The Reformation And Counterreformation Of The Renaissance

Through the late 15th and early 16th centuries, European missionaries and explorers spread Catholicism to the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. Pope Alexander VI, in the papal bull Inter caetera, awarded colonial rights over most of the newly discovered lands to Spain and Portugal. In Europe, the Renaissance marked a period of renewed interest in ancient and classical learning. It also brought a re-examination of accepted beliefs. Cathedrals and churches had long served as picture books and art galleries for millions of the uneducated. The stained glass windows, frescoes, statues, paintings, and panels retold the stories of the saints and of biblical characters. The Church sponsored great Renaissance artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo

The Renaissance was an age that forever changed the world. The world we know today owes so much to the knowledge that those individuals shared. The accuracy of maps did lead to colonizing. I would also like to add that there warfare changed as well. Maps in the 1500 provided a more in depth look at the world around Europe. Europe was able to move across the continent in a manner that they did not have before. A nations navy and blockades became important uses of warfare.

The reformation was a drastic event in the early modern period that launched Europe into a massive conflict of widespread violence, through both political and religious factors. The political scene had remained very much the same before the beginning of the reformation in 1517, with many philosophers sharing similar ideas on how to handle the issues of sovereignty and private property. Religion was a long debated factor before the reformation however was brought inadvertently to the forefront of most political works in the early years of the Protestant Reformation. This event completely changed the way in which philosophers constructed their political discourse as seen with More and Martin Luther, who although despite being placed on

Finally, another big difference between the Reformation and Renaissance was their beliefs on the means of acquiring salvation. Most of the people in the Renaissance did not understand salvation. The Renaissance Man cared little for religious salvation, and mostly tried to reach his highest end, living for experience and earthly knowledge. The Protestant Reformers tried to follow what they found in the Bible, which required justification by Grace through Faith alone.

The age of the Reformation can be described as the period of bloodshed in the name of religion, search for the truth, and the birth of the denominational church. According to Shelley (2008) reformation brought about the end of papal leadership of western Christendom, while at the same time gave birth to Protestantism and its four traditions, which include Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and Anglican beliefs (Shelley, 2008). It is a period of enlightenment, in which Christians begin to interpret the Bible themselves and realize that God is attainable without the need of papacy bringing about queries of papal intentions. To gain further understanding of humility as a concept it is imperative to examine the works of the following figures,

What does Renaissance even mean? Renaissance means rebirth in the dictionary’s. The Renaissance was, a movement which stressed the ideas of the classical world, which was described as ending the medieval era and heralding the start of the modern age. The mid fourteenth century is when the Renaissance was dated back to. The Renaissance ended in the 17th century.

The Counter Reformation was a response from the Catholic Church in Europe after Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses and the church was losing support and control. Beginning in 1545 with the Council of Trent where the hierarchy of the church discussed ways preserves the Roman Catholic Church again the protestant movement. In protestant churches there was no art work because they believed that there is only one god to worship and worshiping any other such as the saints was against their belief system. So this is where the Catholic Church saw their opportunity to regain support; through art so to impress followers and bring in supporters from groups whom didn’t know how to read. Caravaggio was one of many artists in this time that painted and/or sculpted for the church, so let’s explore the effect the Counter Reformation had on his art work (Counter Reformation).

The pursuit of truth; but to what extent? How is man to pursue worldly truths when one is to look to our Gods? Socrates believed that man was to look to himself to discover one’s own truth, “Virtue is Knowledge.” But, how do you know it’s the truth? Socrates planted seeds of deceit in Greeks minds all through Athens.

In the year 1517, a monk by the name of Martin Luther revolutionized the entire religious world by starting the Reformation movement within Europe by just posting his 95 Theses to the Castle Church doors in Wittenberg, Germany. The spread of the Reformation ideals took time until it eventually made its way to England in the early 17th century. England, throughout the years, was constantly changing politically and religiously, with some monarchs leaning towards Protestantism with an iron fist and other rulers directing the country to an extremist Catholic empire. Even when the “Elizabethan Settlement”, which was treaty that ended the religious wars between the Protestants and Catholics within England, was made there were still outcries within England for greater reforms.

During the 16th and 18th century such as,the town of Boston being founded in 1632. Later, Roger Williams arrives in what today is Rhode Island, where he is to establish a settlement with twelve "loving friends and neighbors” in 1636. All these events added to the idea that the explorers were more important than the scientific revolution and the reformation. Thus, the most important period for me was the explorers because without them we would not have some of the things we have today because they found the New World we use today and without them we would not have had the triangle trade.

Modern historians have always debated on how we should classify the events of our history; they naturally want to be as authentic and actuate as possible when they rely information to us. However, when it comes to something as complicated and intricate as European history, it becomes troublesome to simply label a part of history without it bearing resemblance to another. As to the concern of the relation between the Protestant Reformation and Renaissance, they both encompass apparent elements of individualism and religious reasoning. In spite of this, both these events can be separately indentified as different based on the change they incited on the whole of Western Civilization and of who was actually effected during their time.

The Catholic Reformation took shape in the reorganization of existing religious orders, the creation of new religious orders, the reaffirmation of Catholic doctrine, and the rise of mysticism. The existing religious orders were reformed to reduce or eliminate abuses. New religious orders such the Jesuits, the Oratorians (men only), the Ursulines (women only), were founded. The Council of Trent clearly outlined the beliefs and the doctrines of the Catholic Church. For example, the “theory and correct practice of indulgences were restated” by the council. (Kramer 92) This is important since the abuse of the sale of indulgences is what led to Luther’s publication of the Ninety Theses and his eventual break with the Catholic Church. Teresa of Avila

By now Bach had high ideals for the church music of Germany. He began organizing the rather poor facilities of Muhlhausen; he started by making a large collection of the best German music available, including some of his own. The first result of these efforts was his cantata ‘Gott ist mein Konig’. This, incidentally, was the only one of Bach’s cantatas to be published during his lifetime. This success gave Bach the hope to put in a long and detailed report, proposing a complete renovation and improvement of the organ. The council agreed to carry the proposals out, and Bach was given the job as supervising the work, for not only now was he a brilliant player, but he became an expert on constructing organs.

Revolution and reformation; these are two words that are often identified with war, disagreement, and regional effects. While these things do indeed come along with a revolution or reformation, they heed an array of positive and secular outcomes as well. In addition, a revolution can, and usually will, cause a reformation. Conversely, a reformation can cause a revolution. This can happen despite the two things involved with the change or disagreement being seemingly unrelated. The world is connected and affected in ways that we cannot comprehend until we look at our world’s history and see how every small occurrence leads to a landslide of repercussions. The Renaissance is a prime example of this interconnectedness, as it was a time of rebirth, revolution and reformation. During the Renaissance, many changes ensued as a result of scientists, scholars and humanists who realized that they weren 't being taught or treated properly. This idea of unsatisfactory treatment as a result of the humanist spirit of the Renaissance led to the Scientific Revolution and The Protestant Reformation, movements that occurred during the Renaissance that changed life in Western Europe, and eventually the whole world, forever.

The renaissance and the reformation were two of the most significant changes in history that has shaped our world today. Both of these great time periods are strikingly similar in some ways and totally different in others. This is because the renaissance was a change from religion to humanism whether it is in art or literature; it is where the individual began to matter. However, the reformation was,” in a nutshell,” a way to reform the church and even more so to form the way our society is today. The first half of this paper will view the drop in faith, the economic powers, and the artistic and literary changes during the renaissance, while the second half will view the progresses and changes the church makes during the reformation.