Transcript The Late Renaissance: The Sixteenth Century

24 March 2010
THE LATE RENAISSANCE:
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
OUTLINE


Atmosphere of Anxiety
Christian Humanism



Erasmus
Thomas More
Reformation

Martin Luther

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95 theses
Huldrych Zwingli
John Calvin
Anabaptists

Council of Trent


Counter-Reformation
reform
Council of Trent decrees
ATMOSPHERE OF ANXIETY

Apocalyptic Fears


Internal Corruption weakens
Church



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Search for comfort and meaning
sale of indulgences
overemphasis on relics
Nepotism
Simony
lack of professionalism
Urban, middle-class desire for
more meaningful religious
experience
Albrecht Durer, The Knight,
Death, and the Devil (1513)
ATMOSPHERE OF ANXIETY

Signs of religious crisis:
Pilgrimages
 Shrines built
 Prayer books in vernacular
 Private ritual for healing and salvation


Scandals and abuse of authority
Basel, Switzerland 1510
 Primacy of behavior over spiritual intentions
 Confession
 Indulgences

CHRISTIAN HUMANISM
Emphasis on classical
learning and Christian piety
 Desiderius Erasmus (14661536)

Reform through education
 Emphasis on charity and
good works—not ceremony
 Modesty, humility, poverty
are true Christian virtues
 Translation of New
Testament from the original
Greek—why?

CHRISTIAN HUMANISM

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)




Utopia (1516) “no place” “best place”
“They despise and laugh at auguries, and the
other vain and superstitious ways of
divination, so much observed among other
nations; but have great reverence for such
miracles as cannot flow from any of the
powers of nature, and look on them as
effects and indications of the presence of the
Supreme Being, of which they say many
instances have occurred among them; and
that sometimes their public prayers, which
upon great and dangerous occasions they
have solemnly put up to God, with assured
confidence of being heard, have been
answered in a miraculous manner.
They think the contemplating God in His
works, and the adoring Him for them, is a
very acceptable piece of worship to Him.”
From OF THE RELIGIONS OF THE UTOPIANS
Sir Thomas More
MARTIN LUTHER

Martin Luther (1483-1546)



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As Augustinian monk he faced
religious crisis



Anger with a punishing God
Primacy of faith
Frustrated by sale of indulgences



middle-class
pursued the law until early adulthood
Religious awakening
Johann Tetzel
Funding programs
Did not intend public reform; sought
theological debate
MARTIN LUTHER’S “95 THESES”
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1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent"
(Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of
repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the
sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction,
as administered by the clergy.
3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner
repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward
mortification of the flesh.
4. The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self
(that is, true inner repentance), namely till our entrance into
the kingdom of heaven.
5. The pope neither desires nor is able to remit any
penalties except those imposed by his own authority or that
of the canons.
MARTIN LUTHER’S “95 THESES”

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18. Furthermore, it does not seem proved, either by reason or
by Scripture, that souls in purgatory are outside the state of
merit, that is, unable to grow in love.
19. Nor does it seem proved that souls in purgatory, at least
not all of them, are certain and assured of their own salvation,
even if we ourselves may be entirely certain of it.
20. Therefore the pope, when he uses the words "plenary
remission of all penalties," does not actually mean "all
penalties," but only those imposed by himself.
24. For this reason most people are necessarily deceived by
that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from
penalty.
MARTIN LUTHER’S “95 THESES”
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41. Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest
people erroneously think that they are preferable to other
good works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not
intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be
compared with works of mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the
poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who
buys indulgences.
44. Because love grows by works of love, man thereby
becomes better. Man does not, however, become better by
means of indulgences but is merely freed from penalties.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy
man and passes him by, yet gives his money for
indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God's
wrath.
HULDRYCH ZWINGLI, 1484-1531
Influenced by Christian
Humanism
 1520 declared self
reformer:


criticized Church practices
Centered in Zurich
 sought theocracy
 Eucharistic differences
with Luther: actual body of
Christ or symbolically
present?

OTHER REFORMERS

John Calvin, 1509-1564

Key reform: predestination


Gains widespread following


Who is saved versus who is not?
France, Netherlands, England
Anabaptists




Reject notion of infant baptism—
why?
Middle and lower-class movement
Pacifists
Persecuted early on

develops into Mennonite movement
in northwest Europe
Henry VIII’s “Great Matter”
Henry VIII marries Catherine
of Aragon, 11 June 1509
 By 1527, Henry VIII wants
divorce

 Why?
 In
love with Anne Boleyn
 Needed male heir
 Sin of incest
Catherine
of Aragon
The “Great Matter”

Fails to secure papal
dispensation for divorce



Henry appoints Protestants to
key political/religious positions



Julius II annulled Catherine’s first
marriage
Clement VII won’t annul another
one.
They push legislation to break
London from Rome’s control.
Everyone must take Oath of
Supremacy, recognizing Henry’s
new role
Marries Anne Boleyn late 1532

19 May 1536
COUNCIL OF TRENT, 1545-1563
Catholic response to
Reformation
 Emphasized sacraments,
salvation, and Biblical canon
 Standardized the practice of
mass


Eliminated local variations
Reaffirmed Catholic traditions
 Reaffirmed doctrine of
transubstantiation

COUNCIL OF TRENT’S “DECREES”



DECREE ON REFORMATION.
CHAPTER I.
Cardinals and all Prelates of the churches shall be content with
modest furniture and a frugal table: they shall not enrich their
relatives or domestics out of the property of the Church.
It is to be wished, that those who undertake the office of a
bishop should understand what their portion is; and
comprehend that they are called, not to their own convenience,
not to riches or luxury, but to labours and cares for the glory of
God. For it is not to be doubted, that the rest of the faithful also
will be more easily excited to religion and innocence, if they
shall see those who are set over them, not fixing their thoughts
on the things of this world, but on the salvation of souls, and on
their heavenly country…as that others may thence be able to
derive examples of frugality, modesty, continency, and of that
holy humility which so much recommends us to God.
COUNCIL OF TRENT’S “DECREES”


CHAPTER III.
The sword of excommunication is not to be rashly
used: when an execution can be made on property
or person, censures are to be abstained from: the
civil magistrates shall not interfere herein.
Although the sword of excommunication is the very
sinews of ecclesiastical discipline, and very
salutary for keeping the people in their duty, yet it
is to be used with sobriety and great
circumspection; seeing that experience teaches,
that if it be rashly or for slight causes wielded, it is
more despised than feared, and produces ruin
rather than safety.
COUNCIL OF TRENT’S “DECREES”


DECREE CONCERNING INDULGENCES.
Whereas the power of conferring Indulgences was granted by
Christ to the Church; and she has, even in the most ancient
times, used the said power, delivered unto her of God; the
sacred holy Synod teaches, and enjoins, that the use of
Indulgences, for the Christian people most salutary, and
approved of by the authority of sacred Councils, is to be
retained in the Church; and It condemns with anathema those
who either assert, that they are useless; or who deny that there
is in the Church the power of granting them. In granting them,
however, It desires that, in accordance with the ancient and
approved custom in the Church, moderation be observed; that,
after having been reviewed by the opinions of the other bishops
also, they may forthwith be referred to the Sovereign Roman
Pontiff, by whose authority and prudence that which may be
expedient for the universal Church will be ordained;
EUROPE AFTER THE REFORMATION
SUMMARY


Reformation politics and wars split Europe between Protestant
(mainly Lutheran and Calvin) in the north and Catholic in the
south (Mediterranean and France, some of southern Germany)
The 30 Years War (1618-1648) upset the balance of power in
Europe


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shifted continental dominance to France, England, and the Dutch
Republic and away from Spain and Hapsburg Austria
Thinkers began positing nonreligious theories of political
authority and scientific explanations for natural phenomena
The wars of religion spilled over into the realm of international
politics and efforts to capture new means of trade and a whole
new population of converts in the New World
Part II:
RENAISSANCE EUROPE
& THE CREATION OF A
COLONIAL WORLD: THE
MOVE FROM MEDIEVAL
TO MODERN
OUTLINE

Exploration and
Expansion



Connecting Europe to
the world
Portuguese
Spanish
Columbus
 Spanish and the
Americas
 End of American
Empires: Aztecs and
Incas

Europe, 1320
Europe,
1500
CROSSING THE SEAS: EXPLORATION

The exploration for new trade routes expands European
contacts and “world history”

Europe is largely disconnected from the rest of the world
▪




Dates back to fall of Roman Empire
Continuation of commercial, religious and political expansion
inside Europe taking place since at least 1,000 C.E.
Trade and manufacturing had increased wealth among
Europeans, leading to interest in expansion overseas
zealous religious sentiments (Crusades) reinforced (but
sometimes conflicted) with economic reasons for expansion
Ottoman control in the East forces Europe to look for new
options
▪
Lack of cultural unity also causes a deadlock in European trade
Early Voyages
PORTUGUESE VOYAGES

Portuguese explorers built on the efforts of
Mediterranean trade exploration

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Portugal has history of Atlantic fishing and antiMuslim sentiment


After 1415 capture of Moroccan coastline
Portuguese head down coasts of east and west
Africa in the search for wealth in gold

Henry relied on church religious societies to help
defray the cost in exchange for the right to promote
Christianity in newly discovered lands

Such participation of church – and later private –
interests accelerated the process of exploration
Prince
Henry the Navigator
(1394-1460) encouraged
exploration, funding
technology and voyages
SPANISH VOYAGES

Christopher Columbus

Believed he could reach East Asian
trading ports, esp. Japanese, by
heading west instead of east

In 1492, Columbus convinced the
king and queen of Spain to allow him
to test his theory
SPANISH VOYAGES

The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Spain would build large colonial
empires in the Americas

The Portuguese would continue to
explore
THE AMERICAS AND THE SPANISH

The first Native Americans that  Spanish Colonial “Method”:
Columbus encountered were the
 Establish contact
Arawak.
 Settle disputes by force and exploit
 Run colony/settlement according
to Spanish custom and law
“They brought us barrels of cotton thread and parrots and other little
things which it would be tedious to list, and exchanged everything for
whatever we offered them... I kept my eyes open and tried to find out
if there was any gold, and I saw that some of them had a little piece
hanging from a hole in their nose. I gathered from their signs that if
one goes south, or around the south side of the island, there is a
king with great jars full of it, enormous amounts. I tried to persuade
them to go there, but I saw that the idea was not to their liking... They
would make fine servants... With fifty men we could subjugate them
all and make them do whatever we want.” --Columbus
THE AMERICAS AND THE SPANISH

The Spanish established a vast territorial empire in
the Americas

Long isolation made Native Americans vulnerable

The Spanish used much of their tactics developed
during the Reconquista as a model for conquest in the
New World
CORTES AND THE AZTECS;
PIZARRO AND THE INCAS

Cortes
launched an
assault on
the Aztec
Empire and
imprisoned
the Aztec
leader –
Mocetezuma

Pizarro
kidnapped
the Inca
Emperor and
had him killed
CORTES DESCRIBES THE NEW WORLD, 1520

This city has many public squares, in which are situated the markets and other places
for buying and selling. There is one square twice as large as that of the city of
Salamanca, surrounded by porticoes, where are daily assembled more than sixty
thousand souls, engaged in buying and selling; and where are found all kinds of
merchandise that the world affords, embracing the necessaries of life, as for instance
articles of food, as well as jewels of gold and silver, lead, brass, copper, tin, precious
stones, bones, shells, snails, and feathers. There are also exposed for sale wrought
and unwrought stone, bricks burnt and unburnt, timber hewn and unhewn, of different
sorts. There is a street for game, where every variety of birds in the country are sold,
as fowls, partridges, quails, wild ducks, fly-catchers, widgeons, turtledoves, pigeons,
reed-birds, parrots, sparrows, eagles, hawks, owls, and kestrels; they sell likewise the
skins of some birds of prey, with their feathers, head, beak, and claws. There are also
sold rabbits, hares, deer, and little dogs [i.e., the chihuahua], which are raised for
eating. There is also an herb street, where may be obtained all sorts of roots and
medicinal herbs that the country affords. There are apothecaries' shops, where
prepared medicines, liquids, ointments, and plasters are sold; barbers' shops, where
they wash and shave the head; and restaurateurs, that furnish food and drink at a
certain price. There is also a class of men like those called in Castile porters, for
carrying burdens. Wood and coal are seen in abundance, and braziers of earthenware
for burning coals; mats of various kinds for beds, others of a lighter sort for seats, and
for halls and bedrooms.
CHRONICLES OF THE INCAS, 1540

It is told for a fact of the rulers of this kingdom that in the days of their rule they had
their representatives in the capitals of all the provinces, for in all these places there
were larger and finer lodgings than in most of the other cities of this great kingdom,
and many storehouses. They served as the head of the provinces or regions, and
from every so many leagues around the tributes were brought to one of these
capitals, and from so many others, to another. This was so well-organized that there
was not a village that did not know where it was to send its tribute. In all these
capitals the Incas had temples of the Sun, mints, and many silversmiths who did
nothing but work rich pieces of gold or fair vessels of silver; large garrisons were
stationed there, and a steward who was in command of them all, to whom an
accounting of everything that was brought in was made, and who, in turn, had to give
one of all that was issued. ...The tribute paid by each of these provinces, whether
gold, silver, clothing, arms and all else they gave, was entered in the accounts of
those who kept the quipus and did everything ordered by the governor in the matter
of finding the soldiers or supplying whomever the Inca ordered, or making delivery to
Cuzco; but when they came from the city of Cuzco to go over the accounts, or they
were ordered to go to Cuzco to give an accounting, the accountants themselves gave
it by the quipus, or went to give it where there could be no fraud, but everything had
to come out right. Few years went by in which an accounting was not made....
THE COLUMBIAN “EXCHANGE”

Isolation of Amerindian people left them vulnerable to
European diseases



The African slave trade brought even more foreign diseases,
as did the transfer of Old World plants and animals

STATE AND CHURCH

The Council of the Indies was set up to be the supreme
governing body of Spain's colonies in America (1524–1834).

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The Church concentrated on conversion in the earliest
periods

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STATE AND CHURCH: CORTES

Three halls are in this grand temple, which contain the principal idols; these are of
wonderful extent and height, and admirable workmanship, adorned with figures
sculptured in stone and wood; leading from the halls are chapels with very small
doors, to which the light is not admitted, nor are any persons except the priests, and
not all of them. In these chapels are the images of idols, although, as I have before
said, many of them are also found on the outside; the principal ones, in which the
people have greatest faith and confidence, I precipitated from their pedestals, and
cast them down the steps of the temple, purifying the chapels in which they had
stood, as they were all polluted with human blood, shed ill the sacrifices. In the place
of these I put images of Our Lady and the Saints, which excited not a little feeling in
Moctezuma and the inhabitants, who at first remonstrated, declaring that if my
proceedings were known throughout the country, the people would rise against me; for
they believed that their idols bestowed on them all temporal good, and if they
permitted them to be ill-treated, they would be angry and without their gifts, and by
this means the people would be deprived of the fruits of the earth and perish with
famine. I answered, through the interpreters, that they were deceived in expecting any
favors from idols, the work of their own hands, formed of unclean things; and that they
must learn there was but one God, the universal Lord of all, who had created the
heavens and earth, and all things else, and had made them and us; that He was
without beginning and immortal, and they were bound to adore and believe Him, and
no other creature or thing.
COLONIAL ECONOMIES

Silver mines and sugar plantations dominate
New World economies


Portuguese sugar plantations were the first to
use slave labor


SOCIETY IN COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA

The European population of Latin America was diverse

Spanish settlers were always a smaller minority

Encomenderos were people who had received encomiendas
 new social hierarchy