martin Luther pops up.

           Luther was not the first man to call for a reformation-those cries had been around since the beginning of the Church. Yet Luther was able to actually gain followers, believers in his system, so that even when the Diet of Worms exiled him and the Church excommunicated him, his ideas of reform stayed alive.              

   

Ending note: Convert to Lutheranism! You can still be a good Christian without listening to the Pope. All you have to do is have Faith!!  


P.S. this is a personal note to: Mr. Yarnall, from: Lily Shea, on behalf of me:)
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And Now For Something Completely Different (well maybe not that different

So now let's look at the North (England, France, etc.).

HOW WERE THEIR RENAISSANCE'S DIFFERENT FROM ITALY?????????

All intellectual hallmarks were still present but different in application due to different tradition
The North focused more on God and more morals with an absence of human praise.  Also focused on questioning dogma while south was content with accepting traditions.

"The Church" in More's eyes

Thomas More - Utopia - why call utopia “nowhere?”
Satire criticizing current society that seemed obsessed with material goods
They pushed for reform through social institutions like the Church (most important), schools, government. Basic problem - greed 
Wanted to devalue money (gold chamber pot)

Erasmus - thought best humanistic teaching was EDUCATION  BASE  ON THE BIBLE
Critical of church for being into material goods and wants to reform Bible and church
Pushed reform for education through morals and studying bible
Essence of his thought is "Philosophy of Christ" and look to inner attitude of heart
Praise of Folly - satire - thinks everyone (laymen and church and nobility) is praising worldly material wealth (aka the wrong thing)

Why use satire?
Critical of current times in a subtle way so people find out answers for self and to not straight out say something bad because you could die - satire is humorous way to avoid accountability for words.

Government

Violent and aggressive everywhere with government growing weaker so they start changing.
Monarchs want to take power away from nobility to benefit themselves by getting rid of rivals

France - 100 Years War somewhat centralized France but monarch still needed more power
and get support from upper middle class rather than nobility
Why? Nobility are untrustworthy - competing for power -turns to upper middle class who does not have enough power to be dangerous

Charles VII getting control of French Church

Pragmatic Sanction of Bourgeois - Charles VII of France takes away papacy control in France, only the crown has control over bishops and churches in France - consolidating power for Royalty and increase revenue to get standing army (for more power to king).
King Louis XI - gets rid of aristocracy brigandage (aristocratic pillaging and impressment) with a standing army - ends private wars with private armies.

Henry and the Court of the Star Chamber

England - Opposed to France trying to get nobility out, England has Magna Carta that gave people more power.  So they can't push out nobility because nobility are in parliament which is institution.
Court of the star chamber - boy king Henry VII does not trust nobles and does not touch parliament.  Instead brings in middle class to be “go to” cabinet (justices of peace).  He could trust them because they are middle class

SO WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH CLOCKS ??????

*When Europe thinks they were the first one to make clocks .. but really it was Mayans and the Chinese *

• So here's the deal: Europeans learned how to quantify, or measure time with the mechanical clock
• Buying and selling goods had initiated its people into the practice of quantification --> They needed precise measurement of the day's hours. 
• "Along with cannon and printing, clocks gave Europeans technological advantages over other people"- so that basically means it was a sense of efficiency and practicality for the Europeans in the city for trade/production and in the rural areas for farm days in winter/summer for fixed hours

WOMEN AND WORK

Women during the Renaissance --> was life good/better than before/same??

A lot became WORKING WOMEN - however the status of upper class women declined 

they were no long held on a high pedestal - nevertheless - they remained a symbol for wealth/still thought of as property. 

The patriarchy of men being being held in higher than women is prominent during this time period because the men's intellectual movement caused their humanistic views to overpower the women.

- Men returns "back to the classics" and put women back in the cult of domesticity compared to medieval times

Humanists laid the foundation of bourgeois double standard 

• women - sex restricted to marriage & bound to chastity and then they have to live the role of    wife/mother in arranged marriage
• WHILE MENNNN CAN PURSUE OTHER WOMEN WHILE MARRIED. SAY WHHAT

rape:

• Attitudes toward rape provide an index of status of women in the renaissance
• Rape not considered serious crime against victim or society
•  Shows different views of society à the rape of young girl of marriageable age of child under 12 considered GRAVER than rape of married woman because you have to be a virgin when you get married
• Punishment of rape fine/six months imprisonment
• Reinforces the perception of society with the decline in respect/status of woman

    Homosexuality - enforced or suppressed? lol is that even a question IT WAS SUPPRESSED DURING THE RENAISSANCE. even though the renaissance was all for individualism and humanism... they weren't really that accepting for homosexuality. Then there was the whole deal with masculinity - so if you had a 20 yr old and a 40 yr old the 20 year old would lose his masculinity and be passive and take on a female role in the patriarchy. Obviously the renaissance was a religious rebirth also, so it was oppressed even further in society because it was considered a "sin."

SSLAVES AND WOMEN: 

Slaves and women ==>    both inferior to men/ both symbols of wealth

·      number of slaves outward sign of your wealth ESPECIALLY IF THEY WERE AFRICAN

·      DISPLAYED WEALTH

Do women choose to be less than men during the Renaissance ???
Views:

Yes because they were given an education, at least the upper class women, according to The Courtier by Castiglione. But they didn't use their knowledge except to be displayed as good housewives and hostesses. This angered Cereta who thought those kinds of women were "empty." They were weak and did not try to revolt (not literally) against society to gain more respect.
No because at the time a woman would have been shamed and outcasted if she tried to break the rules of society. It was a man's world.

Machiavelli's life lessons:

1. It is better to be feared, than to be loved

2. war

• If you are tough on people they will hate you, but it is better to be hated than to loose your lands 
• the people may not know it, but by being tough on them you are saving them from a different ruler and war, which is good and noble of you 
• "He did not advocate amoral behavior, but he believed that political action cannot be restricted by moral considerations."

3. government

• do not take the government for what it ought to be, but for what it is 
• know your vices so you can truly use your virtues 
• know how to manipulate people 

Who is the most important man in the world? 

Possibly Johann Gutenberg who pushed along the creation of movable type which then gave us newspapers, propaganda opportunities, computers and everything in-between. Through his invention he bridged the gap between oral and written culture and increased literacy for ages to come. 

SO IF YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT IT.... did the Renaissance even happen??

The highlight of the class: Maeve and Brielle duking it out to answer the question. Some say (Maeve) that there really was no sharp division between Middle Ages and the "Renaissance". Jacque the Peasant was still farming like he had in the middle ages. Yet others say that there was a change, but only in the upper class. YEAR ROUND SHIPPING brought a lot of people (Venice) wealth and they therefore had money to patronize the arts (also show off their cool painting and stuff, but that's another topic...) 

So in conclusion, it's up to you to decide if it's real or not...

IN OTHER NEWS, HUMAN BEINGS ARE FABULOUS AND THEY ARE JUST STARTING TO REALIZE IT AT THIS POINT

New theories (although they really didn't give it names) were coming about, so I guess that's ten points for the renaissance. 

Individualism, Humanism, and Secularism 

Individualism was about human potential, and recognizing that human beings, specifically you, are capable of doing amazing things.

Humanism is a little more broad, celebrating the human form because they were made in the image and likeness of God. It was more about the fact that you can be happy on Earth, and not just in Heaven (so party it up I guess??)

Secularism was the most broad, just focused entirely on the material world instead of the eternal world (aka Heaven). 

ALSO THE RENAISSANCE ARTISTS NEED A SERIOUS EGO CHECK

They think they're just the best, and shouldn't be subject to moral or governmental laws because they are geniuses... But we all know in reality without the wealth of patrons they would be nothing. 

Also the book says the art was realistic, but the people were so not realistic. Thanks for weakening my self esteem... But the art definitely glorified the human form, which was the goal (remember individualism and humanism?).  

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P.S. School of Athens is basically the epitome of the renaissance (if you think that it happened)