Ah, History! -- Humanism

From the cob-webs of Western Civ. class, fall of 2006. I thought I'd share.



Conflict, change and uncertainty were the themes of the Renaissance and its novel outlook on life: Humanism. This rebirth in Western Civilization of the humanities was not without its difficulties, for with the resurgence of Greco-Roman language and writings came a revolutionary concept of self.

Of all the great thinkers of humanism, three people stand out: Petrarch, Mirandola, and Erasmus. Petrarch (1304-1374), now known as the Father of humanism was one of the first men to proclaim this ideology. His “love for classical learning” fostered the growth of the Humanist concept. He went so far as to say that the Middle Ages had been made up of people who were “not only ignorant, but demented” in their rejection of Classicism.

Over a hundred years after Petrarch, Mirandola (1463-1494) expounded on the Humanist outlook by offering a new theory on humanity’s existence. To Pico, humans were the most dignified of God’s creation, given the choice of devolving into beast or evolving into spirit. Pico stated that humanity “ordained for [itself] the limits of [its] nature.” With this revolutionary idea, Pico contested and, in many respects, overthrew the old mentality of fatalism; man was in a state of stasis.

Finally, Erasmus (1466-1536), “Prince of humanists” encapsulated the humanist mindset by his prolific writings that attacked the hypocrisy, ignorance and dishonesty of the time period. In his “Colloquies,” Erasmus used satire to drive home his opinions against the common superstitions of the time,

With this new sense of individuality, nationalism grew increasingly important, which pulled at the very seams of Christendom. Furthermore, power and prowess became the goal of clergy and nobility. Hence, conflict between Church and State, as well as upper and lower classes became increasingly severe. Wars broke out, rebellions ensued, and inflation skyrocketed. To add insult to injury, the Black Death infiltrated Europe, annihilating entire villages and decimating the population of Western civilization. With such conflict came thoughts of uncertainty; people began to questions absolutes with regard to religion and politics. From this was born the Protestant revolt, where men like Martin Luther, Henry VIII and John Calvin benefited from the weakening feudal structure to advance their ideologies.

1517 marked the beginning of the Protestant Revolt, with Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. In these theses, he rejected the authority of the pope to issue indulgences. He would later reject more concepts of Catholicism, including transubstantiation, and church hierarchy. His split with the Catholic Church sparked others to do the same. The most renowned of post-Lutheran Reformists is John Calvin of France. A former clergyman with an extensive law background, he was most renowned for his stance on pre-destination, which he began to preach in 1534. The last great Reformist is Henry VIII of England, though he really only rejected the temporal authority of the pope, making no steps himself to follow Luther or Calvin in their theology.

The Catholic Church was not without a reply to this revolt, however. In 1543, Pope Paul III called he Council of Trent, which ended up being one of the most important councils ever called the Catholic Church. It cemented Catholic doctrine, and gave guidelines as to how to teach these doctrines to the faithful.