Reflections Of The Middle Ages

Personally, when thinking of the middle Ages, I tend to have the misconception that it is a period of darkness with no progress. However, R.W. Southern’s book, ‘The Making of the Middle Ages’, offers an in depth study of the development of history in the world today. Observing that this book was published during the 1950s, Mr. Southern’s interpretation of the ‘Middle Ages’ was very distinctive in comparison to other historians of his time. He explores the significance of the Middle Ages as a separate sector in the study of history by which the audience will notice that previous categories of studied history is set aside, as we are no longer focusing on the usual ‘Classical Greece’ and ‘Rome’

In Dante’s Inferno, Dante is on a journey through hell in which he sees the different versions of sins and what consequences come after the immoralities. The person who commits a sin usually has to suffer in some way that would show revenge for the law of God. Dante threatens the people and tells them that they basically have nothing to look forward to except for having to suffer being separated from the will of God. Since these works were written by Dante, he had the power to judge others and decide how they will be punished for their sins. These visions that he had could very well be all false prophecies and may not be believed by every person. One thing that Dante did was to give enlightenment to sins that people did not know and made people

We begin in the 14th century, at the start of the Italian Renaissance. From 1308 to 1320, Dante Alighieri began and completed his Divine Comedy, a three part poem entailing his visionary journey through the realms of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. It intertwines aspects of Roman Catholic doctrine with Classical philosophy and contemporary politics, all in the dialect of Florence. He wrote this for a myriad of reasons, ranging from the inspiration of his muse to the politics of late 13th century Florence. The biggest political concern at the time was the struggle between church and state for secular power. The pope, along with other characters from Florentine politics, are represented in Hell, or the Inferno. Dante incorporates many references

During The Inferno, Dante goes through many examples where he is afraid and this shows how the overall theme of the poem is fear. Since this book is mostly based on religion and shows this by descripting Dante’s journey to hell. After doing some research, many have said that religion is based primarily upon fear of what will happen in the afterlife. Will the human soul be punished by God by being damned to hell or rewarded by getting into heaven. This is why many have there own interpretations of what God wants us to do in order to please him, and what we see as to be considered a sin to him.

Lastly, Dante’s Inferno reflects a culture which is dominated by Christianity. For example, the struggle of the Pilgrim is not that of a physical confrontation. Instead, he is battling against sin and trying to attain Heaven. The circles of Hell exist to

In the first place, Christians of the new and old age primarily believe that after death their souls live on in the grace of God's presence. For example, in the Bible it states, “Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies.”’ In Dante’s Inferno, Dante is shunned by God’s grace and is trying to find his way back. In the concluding lines of inferno; “...and beauteous shining of the Heavenly cars. And we walked out once more beneath the Stars” (Alighieri 287). These last words represent Dante climbing out of the nightmare he called Hell and he is gazing upon the beautiful stars of Heaven. Which represents a sense of hope as if his sins are forgiven. Heaven and hell in the Bible have a rather vague description of the details embedded in the experience you will face in the afterlife. All that is very well known and established is Heaven is a place of light and God's love and Hell is the land in which you experience eternal suffering for your sins. These loose interpretations of hell are greatly represented in Inferno because Dante takes these thoughts and roughly based Christian ideology of the after life into his own “Visions of Hell” Henceforth, the Christian faith and ideas are the base to many other religions. Dante’s Inferno a like Christianity has multiple representations of faith including an abundance of Christian Beliefs.

Dante understands that reason plays an essential role in our world, but does not surpass faith; for that reason he places sinners accordingly in there rightful circle/pit. The Inferno can be analyzed and made relevant to Maimonide’s perspective as well as the perspectives of the teachers at High Sierra. At the very beginning of hell when Dante reaches the first circle, he first runs into virtuous pagans, the ancient Greek philosophers. Philosopher’s such as Plato and Parmenides who were born before Christ relied on reason with coming to turns on how the world functions.

The Influence of Dante’s Inferno and The Bible The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri consists of three books, the first being Inferno. The concept of Inferno, or Hell, is discussed and debated today, nearly 700 years after the book was published. This particular piece of writing has indisputably influenced modern western thinking about the afterlife, moral behaviors, and sins. This book, written the better part of a millenia ago, does indeed dictates how each and everyone of us live our everyday lives; however, it is not alone in its great influence.

The theme of equilibrium between reason and faith is one of the core messages of Inferno and it is essential in conveying the main idea of the Divine Comedy and of the pilgrim’s journey that the exploitation of intellect and the misuse of will is the cause of sin, and that through faith, those who are morally lost find their salvation in God. In Inferno Dante makes it clear that he greatly values knowledge and reason in a way that is more characteristic to the Renaissance rather than of his own Medieval time. However, throughout this first book, the author reminds the audience of the Christian nature of his poem as he uses the stories of the sinners he encounters to stress the idea that without faith, the intellect is not sufficient to achieve divine salvation and that the misuse of reason can often lead to terrible sins.

The inferno by Dante is a story of faith, religious and moral beliefs with various elements, symbols and themes. Through this journey Dante is guided through hell and back by Virgil a symbolism of his teacher and a comrade philosopher like him. The three elements through out this story that seemed to stand out the most are the perfection of God's justice, evil as a contradiction to God's will, and the style of language.

Dante's Inferno shows a vast variety of different religious implications within the story. Showing as the most obvious is Christianity. Dante is a major Italian poet, hence the idea that Inferno is Italian for hell, and this epic poem is one that tells the journey of Dante through hell. While on his journey he is being guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. Dante Alighieri’s epic poem the Divine comedy was written in the 14th century. Specifically, he completed the epic in 1308, and during this time period roman Catholicism was at its peak of popularity in Rome. Dante is known as a strong believer in Catholicism, however he believed that the pope at the time, Pope Boniface VIII, was an arrogant and power crazed ruler. (Thompsett) Dante’s personal views of church was that it was too involved in government and political affairs. He believed in the separation of church and state. This meaning that the state should not be dictated by the church, and the church should not be dictated by the state. And Boniface's ruling as Pope did not quite follow Dante's beliefs. Christianity was the overlooking religion of the epic poem as that was Dante's religion, but many other religions played their own parts. Some being Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism and Zoroastrianism. (Burky)

The Middle Ages, often referred to as the Dark Ages, was regarded to be a time of despair, disease, and death. Just as the name the “Dark Ages” suggests, this period of European history seemed to be surrounded by darkness and hopelessness. Unfortunately, the majority of people only see this side of the Middle Ages when, in fact, the Middle Ages was a much more important era. Especially during the late Middle Ages, one can find a change in orthodox social structure, political instability mostly concerned with succession to the throne, and economic changes and how those changes went hand in hand with the change in society. After certain demographical changes and turning points such as the Hundred Years’ War, Europe began to transform

Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet and writer of the 13th century, creates a fictional account of his visions of his journey through Hell. His background as a Catholic influences his life and his writings, including The Inferno. He uses the historical and political events of his lifetime to influence his writings as well. Dante is educated and very familiar with the history and literature of the classical world. In The Inferno, he expresses his admiration for Greco-Roman history, literature, mythology, and philosophy, but he also places limitations on the ability of the classical world to gain salvation as taught and believed in Christian doctrine.

In Dante's Inferno, Dante places people of all types into one of the nine different circles depending on what they had done in their life and what punishments they deserve. His religion is what said which sins made someone have to spend eternity in Hell and what sins were worse than others. Some of the sins Dante chose to be included in his own version of Hell are wrath, sloth, greed, lust, and gluttony. These sins were seen as some of the worst in the Catholic religion, which influences Dante’s decision to have them in Dante's Inferno. Some of the other sins Dante chose also exemplified his strong Catholic faith. For example, the people who fall in Limbo did not believe in God and in the Catholic religion, this means they were not saved and would therefore end up in Hell (Brantl 208). Dante, just like all catholics, believed that going against God was a sin. In Dante's Inferno, there are punishments for people who go against the catholic religion and the Lord as well as betray them. Dante’s religion also influenced his choices for whom he put in hell and where. According to Dante, no madder how good of a person you are, if you didn't believe in God and Christianity, you were sent to hell. Hawkins says that “…Limbo, the first circle of hell. It is beautiful, refined, civil, and dead. Knowledge may well be perfection, but it is the knowledge of God, the beatific vision, that is the journey’s true end” (107).

     Dante Gives off a obvious bias in the story that he is a Christian. One way he shows that is that fact that the story is a journey through hell which shows a obvious relationship to the bible. Another clue that he has a Christian bias is the he believes that people in limbo “were born without the light of Christ’s revelation” (Ciardi 49). This show that he obviously believes in Jesus Christ. Another way that he leads the reader to