1 Northern Humanism, Northern Renaissance, Religious Reformations, and Late Mannerism 1500-1603

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Northern Humanism, Northern Renaissance, Religious Reformations, and Late

Mannerism

1500-1603

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The Period

Literary Movement: Christian HumanismFrancois Rabelais, The Histories of Gargantua and Pantagruel

Marguerite of Angoulême

Desiderius Erasmus, The Praise of Folly

Two Artistic StylesNorthern Renaisance

Late Mannerism

Reformation

Counter-Reformation

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Northern Humanism

Shared some values of High Renaissance (idealism, rationalism, Classical emphasis), but…

Pre-occupied with condition of Church and wider Christian world

Harks back to “simple” lay piety of Late Middle Ages• Devotio moderna/Brotherhood of Common Life

• Thomas a Kempis

• John Wycliffe/Lollards

• Jan Hus

Goal: Imitation of early church and its simplicity• Laity, not just clergy, could aspire to highest standards

• Carries national, anti-Italian (anti-papacy) implications

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François Rabelais (1494-1553)

Major work was five-part satire, The Histories of Garantua and Pantagruel.

Attacks church abuses

Ridicules clergy

Affirms goodness of human nature/power of reason

Skepticism, secularism, and ribald humor put him outside mainstream of northern humanism.

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Marguerite of Angoulême (1492-1549)

Queen of Navarre, sister of Francis I, protector of Rabelais, Protestant reformers, other free spirits

Associated with Heptameron, 70 frankly sexual tales in the spirit of Boccaccio’s Decameron

Work is hostile to ethos of monasticism, portraying monks as gluttons, parasites, rapists, and lechers

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Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536)

Studied in school run by Brethren of the Common Life, University of Paris

Believed in (1) Ciceronian humanitas and (2) “philosophy of Christ”; Thomas More was close friend.

Most famous work was Encomium Moriae, or The Praise of Folly (note pun on More’s name in title)

Supported Luther and wanted his support, but two men disagreed – violently – over freedom of human will.

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The Northern Renaissance

Northern cultural scene influenced by Italian Renaissance, but more affected by contemporary events and religious upheavals

Result is art, architecture, and literature markedly different from Italy, and marked by competing styles.

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Political Thought:Jean Bodin (1530-1596)

Lived through eight civil/religious wars in France (Huguenots v. Catholics)

Background combined humanistic scholarship and government service

Reflected in Six Livres de la Republique – essentially a work on sovereignty, notably on types of monarchy and the desirability of uniform religion

With Machiavelli, one of the first to focus on the structure of the ideal state in the modern world.

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Science and Medicine:Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)

Studied at elite universities (Louvain, Paris, Padua)

Through dissection and study of anatomy – learned at Paris – discovered that Galen was wrong

Key work: De Humani Corporis Fabrica

Stands in Medicine in the same position Copernicus stands in astronomy

Served as court physician to Charles V and Philip II

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Literature:Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)

Balanced public career (judge and mayor) with life of letters

Majors work is Essais, an autobiography of his mind

Essais are an early example of confessional literature, but are more than that: also earliest work of “moralisme” and the beginning of modern skepticism

Challenged both Christian ethic and Renaissance view of humanity as microcosm of universe

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Literature:William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Wrote in Elizabethan age, when London achieved cultural prominence that rivaled that of Florence

Age saw rise of drama (Kyd, Marlowe), reversing Christian cultural outlook

While drew on multiple sources, many reveal Mannerist aesthetic.

Hamlet , for example, (1) is presented from multiple , ambiguous perspectives, and (2) rejects the basic dignity of man

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Northern Renaissance Painting

Era of cultural crisis brought multiple influences to bear:

Late Gothic Style/Flemish School fades (Bosch excepted)

Impact of Italian art (notably Mannerism) grows)

Reformation focuses attention on secular subjects (religious topics viewed as idol worship)

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Northern Renaissance PaintingAlbrecht Durer (1471-1528)

Son of a goldsmith; traveled widely in Italy; was both painter and – notably – engraver, on both wood and metal

Near end of life becomes Lutheran; last paintings reveal his new faith

Self-portrait, implicitly comparing artist of Christ, unthinkable before the Renaissance (but also well within mystic tradition of imitatio Christi)

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Knight, Death, and the Devil engraved at the time of Luther’s revolt.

Combines Late Gothic (exquisite details, grotesque demon, varied landscape and background) and Renaissance elements (horse) to create a disquieting scene

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Northern Renaissance PaintingMatthias Grunewald (1460-1528)

Details of life are unusually unclear; even his name is certainly wrong

Ignored Renaissance classicism; continued expressive , intense style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century.

Only 10 paintings and 35 drawings survive, all religious; many others were lost at sea in the Baltic on way to Sweden as war booty.

Many of his paintings were attributed to Dürer, now seen as stylistic antithesis.

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Grunewald: Isenheim Altarpiece

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Northern Renaissance PaintingHieronymus Bosch (1450-1516)

Personal life a mystery

Treats common religious subjects in fantastic, enigmatic ways

Influenced – perhaps – political upheavals, sense of dread fostered by plague, religious troubles, private demons

In paintings, seems torn between Late Gothic and emerging Mannerist styles, but overall defies classification

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Northern Renaissance PaintingHieronymus Bosch (1450-1516)

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Northern Renaissance PaintingPieter Brueghel the Elder (1525-1569)

First truly modern painter in northern Europe; subjects – landscapes, country life scenes, and folk narratives – often are devoid of religious content and set him apart

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The Breakup of Christendom: Causes of the Religious Reformations

Radical reshaping of society (1350 forward)

Human yearnings

Historical trends:Church abuses

Rise of sovereign states

Decay of medieval thought

Revival of Humanism

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The German Setting

Germany focal point of ReformationPurgatory-centered faith

No unified nation state

No secular control over church (courts/taxes)

Conflict with Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor)

Anger turns against Rome/Church/Papacy

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The Pillars of the Church

Mass and PurgatoryMass was center of “intercession industry”

Works/money could buy grace

Papal PrimacyStructure essentially created by Pope Gregory VII (1073-85)

While never achieved goal of fully unified Christendom, did develop elaborate structure

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Spain and Portugal

Iberian Peninsula is a “special case”Adopted crusading ideal which arose from advance of Islam

Latin Christendom became central to identity

Had early “Reformation”• Inquisition

• Brutal empire building/export of Christianity

• Rise of African slavery which was to last three centuries

The Protestant Order

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

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Published 95 Theses in 1517 (anti-indulgence, but implicitly challenged confession, penance, papal authority.

Major beliefs:

(1)Salvation through grace, not works

(2)Bible sole source of religious authority

(3)No need for mediated relationship with God

(4)Repudiation of sacraments (except Baptism and Eucharist)

Martin Luther

Luther’s Criticisms of CatholicismVenality: Indulgences/relics

Church hierarchy unsupported in gospels

Sacraments/good works ineffective in assuring salvation

Luther’s TheologyJustification by faith

Priesthood of all believers

Rejection of all practices not

explicitly laid out in Bible

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Martin Luther

Practices Luther Rejected:Fasting

Veneration of saints

Monsatic orders

Ecclesiastical hierarchy, including Papacy

Five sacraments (baptism and communion excepted)

Elements of transfiguration

Latin mass

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Martin Luther

Pope Leo orders Luther to recant or face trial for heresy

Luther publically burns Pope’s order

Frederick convenes Diet of Worms (1521), administered by Charles V

Charles V – for political more than religious reasons –presses Luther to recant

Luther refuses

Frederick sends Luther into hiding

German princes choose sides34

Advantages of Lutheranism

To Princes:No tribute/taxes to Rome

No need to enforce ecclesiastical dues on subjects

Close monasteries/seize lands and wealth

Assert primacy of State/appoint own ministers

To People:Bible contained no justification of power of aristocrats. Or feudal dues and rents

Led to peasant rebellions (which horrified Luther)

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Martin LutherNever meant to set Europe ablaze, but radical followers fomented revolt

Major impacts on:

(1)Familial, non-celibate tradition

(2)Education

(3)Distance from anti-government political and social reforms

Frederick the Wise

Katherine von Bora

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John Calvin (1509-1564)After “joining” Reformation movement, fled from Paris to Basel. There, published Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Major beliefs:

(1)Predestination

(2)Theocratic state

(3)Strict ethical demands -- thrift, industry, sobriety, discipline – furthered pursuit of wealth in the West

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Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547)Founded Anglican church, largely for political, not religious, reasons.

Catherine of Aragon failed to produce male heir; sought annulment, but Pope essentially held hostage in Rome by Charles V’s troops

Pushed laws setting up Church of England through Parliament

Solidified under daughter, Elizabeth

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The Counter Reformation

Reform movement within Church had begun quietly even before Luther took his stand, focused on:

Revitalized Papacy

New Monastic Orders

Effective Reforming Council

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Reformed Papacy: Paul III

Starting with Paul III, Church sees series of reform-minded popes

Pope Paul III:

(1)Convened council of Trent

(2)Reclaimed moral leadership

(3)Reorganized papal bureaucracy

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New Monastic Orders

Company of St. UrsulaFounded by Angela Merici in Brescia

Intended to be exclusively for laywomen, who were to live in own homes, practice chastity without vows, serve the sick, and educate the young

After Merici’s death in 1540, however, order cloistered and placed under male control by Church leaders – a typical fate for women in Catholicism

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New Monastic Orders

Society of JesusFounded by Ignatius Loyola , recognized by pope in 1540

Initially concerned with working with the unchurched and poor, focusing specifically on teaching

Guided by Francis Xavier, however, mission expanded; major missionaries to China and the Far East, North America, and South America

Served as Church’s chief weapon against Protestantism

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Council of TrentMet in three separate sessions between 1545 and 1563.

(1)Took unyielding position toward Protestants, based on belief that the Bible and church tradition – not the Bible alone – were bases for understanding the word of God.

(2)Affirmed that salvation was to be sought by faith and works; reaffirmed seven sacraments

(3)Took Vulgate as “official” Bible

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Encounter:Indigenous Peoples and New Spain

As religious wars in the 1500s were altering the map of Europe, the rise of European colonies in the New World was changing the geography of Western culture. Spain led the way with its vast overseas empire covering much of North and South America. In 1535 Spain organized its overseas possessions into four viceroyalties—regional governments, each headed by a viceroy—to rule the conquered lands.The viceroyalty of New Spain held sway over much of its vast domain until 1821, when it collapsed in the wake of the wars of revolution that swept the Americas in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

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Warfare as a Response to Religious Dissent, 1520-1603

War between Charles V’s armies and Lutheran forces erupted in Germany in 1546, lasted until 1555.

Peace of Augsburg tolerated Lutheran states, but made ruler’s faith the religion of each territory

Philip II tried to created united, Catholic Christendom, but defeat of Spanish Armada ended hope.

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Slice of Life:The Conscience of Sixteenth-Century Christian

Europe

Bartolomé de las Casas: A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

Bartolome de las Casas, a Dominican friar, was an eyewitness to Spain’s quest for empire. Outraged by the massacres committed during the 1502 conquest of Cuba, he eventually denounced Spain’s entire overseas mission as misguided and even genocidal, in A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies. By “Indies,” he meant the lands of the Indians in the New World. In his book, las Casas, speaking as the Christian conscience, called for justice for indigenous peoples.

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Late Mannerism

Strongest impact of Counter-Reformation felt after Council of Trent in Spain and Italy

Major themes were accessibility, intelligibility, simplicity, and decency

On collision curse with Mannerism’s complexity and ambiguity

Affected visual arts, not literature

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Spanish Painting

El Greco (1541-1614)Epitomizes spirit of Late Mannerism

Native of Crete, arrived in Toledo in 1576

Though not a favorite of Philip II, painting catch the essence of Spanish emotionalism and religious zeal in spritualized vision

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El GrecoThe Burial of Count Orgaz recounts miracle said to have happened during founder of Church of Santo Tome’s burial – assistance from Sts. Stephen and Augustine.

Two distinct styles depict earthly burial and heavenly reception of soul.

St. Stephen’s gown also depicts event within event…a Mannerist notion.

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El Greco

Cardinal Guevara depicts chief inquisitor

Subject seems to have uneasy conscience, reflected in “shifty” eyes and firm grip on chair.

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Sofonisba AnguissolaChosen by Philip II to be court painter – a career unusual for a noble women of her time

Here she shows her mentor, Bernardino Campi, painting her – a new development in a genre that previously had shown subjects in static situations

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Sofonisba Anguissola

The Portait of Don Carlos shows the painter’s attention to detail as well as the Mannerist concern with revealing inner nature through outward appearance.

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Spanish Literature

Lope de Vega -- Drama

Lazarillo de Tormes – Picaresque Novel

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra – Don Quixote

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Italian Painting: Tintoretto

The Last Supper reflects the artist’s feverish, emotional style, as well as his trademark placement of people in positions that suggest a sculptural frieze.

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Music

Late 16th Century Italy and EnglandGiovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Madrigal: Thomas Weelkes

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Legacy

World culture and economy began during this periodRise of system of sovereign and mutually hostile statesLong conflict between Protestants and CatholicsArts and Humanities: Cervantes and Spain’s Golden Age authors …and Shakespeare

Documents

1 Northern Humanism, Northern Renaissance, Religious Reformations, and Late Mannerism 1500-1603