FROM RENAISSANCE TO
REFORMATION
A Spiritual Revolution
Learning goals
• By the end of this lesson, students will:
– demonstrate an understanding of diverse social structures
and principles that have guided social organization in
Western and non-Western societies since the sixteenth
century
– demonstrate an understanding of ideas and cultures from
around the world that have influenced the course of
history since the sixteenth century
THE RENAISSANCE – LOOKING BACK
•
RENAISSANCE = rebirth
–
–
–
–
refers to the re-emergence of trade and culture in Europe
began in Italy, spread to influence all of Europe
exchange of goods and ideas initiated cultural development
being able to achieve greatness = Renaissance Man
SUPPORTED BY A NEW PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH
•
HUMANISM
– Emphasized the 3 ‘isms’
• INDIVIDUALISM - glorifying potential, talents and accomplishments of
individual human beings.
• SECULARISM - emphasis on this world (the “here & now”) and its material
pleasures rather than the afterlife (“hereafter”) or spiritual world.
• CLASSICISM - Re-discovery and appreciation of ancient Greek & Roman
culture
NORTH VS. SOUTH
N ORTHERN R ENAISSANCE
E NGLAND, N ETHERLANDS
S OUTHERN R ENAISSANCE
I TA LY
• Less secular
• Employ reason and intellect
to explain and strengthen
religious belief
• Challenged institution of
Church (drifted from JC)
• Strong monarchies
• Very secular
• Use reason and intellect to
improve humankind
(politics, art, philosophy)
• Did not abandon faith
• Italian city-states loosely
organized republics
THINGS IN COMMON:
- stressed rationality and man’s ability to reach full potential (humanism)
- diminished importance of Catholic Church
Great Men of the
Renaissance
{ THE ‘BIG 5’
LEONARDO DA VINCI
• Bio stuff:
– Full name: Leonardo di ser
Piero da Vinci
– Italian painter, sculptor,
architect, mathematician,
engineer, inventor, anatomist,
geologist, cartographer,
botanist, writer
– Best known for:
•
•
•
•
Mona Lisa
Last Supper
Vitruvian Man
Virgin on the Rocks
MICHELANGELO
• Bio stuff:
– 1452-1519
– Full name Michelangelo di
Lodovico Buonarroti
Simoni
– Italian sculptor, painter,
architect, poet, and
engineer
– Best known for:
•
•
•
•
•
David
Pieta
Sistine Chapel ceiling
Birth of Adam
Last Judgement
NICCOLO MACHIEAVELI
• Bio stuff:
– 1469-1527
– Full name: Niccolò di Bernardo dei
Machiavelli
– Italian historian, politician,
diplomat, philosopher, humanist
and writer based in Florence during
the Renaissance.
– Best known for:
• Political science
• The Prince – political ethics
• Machiavielian principles:
– subtle or unscrupulous cunning,
deception, expediency, or
dishonesty: He resorted to
Machiavellian tactics in order to
get ahead.
» Dictionary.com
SIR THOMAS MORE
• Bio stuff:
– 1478-1535
– known to Roman Catholics
as Saint Thomas More
since 1935, was an English
lawyer, social philosopher,
author, statesman and
noted Renaissance
humanist
• Best known for:
– Utopia (book)
– Execution by Henry VIII
DESIDERIUS ERASMUS
• Bio stuff:
– 1466-1536
– known as Erasmus of
Rotterdam, or simply Erasmus,
was a Dutch Renaissance
humanist, Catholic priest, social
critic, teacher, and theologian.
– Erasmus was a classical scholar
who wrote in a pure Latin style
• Best known for:
• The Praise of Folly (essay)
• Critic of the Catholic Church
• Translated New Testament from
Greek to Latin
• ‘Prince of the Humanists’
CONTINUITY – MIDDLE AGES TO
RENAISSANCE
• So…what stayed the same?
1. The Honour Code – belief that a code of ethics
should govern humankind (be humble,
retribution)
2. The Family – most important solidarity in history
(residence, love, property rights, production,
marriage for connections – not love)
3. Social Hierarchy – reinforced social distinctions
of high and low
CHANGE – MIDDLE AGES TO
RENAISSANCE
• So…what changed?
1. Intellectual Culture - fields of law, philosophy, politics,
history, literature, medicine, philology (study of
vocabulary)…grew
2. Art and architecture - Roman domes, arches, columns
return, statues (nude), old themes in painting, invention
of linear perspective
3. Learning - admiration of the ancients; print – moveable
type (Gutenberg) made information readily available,
promoted vernacular languages (English, French…)
What’s next?
 With
the intellectual and cultural
transformation in place, the European
Reformation would usher in a spiritual
revolution. From the Spanish Inquisition to
the wars of religion, Europeans would
experience religious civil war lasting for
nearly a century and a half. It’s effects
would be profound…the world of 1450
would be re-invented forever.
Source: Legacy: The West and the World
The Reformation
 The
reformation was a split of the Church.
 The reformation occurred out of the
grievances of several dissatisfied groups
within Europe.
 Common peasants, the urban middle
class and the princes of Europe all had
some conflict with the Church.
 It was initiated in the Holy Roman Empire
by the ideas of a monk named Martin
Luther.
Grievance of the Peasants




Much of the rural peasants viewed the
Church structure as a wealthy ruling class.
Chronically poor, the peasants of Europe
mixed religious ideas with a protest against
the existing social order.
Peasants resented the Church’s ownership of
land, collection of rents and general wealth.
In Germany there were several major peasant
revolts in the 1520’s. Leaders of the
reformation found among the peasantry an
easily incited pool of support.
The Urban Middle Class





The urban middle class represented a more
educated and wealthier group whose view of the
world was broader than the peasantry.
Political and economic independence gave them
the ambition to have a measure of control over
their religious affairs.
Many cities in Europe, especially in Germany,
Switzerland and the Netherlands were
independent.
Being independent, these cities controlled their
own laws, taxes and business interests.
Elements within these cities looked to the church
as an element of the feudal and monarchical
system, with which they had little in common.
Kings & Princes
 The
ruling elite of Europe had viewed the
church as a rival for power for centuries.
 Kings and Princes had disputes with the
church over issues such as property, taxes,
legal jurisdiction and political influence.
 Kings & Princes sought to gain complete
control over their territory and many saw
the reformation as an opportunity to gain
control over the church.
Literacy & Manuscript
Production




The Church always had people who were
unhappy with the organization and teachings
of the church.
In the past, the church exercised a nearcomplete dominance of both literacy and
publishing.
The production of books before the 15th
century was in the hands of the church.
Monks would spend hours hand copying
“approved” manuscripts written in Latin.
Guttenberg & The Printing
Press



The invention of the printing press by
Johannes Guttenberg (1390 – 1468) ended
the church’s monopoly over the written word.
Reformers, like Luther, began to write in
vernacular languages and translated the
bible as well.
Scripture became more available, literacy
rates increased and the church lost control
over what could be published or censored.
Indulgences




What became one of the most controversial issues
was the sale of indulgences.
An indulgence was salvation for sale, people
could buy “forgiveness” for their sins or those of
their relatives and spend less time in purgatory
before entering heaven.
The sale of indulgences was a huge fundraiser for
the Pope who used the money for the
construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. (The
Vatican)
Many reformers, like Luther, saw the sale of
indulgences, and higher church offices, as the
worst example of the church’s corruption.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
 Monk,
Professor of Biblical Studies
 Felt
no amount of good works would save
his soul (prayer, charity, kindness)
 How
do I attain salvation?
• Revelation: “the Just shall live by his faith”
(Paul)
• Sola Fida (by faith alone) Sola Scriptura (by
Scripture alone)
• Read bible, inner peace and PERSONAL
relationship with God
• Person has to BE good, to do good works
• Broke with Catholicism
Luther’s Ideas




Luther, inspired by the writing of St. Paul – “the
just shall live by faith” (Romans I, 17)
developed a religious doctrine known as
justification by faith.
Luther believed, and argued; that actions, or
works; like: prayer, attending mass, giving
alms, and the sacraments did not “earn”
grace or salvation.
Luther believed that these actions were the
consequences of the grace of God
contained within the souls of everyone.
Luther speaks out!




In 1517, alarmed by the sale of indulgences in
Wittenberg by a friar with the Pope’s blessing;
Luther spoke out against the practice.
He felt that no payment or donation could
obtain grace for one’s soul.
He wrote out his arguments against the
practice of indulgences, known as the 95
theses.
As was the accepted practice at the time, he
published his theses by nailing them to the
door of the castle church in Wittenberg.
The 95 Theses
 In
it, Luther discusses the sacrament of
penance.
 Luther argued that after confession the
sinner was forgiven by God and freed
from the burden of sin through inner
grace and faith alone.
 Luther argued that the priest essentially
played no role in the relationship between
a person and God.
Luther and Leo
 Initially
Luther petitioned Pope Leo X
(Giovanni De Medici) to correct the
abuse of indulgences by the Church.
 Leo refused and Luther demanded that
an assembly of the general church
council be called.



In 1519 a debate between Luther and John
Eck, a theological prodigy who received his
first PhD at the age of 15, was arranged.
Held at Leipzig in Saxony, Eck was able to get
Luther to make heretical statements as Luther
denied the authority of the Pope and the
Catholic Church
In 152, Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor), was
forced to renounce Luther who was later
excommunicated