Layla Quinones
SSH104.7761
January 8, 2008
Professor T. Coogan
Film write-ups
Film: The Late Middle Ages
In this episode of Western Tradition, Eugene Weber informs the viewer about life during
the Late Middle Ages, which spans approximately from the fourteenth to the fifteenth century.
This period is regarded as a declinational period from the high middle ages that consisted of
disaster, plague, rebellion, famine, hysteria and a general deterioration of medieval civilizations.
The stability and emerging secular outlook seen during the High Middle Ages was quickly
overshadowed by war, the onslaught of unemployment, and suffrage. More specifically,
European life was greatly affected by the appearance of the Black Death, also referred to as the
Bubonic Plague. This epidemic took the lives of nearly a quarter of the European population and
with it came vast amounts of fear, uncertainty, precaution and further declination of the medieval
civilizations. In France, the Hundred Years War ended after many years of conflicts between the
English and the French, allowing the two nations to emerge as separate entities. Although the
war brought on a degree of declining population, it also allowed France an opportunity to regain
government, military and economic strength. On the other hand, the conclusion of the war also
allowed the English to concentrate more on the domestic issues occurring back home than on
foreign affairs. Furthermore, the declining theme of the late middle ages allowed for the new
secular outlook on the world to dominate eastern European cities which eventually gave rise to
the Renaissance.
Film: The Renaissance
In this episode of Western tradition, Eugene Weber reports the significance of the
Renaissance period in the European world. In essence, this period gave rise to modernity via a
secular view of life that was not seen in the theological world of the Middle Ages.
Fundamentally, the Renaissance was a “rebirth” of classical Greco-Roman ideologies that began
to shape a new way of life that emphasized the power of an individual human, rather than the
power of God and the church. More specifically, philosophy and reason were applied to
government, religion, and domestic issues that valued the free will of humanity in which allowed
for the development of human potential and human excellence. This therefore, allowed for the
development of academics, science, philosophy and the arts with a secular backbone that would
otherwise be criminalized during the middle ages. Furthermore, the idea to analyze and preserve
Greco-Roman literature and language opened the doors for historians to emerge and influence
life in Europe. The classical Greco-Roman ideologies of the renaissance can be seen through
renaissance art. Artists like DaVinci, Danatello and Michelangelo created art works that
illustrated the new discoveries in mathematics through linear perspective, the regard for human
anatomy through realistic depictions of the human figure, and the revival of emotion and
sensuality in art that were also criminalized during the middle ages. In addition, the themes seen
in Renaissance art also reflected the emphasis of humans as the makers of their destiny and other
secular themes that were present during this period. Hence, ideologies, discoveries and the way
of life that was practiced during the Renaissance gave rise to many elements seen in modern
civilizations. These influences include humanistic values, intellectual advancement,
individualism, secular government, religious pluralism, strong centralized states, political liberty,
and capitalism.