Changes

[[World History Lecture One|1]]-[[World History Lecture Two|2]]-[[World History Lecture Three|3]]-[[World History Lecture Four|4]]-[[World History Lecture Five|5]]-[[World History Lecture Six|6]]-[[World History Lecture Seven|7]]-[[World History Lecture Eight|8]]-[[World History Lecture Nine|9]]-[[World History Lecture Ten|10]]-[[World History Lecture Eleven|11]]-[[World History Lecture Twelve|12]]-[[World History Lecture Thirteen|13]]-[[World History Lecture Fourteen|14]]

[[World History Lecture One|1]]-[[World History Lecture Two|2]]-[[World History Lecture Three|3]]-[[World History Lecture Four|4]]-[[World History Lecture Five|5]]-[[World History Lecture Six|6]]-[[World History Lecture Seven|7]]-[[World History Lecture Eight|8]]-[[World History Lecture Nine|9]]-[[World History Lecture Ten|10]]-[[World History Lecture Eleven|11]]-[[World History Lecture Twelve|12]]-[[World History Lecture Thirteen|13]]-[[World History Lecture Fourteen|14]]

Seventh Lecture – End of the Middle Ages (Renaissance and Reformation)

“Renaissance” is a French word for “rebirth”, and the rebirth was in renewed respect for artistic and intellectual progress not seen since classical Greece and Rome.  The Merriam-Webster online dictionary<ref>http://www.m-w.com</ref> describes “Renaissance” as follows:  “the transitional movement in Europe between medieval and modern times beginning in the 14th century in Italy, lasting into the 17th century,” which included “a flowering of the arts and literature” and “the beginnings of modern science.”

The “Middle Ages” represent the “middle” between the great achievements of the ancient world and the Renaissance.  A poet named Petrach (1304-1374), discussed below, described the early Middle Ages as “Dark Ages” of social decay.  The “rebirth” or “revival” in the Renaissance was the rediscovery of the Roman and Greek cultures, as enhanced by Christianity.  The “new learning” was a new recognition of the ideas discovered and developed in the past in art, science and other fields of inquiry.

The earliest beginning of the Renaissance was the poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), discussed below, who is famous for writing “Dante’s Inferno” about Hell.  Another beginning date for the Renaissance is the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, when gunpowder and the cannon became essential parts of warfare.  This military defeat caused Greek (Byzantine) scholars to flee to Rome, bringing their scholarship with them.  They also brought their hostility to the Roman Catholic Church, causing changes to the religious order in Europe.

The earliest beginning of the Renaissance was the poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), discussed below, who is famous for writing “Dante’s Inferno” about Hell.  Another beginning date for the Renaissance is the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, when gunpowder and the cannon became essential parts of warfare.  This military defeat caused Greek (Byzantine) scholars to flee to Rome, bringing their scholarship with them.  They also brought their hostility to the Roman Catholic Church, causing changes to the religious order in Europe.

By the 1400s there were numerous great artists, and also advances in the existing Gothic Art.  By the year 1500 the High Renaissance was in full bloom.

By the 1400s there were numerous great artists, and also advances in the existing Gothic Art.  By the year 1500 the High Renaissance was in full bloom.

But a schism in Christianity in Europe was just around the corner.  In 1505, a law student named Martin Luther was caught outside in the middle of a thunderstorm.  A bolt of lightning struck the ground near him.  Terrified, he cried out for protection and promised to become a monk if he survived the storm.  He did survive, and then left law school to join an Augustinian monastery.

But a schism in Christianity in Europe was just around the corner.  In 1505, a law student named Martin Luther was caught outside in the middle of a thunderstorm.  A bolt of lightning struck the ground near him.  Terrified, he cried out for protection and promised to become a monk if he survived the storm.  He did survive, and then left law school to join an Augustinian monastery.

Martin Luther founded Protestantism in Europe on October 31, 1517, when he nailed 95 “Theses” or issues to the door of his Wittenberg Church in what is now Germany.  A decade later, in 1529, King Henry VIII founded a different Protestant religion for an entirely different reason:  he wanted the pope to approve his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and when the pope refused, the king founded the Church of England and seized all property of the Catholic Church in England.  Other protestant faiths also began in the 1500s, and the Catholic Church responded with an internal reformation of its own.

Martin Luther founded Protestantism in Europe on October 31, 1517, when he nailed 95 “Theses” or issues to the door of his Wittenberg Church in what is now Germany.  A decade later, in 1529, King Henry VIII founded a different Protestant religion for an entirely different reason:  he wanted the pope to approve his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and when the pope refused, the king founded the Church of England and seized all property of the Catholic Church in England.  Other protestant faiths also began in the 1500s, and the Catholic Church responded with an internal reformation of its own.

We end this Lecture with a discussion of Asia in the Middle Ages, which was unaffected by both the Renaissance and the Reformation.  Asia had issues of its own.

We end this Lecture with a discussion of Asia in the Middle Ages, which was unaffected by both the Renaissance and the Reformation.  Asia had issues of its own.