The city-states of northern Italy had led western Europe in the revival of trade from the 11 th century

onwards. Though the black death had severely disrupted european society, italian city-states reemerged
from the pandemic to retain their dominant trading position. The wealthy merchant elites of these cities
increasingly gained political power to match their economic power. The oligarchies and signori in the
city-states patronized arts to assert their wealth and influence. This was combined with a revival of
classical greek and roman learning to produce a unique cultural movement called the renaissance.
Renaissance engaged itself with questions regarding the human nature, ideal behaviour for rulers and
the relationship between classical and catholic learning. The renaissance worldview promoted individual
virtue and secularism in arts and philosophy, especially in the italian city-states. The renaissance had
profound influence on european elite culture in the 15 th and 16th centuries. Its impact on the popular
culture, however, remained limited.

Continuity- church

Change- secularism, individualism, humanism,urban culture

Renaissance finds its roots in the works of early humanists, most notable being petrarch. They believed
they were living in a new era of intellectual revival of the classical greek and roman learning, which
would further lead to a golden age of achievement. Humanists emphasized on a new kind of university
education in which students would be taught to write clearly, argue effectively and speak persuasively
through a careful study of the classics. Humanists reinvigorated plato’s philosophy of the superiority of
the spiritual desire for perfection over the bodily desires, which resounded with the catholic church.
They believed man possessed both material and spiritual natures. Humanist pico del mirandolo
encapsulates the humanist thought perfectly by stating that god has created man but man can choose
his own nature. Thus, humanists set no limit on the accomplishments human could achieve.

An important strand of development of the renaissance culture is of individualism. Humanists believed

that the human accomplishments were wealthy of reflection and praise. Rare men of genius who were
adept at various humanist subjects were appreciated in society. Artists came to be known individually by
their names rather than as members of guilds. These men were believed to posses virtu- the ability to
shange their surroundings through their will. The most famous of these men were leonardo da vinci,
michelangelo and raphael sanzio.

Humanists propounded secularism, a belief that was popular among the rich merchants of the italian
city-states who believed life was an opportunity to be enjoyed rather than as a pilgrimage to the city of
god. Secularism meant concerning oneself with matters of active life. Thus, political and social models
of behaviour came to gain popularity. Niccolo Machiavelli’s the prince is considered to be the first work
of modern political science. It advises rulers to maintain order within their states by using whatever
methods possible including force and lying. In his view, it better for a ruler to be feared than loved by his
subjects. Another important work is castiglione’s rules for courtly behaviour. It serves as model to train,
discipline and fashion young men into the courtly ideal, the gentleman. A gentleman should be
intellectually, physically and spiritually well-trained, an ideal which influenced social mores and practices
of European elite society for a long time.
We can see that the renaissance culture shows remarkable departure from medieval practices. The
creation of an urban elite of merchant and nobility alike led to the development of a new and unique
urban culture. However, church continued to exert important influence on intellectual developments.
Moreover, the vast majority of western european society lived in villages and had little or no access to
formal education. The influences were thus limited to a small geographical area and to a small elite
society.

Review:

Include topics under change in the contextualization and thesis

Black death

Evaluate the most significant response to the protestant reformation

Contextualization and thesis

Council of trent

Holy office(roman Inquisition)

Jesuits

Ursuline order

Carmelites

The protestant reformation led by Martin Luther of Wittenburg in the early 16 th century proved to be a
catalyst in a long series of challenges to the Catholic church. The Catholic Church’s neglect in addressing
these issues resulted in the breaking away of several german principalities from the church and
undermining its authority. However, the Church, through a series of measures, proved successful in
responding to the crisis and establishing its authority. The three components of the church’s response
include:

1. Establishment of the roman inquisition

2. Council of trent (1545-1563)
3. Establishment of new religious orders

Their success can be seen in that these institutions provided the organizational basis for catholic
practices up until modern times and also stimulated proselytization around the globe.
Do you see the continuity between the ideas of the northern renaissance and the protestant
reformation?

Desiderius erasmus:

1. Christian and classical education as means of reform

2. Inner spirituality and personal morality rather than outside observances

Martin Luther:

1. Faith alone
2. Bible alone
3. Church as a community of believers
4. Secular and spiritual spheres are equal

Prohibited books

Use of printing

Vernaculars

Education

Luther-nationalism

Erasmus- northern renaissance secularism

Though Erasmus never became a Lutheran, a great deal of continuity can be witnessed in the
developments from the Northern Renaissance to the protestant reformation and in the works of both
the men. The northern renaissance thought of the 15 th century stressed the importance of a believer’s
own spirituality and personal morality as opposed to the observance of outside rituals and veneration of
relics. This, Erasmus called the ‘philosophy of christ’. This idea resonated in Martin Luther’s reliance on
faith alone as the means to achieving the grace of god. Both stressed on the importance of Bible as the
source of religious truth and to allow the laity to read the scriptures. This made them both press for the
translation of the bible into vernaculars , as can be derived from both the above sources. For them, it
served as a way of countering the hegemony of Latin and of the Catholic Church hierarchy. Martin luther
was a vehement critic of this hierarchy, which in his view, found no basis in the scriptures and thus did
not have any religious legitimacy. Careful readings of the christian and classical works and of the bible
were to be the ideal means of reform. Both of them used the newly available method of block-type
printing to spread their ideas among the educated elite of europe. The church responded to their efforts
through its own reformation, creating a list of prohibited books, deeming both the works of the
Protestants and renaissance humanists incorrect interpretations of christian belief. However, Martin
Luther was much more embroiled in the politics of the day than Erasmus. The call for the protestant
movement and the translation of bible into german also formed a part of a growing german nationalistic
feeling against the italian popes. Martin Luther himself invoked this in his writings. Based on the
evidence of the above documents and our previous knowledge, we believe it would be correct to say:

“Erasmus laid the egg and Martin Luther hatched it”