 |
|
Western Civilization I page. |
1300-1500
I. ECONOMIC DEPRESSION AND RECOVERY
DEMOGRAPHIC CATASTROPHE - DISEASE
- HUGE POPULATION DECLINE BETWEEN APPROXIMATELY 1300 AND 1450.
- BY 1450 EUROPE HAD APPROXIMATELY 1/3 OF THE POPULATION IT HAD HAD IN THE 1200's!
- A PLAGUE BROKE OUT IN MESSINA (SOUTHERN ITALY) SHORTLY AFTER 1347 AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT EUROPE.
- KNOWN AS THE BLACK DEATH IT WAS A PANDEMIC WHICH STRUCK THE ENTIRE CONTINENT. THIS WAS THE FIRST PANDEMIC IN ABOUT 800 YEARS AND STRUCK REPEATEDLY DURING THE CENTURY.
- MOST HISTORIANS IDENTIFY THE BLACK DEATH AS BUBONIC PLAGUE ALTHOUGH IN REALITY A PNEUMONIC PLAGUE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN THE REAL KILLER OF THE 14TH CENTURY.
DEMOGRAPHIC CATASTROPHE - HUNGER
- THE SECOND MAJOR CAUSE OF THE DRAMATIC FALL IN POPULATION WAS HUNGER.
- THE POPULATION WHICH HAD GROWN RAPIDLY SINCE 1000 COULD NOT BE SUSTAINED.
- NO MAJOR AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS OCCURRED THAT COULD SUPPORT SUCH A RELATIVELY LARGE POPULATION.
ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE DECLINE IN POPULATION
- THE DECLINE IN POPULATION ENCOURAGED EUROPEANS TO FIND BETTER TECHNIQUES FOR AVAILABLE RESOURCES.
- AS DEMAND DROPPED FOR AGRICULTURAL NECESSITIES SUCH AS CEREALS, DUE TO A FALLING POPULATION, PRICES DECLINED.
- WITH FEWER AVAILABLE WORKERS, THE COST OF LABOR ROSE.
- RENTS WERE LOWERED TO ATTRACT SURVIVING TENANTS.
- BETTER WAGES ENABLED A MORE VARIED AND EXPENSIVE DIET.
- SHEEP RAISING ENJOYED A REMARKABLE PERIOD OF GROWTH IN THE 15TH CENTURY.
- LABOR COSTS STILL REMAINED LOW.
- PRICES FOR WOOL AND MUTTON REMAINED HIGH.
- LANDLORDS STARTED FENCING OFF LARGE FIELDS AND CONVERTED THEM FROM PLOWLAND INTO SHEEP PASTURES - A SYSTEM CALLED ENCLOSURE - A SYSTEM VERY IMPORTANT IN TUDOR ENGLAND.
- AGRICULTURE BECAME MORE DIVERSIFIED WHICH BENEFITTED THE SOIL AND LOWERED THE RISK OF FAMINE THROUGH THE FAILURE OF A SINGLE CROP AS WELL AS MADE THE DIET MORE VARIED.
- WAGES IN MOST CITIES DOUBLED, TRIPLED OR EVEN QUADRUPLED.
- PRICES OF MANUFACTURED COMMODITIES ALSO ROSE BUT NOT AS FAST AS WAGES CAUSING A REDUCTION OF PROFIT MARGINS TO MANY ENTREPRENEURS.
- GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION TO OFFSET THESE UNFAVORABLE TENDENCIES TO ENTREPRENEURS LARGELY FAILED - WAGE AND PRICE CEILINGS SET BY LAW HAD LITTLE IMPACT.
- CITIES IMPOSED HEAVY RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTATION OF FOREIGN MANUFACTURERS, e.g., HANSEATIC LEAGUE OF NORTH GERMAN CITIES WAS FORMED TO PROMOTE GERMAN INTEREST AND EXCLUDED FOREIGNERS FROM BALTIC TRADE.
FORCES OF RECOVERY
- EMPLOYERS COUNTERACTED HIGHER WAGES BY INCREASING PRODUCTION THROUGH BETTER TOOLS AND THE USE OF MORE CAPITAL FOR LABOR.
- MINING AND METALLURGY BENEFITTED FROM INTERVENTIONS AFTER 1460 THAT LOWERED THE COST OF METALS AND EXTENDED THEIR USE IN EUROPEAN LIFE.
- MINE SHAFTS COULD BE DUG MUCH DEEPER THROUGH BETTER TECHNIQUES IN DIGGING, SHORING, VENTILATING AND DRAINING. METALS AND COAL COULD NOW BE EXTRACTED EASIER AND MORE CHEAPLY.
- FIREARMS BEGAN TO BE MANUFACTURED AND CANNONS WERE USED BY THE TIME OF THE EARLY BATTLES OF THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.
- PRINTING USING MOVEABLE METAL TYPE BECAME PRACTICAL WHEN JOHANNES GUTENBERG DEVISED AN ALLOY OF LEAD, TIN AND ANTIMONY WHICH COULD BE UTILIZED EASILY.
- HIS BIBLE PRINTED IN 1455 IS THE FIRST MAJOR WORK REPRODUCED THROUGH PRINTING.
- DEMANDS BY MORE LITERATE LAY PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT FOR CHEAP REPRODUCTION OF THE WRITTEN WORD WAS THUS SATISFIED.
- COSTS OF BOOKS WAS GREATLY REDUCED BY THE PRINTING PRESS.
- PRINTING FACILITATED THE DISSEMINATION AND PRESERVATION OF KNOWLEDGE WHICH GREATLY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE.
- PRINTING SPREAD NEW IDEAS WITH UNPRECEDENTED SPEED AND IMPACT.
- PROTESTANT REFORMERS WERE THE FIRST TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION.
- IN NAVIGATION, THE SUBSTITUTION OF CAPITAL FOR LABOR PRIMARILY MEANT THE INTRODUCTION OF LARGER SHIPS WHICH CARRIED MORE CARGO AND RELATIVELY SMALLER CREWS.
- LARGER SHIPS WERE SAFER AND COULD SAIL IN UNCERTAIN WEATHER.
- LARGER SHIPS DIDN'T NEED TO STAY CLOSE TO THE COASTLINE AND THUS VOYAGES BETWEEN PORTS BECAME QUICKER.
- DURING THE 14TH CENTURY THE STERN RUDDER WAS DEVELOPED GIVING CAPTAINS MORE CONTROL OF THEIR SHIPS.
- BANKING OPERATIONS GREW MORE SOPHISTICATED.
- BY THE LATE 14TH CENTURY A DEPOSITOR COULD PAY A DEBT TO ANOTHER WITHOUT USING COIN BY ORDERING THE BANK TO TRANSFER CREDIT FROM HIS ACCOUNT TO HIS CREDITORS.
- ACCOUNTING METHODS IMPROVED
- ADOPTION OF DOUBLE-ENTRY BOOKKEEPING BECAME WIDELY PRACTICED BY THE 14TH CENTURY.
- MARITIME INSURANCE WAS DEVELOPED AND BY 1400 IT WAS A REGULAR ITEM OF THE SHIPPING BUSINESS.
- IT PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE ON THE OPENING OF THE ATLANTIC.
- THE HUMBLEST CLASSES IMPROVED THEIR LOT AFTER THE BLACK DEATH.
- SERFDOM ALL BUT DISAPPEARED IN THE WEST.
- WAGES REMAINED HIGH AND BREAD WAS NOW CHEAP.
II. GOVERNMENTS OF EUROPE
HUNDRED YEARS' WAR
- THE GREATEST STRUGGLE OF THE EPOCH LASTED FROM 1338 UNTIL 1453.
- THE DEATH OF CHARLES IV, THE LAST DIRECT MALE DESCENDENT OF THE FRENCH CAPETIAN KINGS, BEGAN THE STRUGGLE.
- PHILIP VI OF VALOIS, A FIRST COUSIN OF CHARLES IV, WAS CHOSEN OVER KING EDWARD III OF ENGLAND WHO WAS THE SON OF CHARLES IV'S SISTER.
- EDWARD III DID NOT OFFICIALLY DISPUTE THIS ARRANGEMENT BUT RATHER CONTINUED TO GIVE HOMAGE TO PHILIP VI BECAUSE EDWARD WAS THE HOLDER OF CERTAIN FRENCH FIEFS.
- PHILIP VI EVENTUALLY INSISTED ON LIEGE HOMAGE BY EDWARD WHICH HE REFUSED (AS A KING HIMSELF, EDWARD FELT HE COULD NOT UNDERTAKE LIEGE HOMAGE TO ANYONE).
- PHILIP THEN DECLARED EDWARD'S FIEFS FORFEIT AND BEGAN ATTACKING THEM.
- ENGLAND HAD A POPULATION OF APPROXIMATELY 5 MILLION INHABITANTS WHILE FRANCE HAD A POPULATION OF 15 MILLION.
- FOR MOST OF THE WAR HOWEVER, THE CONFLICT WAS NOT NATIONAL AS FLEMISH, GASCONS AND BURGUNDIANS OFTEN JOINED THE ENGLISH AGAINST OTHER FRENCH SUBJECTS.
1ST PHASE (1338-1369)
- AN EARLY MAJOR VICTORY FOR ENGLISH FORCES UNDER EDWARD III WAS THE BATTLE OF CRECY IN 1346 AND THE BATTLE OF POITIERS IN 1356 WON BY HIS SON THE BLACK PRINCE.
- ENGLISH FORCES MADE EXCELLENT USE OF THE LONG BOW.
- AFTER POITIERS, THE PEACE OF BRETIGNY WAS SIGNED IN 1360 WHICH GRANTED ENLARGED FIEFS FOR ENGLAND.
2ND PHASE (1369-1415)
- IN 1369 THIS TREATY WAS BROKEN AS FRANCE RENEWED THE FIGHTING.
- IN 1380 ENGLISH FORCES SUFFERED SETBACKS AND WERE PUSHED INTO TWO NARROW STRIPS OF LAND ALONG THE SEA.
- THE WAR STALEMATED AFTER THIS.
3RD PHASE (1415-1453)
- ENGLAND WON THE MAJOR BATTLE OF AGINCOURT IN 1415 AS THE THIRD PHASE BEGAN WITH THE INVASION OF ENGLISH FORCES UNDER KING HENRY V. THE TREATY OF TROYES IN 1420 GAVE ENGLAND MOST OF WHAT THEY WERE FIGHTING FOR.
- THE FRENCH KING, CHARLES VI, DECLARED HENRY V HIS SUCCESSOR AND HIS OWN SON, THE DAUPHIN, ILLEGITIMATE.
- HENRY V WAS GIVEN DIRECT RULE OVER LARGE FRENCH TERRITORIES.
- THE DAUPHIN WAGED WAR AGAINST HENRY V.
- IN 1428, THE ENGLISH LAID SIEGE TO ORLEANS.
- IN 1429, JOAN OF ARC, A YOUNG PEASANT GIRL, BREAKS THE ENGLISH SIEGE.
- SHE WAS CAPTURED IN 1430 BY THE BURGUNDIANS WHO WERE ENGLISH ALLIES. SHE WAS SOLD TO THE ENGLISH AND BURNED AT THE STAKE FOR WITCHCRAFT AND HERESY IN 1431.
- A SERIES OF FRENCH VICTORIES AFTER THIS LED TO THE ENGLISH HOLDING ONLY CALAIS BY 1453.
- NO FORMAL TREATY ENDED THE WAR.
EFFECTS OF HUNDRED YEARS' WAR
- ENGLAND WAS NO LONGER A CONTINENTAL POWER.
- DEVELOPMENT OF FIREARMS WAS GREATLY STIMULATED.
- ENGLISH PARLIAMENT GREATLY STRENGTHENED.
- KING NEEDED PARLIAMENT'S HELP IN RAISING NEW TAXES.
- PARLIAMENT WAS CONFIRMED IN ITS RIGHT TO GRANT OR REFUSE NEW TAXES.
- HOUSE OF COMMONS COULD IMPEACH HIGH ROYAL OFFICIALS.
- IN FRANCE, THE OPPOSITE OCCURRED, AS THE MONARCHY GREW STRONGER AND THE ESTATES-GENERAL WEAKER.
- FRENCH MONARCHY ESTABLISHED MONOPOLY OVER THE SALE OF SALT WITH A TAX CALLED THE GABELLE.
- THE FRENCH KINGS RELIED ON PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES OF ESTATES RATHER THAN THE CENTRALIZED ESTATES-GENERAL.
- NATIONAL TAXES INCLUDED THE TAILLE OF (NOBLES AND CLERICS WERE EXEMPT) WHICH WAS A DIRECT TAX AND WAS OBTAINED AS A RIGHT OF THE KING WITHOUT NEEDING PERMISSION FROM REPRESENTATIVE BODIES.
ENGLAND
- AFTER THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR ENDED THE NEXT MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENT WAS THE WAR OF THE ROSES BETWEEN THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER (RED ROSE) AND THE HOUSE OF YORK (WHITE ROSE) FOR THE THRONE OF ENGLAND.
- 1485 - BOSWORTH FIELD - HOUSE OF LANCASTER UNDER HENRY TUDOR DEFEATED THE HOUSE OF YORK. HE OBTAINED THE THRONE UNCONTESTED AND WAS CROWNED HENRY VII.
- THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE HAD OFFICIALLY REPLACED FRENCH IN THE COURTS AND THE ADMINISTRATION.
FRANCE
- REMOVAL OF ENGLISH INFLUENCE FROM THE CONTINENT GAVE THE FRENCH KINGS INCREASING POWER.
- THE FAILURE OF THE DUCHY OF BURGUNDY TO MATERIALIZE AS A SEPARATE STATE AND ITS EVENTUAL INCORPORATION INTO FRANCE ALSO GREATLY ENHANCED THE POWER OF FRENCH KINGS.
- THE FRENCH KINGS' POWER AT THE EXPENSE OF THE NOBLES AND ANY REAL REPRESENTATIVE BODY PLACED THEM IN THE DOMINANT ROLE OF RULING FRANCE.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
- WITH THE DEATH OF EMPEROR FREDERICK II OF HOHENSTAUFEN IN 1250, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE CEASED TO FUNCTION AS A MAJOR POWER IN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS.
- REAL AUTHORITY FELL TO THE PRINCES IN GERMANY AND THE CITY REPUBLICS IN ITALY.
- 1356 - ISSUANCE OF THE GOLDEN BULL.
- DEFINED THE CONSTITUTION OF THE EMPIRE.
- THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR REMAINED LIMITED.
STATES OF ITALY
- HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE EXERTED ONLY A LOOSE SOVEREIGNTY OVER MOST OF THE PENINSULA NORTH OF ROME.
- REGIONAL STATES, DOMINATED POLITICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY BY A SINGLE METROPOLIS, GREW IN POWER. SUCH METROPOLI INCLUDED:
MILAN - EXPANDED UNDER GIAN VISCONTI (1378-1402).
VENICE - EXPANDED ITS TERRITORIES TO INCLUDE PADUA, VERONA AND VICENZA.
FLORENCE - DOMINATED BY THE DE'MEDICI FAMILY BEGINNING IN 1434. UNDER HIS GRANDSON, LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT, FLORENCE SET THE STYLE FOR EUROPE IN ITS SPLENDID FESTIVALS, BEAUTIFICATION OF BUILDINGS AND SUPPORT TO SCHOLARS AND ARTISTS.
- PAPAL STATES
- POPES, WHO WERE LOCATED IN AVIGNON IN SOUTHERN FRANCE FROM 1309 TO 1377 (AVIGNON EXILE) SOUGHT TO CONSOLIDATE THEIR RULE IN CENTRAL ITALY.
- POPES FACED CONTINUAL STRUGGLE TO OBTAIN HEGEMONY OVER MANY LOCAL COMMUNES AND PETTY LORDS EVEN AFTER THEIR RETURN TO ROME IN 1378.
- KINGDOM OF NAPLES
- FROM 1282 A STRUGGLE ENSUED BETWEEN THE ANGEVINS (FRANCE) AND ARAGONESE (SPAIN).
- 1435 - KING OF ARAGON, ALFONSO V, WINS DOMINATION OF SOUTHERN ITALY INCLUDING SICILY.
- BY 1450, ITALY HAD BECOME DIVIDED AMONG 5 TERRITORIAL STATES:
1) MILAN
2) VENICE
3) FLORENCE
4) PAPAL STATES
5) KINGDOM OF NAPLES
- A BALANCE OF POWER WAS HELD FROM 1454 TO 1494 BETWEEN VENICE AND THE PAPAL STATES ON ONE SIDE AND MILAN, FLORENCE AND NAPLES ON THE OTHER. THIS BALANCE RESULTED IN AN UNACCUSTOMED PERIOD OF PEACE.
III. THE PAPACY
AVIGNON EXILE (1309 - 1377)
- FRENCH POPE, CLEMENT V, WAS ELECTED BY COLLEGE OF CARDINALS IN 1305. IN 1309, HE MOVED TO AVIGNON (SOUTHERN FRANCE) BECAUSE OF CONTINUING POLITICAL TURMOIL IN THE PAPAL STATES.
- POPES WHO SUCCEEDED CLEMENT V GREW THE PAPAL BUREAUCRACY ESPECIALLY IN FINANCIAL AREAS.
- POPES, IN ORDER TO MEET GROWING FINANCIAL NEEDS, EXPANDED THE USE OF:
- APPOINTMENTS FOR MONEY
- DISPENSATION
- TITHING
- SELLING OF INDULGENCES
GREAT SCHISM (1378 - 1417)
- PERIOD WHEN TWO AND LATER THREE POPES RULED AT THE SAME TIME.
- ONE POPE RESIDED IN ROME WHILE THE OTHER IN AVIGNON.
- EUROPE WAS DIVIDED IN ITS SUPPORT OF POPES WHICH THREATENED TO SPLIT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH PERMANENTLY.
- EACH POPE EXCOMMUNICATED ALL SUPPORTERS OF THEIR OPPONENTS.
- GREAT SCHISM ENDED WHEN THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE (1414-1418) CHOSE A ROMAN POPE.
- THE COUNCIL WAS THE GREATEST INTERNATIONAL GATHERING OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
- IT SAW THE RISE OF THE CONCILIAR MOVEMENT WHICH SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH THAT GENERAL COUNCILS WERE SUPREME WITHIN THE CHURCH.
- IT FAILED TO GAIN THE CONTROL FROM THE POPE AS WELL AS TO STEM THE GROWING FISCAL ABUSE OF THE CHURCH.
- POPES GREATEST THREAT WAS NOT THE GENERAL COUNCILS BUT RATHER THE KINGS WHO WERE EXERTING MORE CONTROL ON THE CHURCH IN THEIR KINGDOMS.
- POPES BECAME MORE ACTIVE AS PATRONS OF THE ARTS.
- THEY FAVORED CLASSICAL REVIVAL IN EXPRESSING THEIR AUTONOMY FROM EARLIER FRENCH DOMINATION.
- ROME ONCE AGAIN BECAME A CULTURAL CAPITAL OF THE WESTERN WORLD.
IV. CULTURE IN ITALY
HUMANISM - ABILITY TO READ, UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE THE WRITINGS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD.
- RENAISSANCE HUMANISM WAS MARKED BY 3 PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS:
1) ADVOCATED A LIBERAL EDUCATION OVER PROFESSIONAL TRAINING - REVISED THE CURRICULUM OF EUROPE.
2) STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF LATIN AND LATER ALSO GREEK.
3) AFFIRMED POSSIBILITY OF HUMAN IMPROVEMENT THROUGH EDUCATION.
- INDIVIDUALS SHOULD DEVELOP TO THEIR FULLEST ALL OF THEIR FACULTIES - PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL, MORAL, AESTHETIC.
- HUMANISTS DURING THE 14TH AND 15TH CENTURIES INTRODUCED TO A NARROW BUT IMPORTANT SEGMENT OF LAY SOCIETY THE ACCUMULATED INTELLECTUAL TREASURY OF THE EUROPEAN PAST, i.e., BOTH CLASSICAL AND SCHOLASTIC, ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL.
- PETRARCH (1304 - 1374) - WAS FROM TUSCANY AND GREATLY DISSEMINATED HUMANISTIC IDEALS.
- PERSONALLY SOUGHT TO SAVE FROM NEGLECT WRITINGS OF ANCIENT AUTHORS PRESERVED IN MONASTIC LIBRARIES.
- ADMIRED FOR HIS 366 SONNETS MOST OF WHICH EXPRESS HIS LOVE FOR A MARRIED WOMAN NAMED LAURA.
- FELT AIM OF EDUCATION SHOULD BE TO LIVE HAPPY AND WELL.
- BOCCACCIO (1313 - 1375) - SECOND ONLY TO PETRARCH ON INFLUENCING 14TH CENTURY ITALIAN LEARNING.
- GREATEST WORK WAS THE DECAMERON WHICH WAS THE FIRST PROSE MASTERPIECE IN ITALIAN.
- COMPOSED AS ANTIDOTE TO MELANCHOLY.
- ONE OF THE FIRST MAJOR WORKS IN WESTERN LETTERS INTENDED TO DIVERT AND AMUSE RATHER THAN EDIFY.
- CIVIC HUMANISTS - FLORENTINE SCHOLARS STRENGTHENED THE REVIVAL OF THE STUDY OF ANTIQUITY.
- INCORPORATED AID OF NUMEROUS BYZANTINE SCHOLARS FLEEING THE MORIBUND BYZANTINE EMPIRE.
- THESE SCHOLARS MADE POSSIBLE THE ENTRANCE OF GREEK CULTURE AND INHERITANCE INTO WESTERN CULTURE.
- CIVIC HUMANISTS STRESSED THE IDEA OF PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS AS ESSENTIAL FOR FULL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND THE SUPERIORITY OF A REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT OVER A DESPOTIC ONE.
- 15TH CENTURY HUMANISM
- SPREAD FROM FLORENCE TO OTHER PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ITALY.
- BY LATE 15TH CENTURY, HUMANISTS WERE REPLACED BY PHILOSOPHERS AS THE LEADERS OF ITALIAN INTELLECTUAL LIFE.
- FLORENTINE NEOPLATONISTS
- PHILOSOPHERS WHO BELIEVED THAT PLATO HAD BEEN DIVINELY ILLUMINED AND THEREFORE, PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY AND CHRISTIAN BELIEF WERE TWO WHOLLY RECONCILABLE FACES OF A SIMPLE TRUTH.
- THESE PHILOSOPHERS EXERTED A GREAT INFLUENCE ON FLORENTINE RENAISSANCE ARTISTS INCLUDING MICHELANGELO AND BOTTICELLI.
V. CULTURE OF THE NORTH
HUMANISM AND THE TRUE CLASSICAL RENAISSANCE DID NOT COME TO THE NORTH UNTIL THE LAST DECADE OF THE 15TH CENTURY.
CHIVALRY
- MILITARILY THE KNIGHT WAS BECOMING LESS IMPORTANT THAN FOOT SOLDIERS ARMED WITH LONGBOW, PIKE OR FIREARMS.
- NOBLE CLASSES OF THE NORTH CONTINUED TO PRETEND THAT KNIGHTLY VIRTUES GOVERNED ALL QUESTIONS OF STATE AND SOCIETY.
- THIS WAS THE AGE OF THE PERFECT KNIGHT MARKED BY THE FOUNDATION OF NEW ORDERS OF CHIVALRY:
- KNIGHTS OF THE GARTER
- KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE
- COURT CEREMONY ACHIEVED UNPRECEDENTED EXCESSES.
CULT OF DECAY
- BOTH KNIGHTS AND COMMONERS SHOWED A MORBID FASCINATION WITH DEATH AND ITS RAVAGES.
- BOTH GROUPS SHOWED A FASCINATION WITH THE DEVIL AND WITCHCRAFT.
MAJOR LITERARY WORKS OF NORTHERN EUROPE - 14TH CENTURY
- VISION OF PIERS PLOWMAN (CA 1360) PROBABLY WRITTEN BY WILLIAM LANGLAND OF ENGLAND.
- POEM FILLED WITH COMMENT ABOUT THE VARIOUS CLASSES OF PEOPLE, THE IMPACT OF WAR AND PLAGUE, AND THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THE CHURCH.
- CANTEBURY TALES (CA 1390's) WRITTEN BY GEOFFREY CHAUCER
- RECOUNTS THE PILGRIMAGE OF SOME 30 PEOPLE TO THE TOMB OF ST. THOMAS BECKET AT CANTEBURY.
- TALES GIVE AN UNEXCELLED VIEW OF ENGLISH SOCIETY INCLUDING THE MORAL AND SOCIAL ILLS OF THE DAY.
- ONE OF THE GREATEST MASTERPIECES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.
NOMINALISM
- PHILOSOPHY THAT REJECTED MANY OF THE PRINCIPLES OF SCHOLASTICISM PUT FORTH BY ST. THOMAS ACQUINAS AND OTHERS.
- GREATEST NOMINALIST WAS THE FRANCISCAN WILLIAM OF OCKHAM (1300?-1349?) WHO WAS AN ENGLISH FRIAR.
- THEOLOGY BECAME THE STUDY NOT OF METAPHYSICAL REALITY BUT OF GOD'S WILL AND COVENANT WITH PEOPLE.
LAY PIETY
- STRESSED SIMPLICITY AND HUMILITY. LAY PIETY WAS A REACTION AGAINST THE POMP AND SPLENDOR OF CHURCH OFFICERS AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES.
- EMPHASIS WAS PLACED ON THE INTERIOR EXPERIENCE AS ESSENTIAL. THOMAS A. KEMPIS WROTE A MANUAL, THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, WHICH SUPPORTED THE NEW LAY PIETY.
- THE LAY PIETY WAS A PREPARATION FOR 16TH PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC REFORMATIONS.
HERESIES
- TWO MEN WHO SPOKE OUT AGAINST WHAT THEY PERCEIVED AS VICES OF THE CHURCH DURING THE 14TH CENTURY WERE:
JOHN WYCLIFFE - ENGLAND
JOHN HUS - BOHEMIA - WAS BURNED AT THE STAKE BY THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE IN 1415.
VI. THE FINE ARTS
MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES WAS THE ENLARGED ROLE THAT LAY PEOPLE CAME TO PLAY AS PATRONS, i.e., PRINCES OF EUROPE AND RICH TOWNSPEOPLE OF ITALY AND FLANDERS.
- TO A LARGE DEGREE, LAY PATRONS FAVORED RELIGIOUS THEMES IN THE ART THEY COMMISSIONED.
- NEW LAY PIETY INSISTED THAT RELIGIOUS VALUES BE MORE CONCRETE AND THAT THE VIEWER BE MORE INVOLVED VISUALLY AND EMOTIONALLY WITH SACRED SCENES.
- MEMBERS OF FAMILY OR TOWNSPEOPLE WERE OFTEN INCORPORATED INTO THE PAINTING BY THE ARTISTS.
MAJOR TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT IN THE NORTH WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF OIL PAINTING IN THE 15TH CENTURY.
- PROVIDED ARTISTS WITH RICHER COLORS AND THE ABILITY TO PAINT MORE SLOWLY.
AN APPRECIATION OF CLASSICAL STYLE AND VALUES WAS LED BY ITALY.
- IT DID NOT REALLY TRIUMPH UNTIL THE 16TH CENTURY.
- IN ARCHITECTURE, CHURCHES BECAME BUILDINGS ARRANGED SYMMETRICALLY AROUND THE DOME - ST. PETER'S OF ROME IS THE CHIEF ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENT OF THE NEW CLASSICAL STYLE.
GREAT MASTERS
- TWO CENTERS OF WESTERN ART IN THE 15TH CENTURY WERE ITALY AND THE LOW COUNTRIES (RULED BY THE DUKES OF BURGUNDY)
- ITALY - LAST DECADES OF THE 15TH CENTURY AND OPENINGDECADES OF 16TH CENTURY ARE CALLED THE HIGH RENAISSANCE.
- ART - ITALY
- ART OF ITALIAN HIGH RENAISSANCE BEST REPRESENTED BY:
1) LEONARDO DA VINCI
2) RAPHAEL SANTI
3) MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI
1) LEONARDO DA VINCI
- A MASTER OF DESIGN WHO HAD 2 REMARKABLE GIFTS:
A) ABILITY TO PAINT GROUPS OF PEOPLE.
B) ABILITY TO PORTRAY HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY.
- HIS GREATEST WORKS WHICH EXEMPLIFY THESE GIFTS ARE RESPECTIVELY THE LAST SUPPER AND THE MONA LISA.
2) MICHELANGELO
- REPRESENTED UNIVERSAL GENIUS OF THE RENAISSANCE WHO REACHED GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE AND PAINTING.
- HE PREFERRED SCULPTURE TO PAINTING AND LIKED TO PORTRAY HIS SUBJECTS AT A MOMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TRANSITION.
- DAVID AND MOSES ARE SCULPTURED EXAMPLES OF THIS TRANSITION. HIS PAINTING OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL CEILING DEMONSTRATES THIS TRANSITION AS WELL.
- HE DOES NOT DEPICT A NATURAL WORLD BUT RATHER HIS WORKS APPEAR AS PROTESTS TO MAN'S LIMITATIONS.
- ART - LOW COUNTRIES
- MOST HISTORIANS TODAY BELIEVE THE TERM "RENAISSANCE" IS INAPPROPRIATE IN THE NORTH OF EUROPE IN THE 15TH CENTURY.
- NOT AN IMITATION OF THE CLASSICAL STYLE BUT RATHER THE CHIEF SOURCES OF INSPIRATION REMAINED MEDIEVAL.
- FLEMISH ARTISTS DOMINATED THE 14TH AND 15TH CENTURIES IN THE NORTH.
- BEGAN WITH JAN VAN EYCK WHO ACHIEVED INTENSE REALISM WITH HIS THE VIRGIN AND CHILD IN CHURCH.
- THIS INTENSE REALISM WAS TO CHARACTERIZE FLEMISH ART DURING THIS TIME.