AP European History AP European History

Prelude to the Reformation

The Northern Renaissance

an I. Northern Renaissance Art vs. Italian

1. Less into perspective

2. More into details

3. Less Greco-Roman

4. More middle-class & peasant life

Jan van Eyck’sGiovanni Arnolfini and His Bride

(1434)

Rogier van der Weyden -the Deposition (1435)

Quentin Massys’ the Moneylender& His Wife 1514

5. Albecht Durer (1471-1528)

a. more influenced by Italians

• Perspective

• Rejected such minute details

Durer’s Adoration of the Magi (1504)

II. Christian Humanists1. Reforming the Church= its main goal 2. Education a. Have to change the people of a

society to change society3. Emphasized reading:a. the Bible b. & the Early Church Fathers

4. Criticized the Church’s abuses, but never suggested breaking its unity

III. Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)

1. The Handbook of the Christian Knight

a. “the philosophy of Christ”b. de-emphasized external

rituals & practices- sacraments, pilgrimages, saint veneration, relics

c. emphasized inner pietyd. Wanted the simplicity of

the earliest church- how?e. understand the original

meaning of Scriptures & the early Church Fathers

2. Translation of the Bible

I disagree very much with those who are unwilling that Holy Scripture, translated into the vulgar tongue, be read by the uneducated, as if Christ taught such intricate doctrines that they could scarcely be understood by very few theologians, or as if the strength of the Christian religion consisted in men’s ignorance of it…I would that even the lowliest women read the Gospels. And I would that they were translated into all languages so that they could be read and understood not only by Scots and Irish but also by Turks and Saracens

Desiderius Erasmus

3. The Praise of Folly (1509)- a satire

a.critical of church abuses through humor

b.Folly (a woman) spoke about the most corrupt practices of the clergy

4. Erasmus failed to reform the Church

a.too moderateb. “Erasmus laid the

egg that Luther hatched”

IV. Thomas More (1478-1535)

1.A civic (& Christian) humanist

a.Lord Chancellor of England (King Henry VIII)

2. Utopia (p. 1516)a.1st 1/2 of the book=

his criticism of all that was wrong in society

b.b. 2nd ½- described an imaginary ideal society

• cooperation & reason motivated people • communal ownership (no private property)• Everyone worked & were rewarded based on

needs• no competition or greed

V. The Clergy1. The Papacya. too into secular

concernsb. All cardinals

were from noble families

c. Nepotism, simony, pluralism, absenteeism

Pope Alexander VI (p. 1492-1503)

Pope Julius II (p.1503-1513)

2. The Lower Clergy- parish priestsa. terrible wagesb. no room for advancement c. no direction from upper clergyd. little educatione. charges of greed & sexual offenses

VI. Popular Religion

1. The Medieval obsession with salvation

2. Ways to salvation

a. holy relics* Frederick the

Wise of Saxonyb. pilgrimagesc. indulgences

3. Many wanted a more meaningful experience with God

a. mysticism- bridging the gap between a Christian & God through meditation & prayer

b. The Brothers & Sisters of the Common Life- live life based on Scripture

c.Thomas a Kempis’The Imitation of Christ

Truly, at the day of judgment we shall not be examined by what we have read, but what we have done; not how well we have spoken, but how religiously we have lived