The Renaissance Of The Twelfth Century

The Renaissance started in Italy during the 1300’s before spreading throughout Europe in the 1500 and 1600’s. It came about because of a change in the way of thinking. In an effort to learn, people began to want to understand the world around them. This study of the world and how it works was the start of a new age of science. “The people were curious and questioned the known wisdom of the church. They began to use experimentation and observation to solve worldly problems”. (Johnson). Many Renaissance intellects focused on trying to define and understand the laws of nature and the physical world. During the Renaissance, great advances occurred in science and technology as well as others areas.

Christ Blessing, Surrounded by a Donor Family (1573-1582) offers valuable insight into a changing European landscape during the sixteenth century. The Protestant Reformation, which reached its climax during this era, rejected many aspects of Catholicism. Among other things, Protestants believed that each individual should read the Bible and develop a meaningful connection to G-d rather than limiting the Bible to the clergy’s interpretation.1 This Protestant belief and other tenets of the Reformers are evident in the Reformation’s art. Christ Blessing, Surrounded by a Donor Family demonstrates the manner in which the cultural shift from Catholicism to Protestantism in Northern Europe during the Reformation was reflected in that era’s art.

Italy can be looked at as the home of the renaissance and consequently the immergence of great art. Artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, and Raphael are some of the greats and are looked at for standards. But what about the artists whose lives are mysteries, and their works that were influenced by the greats? These artists hold just as much importance in the history of art as do the artist’s whose names can be recalled off the top of an average person’s head. During the sixteenth century things began to change in the art world, and that change was the Baroque. This new style of art brought a revolution to how subject matter was painted, it brought upon “… a radical reconsideration of art and its purposes…” (249) and how artists of all ranks could learn to paint the up and coming style of Baroque.

As indicated by the sarcastic title of her book “Those Terrible Middle Ages!” French historian Régine Pernoud addresses this commonly held misconception. She argues this time in history spanning approximately a thousand years as well as the image of the Church, have been irresponsibly represented. Her examination of this time period reveals that it is not the Church, but modernism that generates a return to the classical ideology of antiquity. These ancient pagan beliefs of the distant past are not as distant as we may think. They have resurfaced and are present in our own age.

This is particularly because the death of Pons by a “lightening from heaven” after his declaration of settling the matter in a dual against the monks was perceived as a “divine justice” for the monks and Sainte Foy. Bernard portrays that the judgement of God was the highest form of law. However, it is important to consider that Bernard was a cleric, who went to Conques in order to write the miracles of Sainte-Foy, one can therefore accept his strong opinion of “divine justice” towards the supernatural vengeance as being biased. White argues that miracle stories, which he calls “monastic vengeance scripts” were used by monks to threaten anyone who attempted to take away the inheritance of a saint. This is true in the case of Lambert’s genealogy as the “old man” tells the story of count Rainer which serves as a warning to “unjust” and “evil men” as an attempt to prevent the actions of the count repeating. Although the death of Count Rainier in Lambert was also seen as a “judgement of God”, unlike Bernard’s account it was not a consequence of a particular legal dispute but rather due to his cruel exercise of power over his subjects. The source based on Lamberts account of events can be interpreted as being unreliable as “Genealogies often seems to have been prompted by the necessity of legitimising some power or authority” , this shows that Lambert was writing with

Medieval religious literature served to teach and instruct followers of the ways of religion, specifically Christianity, through vivid imagery. Three texts that support this idea are Hildegard of Bingen's “Know the Ways of the Lord”, Pope Innocent III’s “On the Misery of the Human Condition,” and “Everyman.” Although these texts represent the same idea, there are two surprising differences between them. The first being between “Know the Ways of the Lord” and “Everyman”, which shows the different interventions of God. The second surprising difference is the optimism of “Know the Ways of the Lord” and the contrasting pessimism of “On the Misery of the Human Condition.”

The 1514 engraving of ‘St. Jerome in his Study’ is chronologically approximately in the middle of the group, but it shows the deepest penetration of the subject. The Saint has ceased to be a legendary figure and has become the symbol of learned existence and felicity. St. Jerome is working at the far end of the room, which in itself gives the impression of remoteness and peace. His little desk is placed on a large table which otherwise holds nothing but an inkpot and a crucifix. Engrossed in his writing, he if blissfully alone with his thoughts, with his animals, and with his God. The cell, which in previous versions was always more or less cave-like, cold and drear, has now become a warm, comfortable, Late Gothic study; the lion is now really a household pet, blinking peacefully, with a dog asleep at his side. The landscape element is restricted to the morning sun shining in at the window and intimated by the great gourd, transformed into a household plant. Even this harmless gourd has not escaped the attention of the learned seekers after hidden meanings. Wustmann disinterred the

The triptych Melencolia I (1514), St. Jerome in his Study (1514) and Knight, Death and the Devil (1513) by Albrecht Dürer are allegoric copperplate engravings, known as the old master prints, which embody the three spheres of human activity: the “intellectual”, “theological” and “active”1. Whereas the latter focused on the strengths of humanity through the figure of the ‘knight’, who perseveres despite the threat ‘death’ and immorality pose to the mind, the former highlighted man’s hamartia in this conflict: our curiosity, for a level of knowledge akin to the divine, that first caused humanity to fall in the Bible.

Renaissance time period was the beginning of many changes. However, not just in the field of art, but also fields like science, mathematics, biology, and religion the staple of many works of art in the past. This was the beginning stages of change, and Galileo would ultimately pay the price of imprisonment for challenging what we thought we knew. Many great artists would also come from this time. These artists would not just be you typical painters or sculptures from the past, but better rounded knowledge based artists. Artists who would understand the science and mathematics behind everyday events, whether this was when looking at human bodies and how they moved or the stars and how they moved about in our solar system. They began the more realistic thoughts on how things worked and art started to very slowing exit out of the usual biblical and eternal works of art. However, many great artists throughout the renaissance period would be born and

In the time between the 1300's and the 1500's, a great transformation took place in Europe. Prior to the 1300's, Europe had experienced what has been called the Middle Ages, but after 1500, the continent was fully into the period known as the Renaissance. The impetus for the transformation that took place was the onslaught of the Black Death, or a two hundred year nightmare in which the Bubonic Plague devastated European society. The changes that took place as a result of the Plague altered the economic, social, artistic, political, and intellectual foundations of Europe forever.

The renaissance of the twelfth century, signified a rebirth and observance of the great ancient philosophers and thinkers. The desire for knowledge was the most prominent characteristic of this time and this desire led to many great feats such as the development of early universities and the copying of many great works.

Abbey Sieyes was a French author who was born in the month of May 1748 in Frejus, France. His religion was Roman Catholicism. Abbey’s father was a tax collector who made a decent salary they were commoners in their land. Sieyes wanted to become a soldier and serve for his country. However, his parents didn’t approve of it. Therefore, he spent many years studying at Saint Sulpice in Paris. At Saint Sulpice there he studied the nature of god and engineering. Sieyes had been studying these subjects to prepare himself to gain the knowledge of the obligations of a priest so he can become a priest in the future. In the year of 1772 he officially became a priest. In 1789 he had written his famous work of art “What is the Third Estate” which talks about how the

Filotas, Bernadette. “Pagan Survivals, Superstitions, Popular Cultures in Early Medieval Pastoral Literature.” Christianisation and Conversion, 38-42. Toronto: Pontifical

Religion in the Middle Ages takes on a character all of its own as it is lived out differently in the lives of medieval men and women spanning from ordinary laity to vehement devotees. Though it is difficult to identify what the average faith consists of in the Middle Ages, the life told of a radical devotee in The Book of Margery Kempe provides insight to the highly intense version of medieval paths of approaching Christ. Another medieval religious text, The Cloud of Unknowing, provides a record of approaching the same Christ. I will explore the consistencies and inconsistencies of both ways to approach Christ and religious fulfillment during the Middle Ages combined with the motivations to do so on the basis of both texts.

Written as the final instalment to an allegorical trilogy, Il cavaliere inesistente by Italo Calvino explores the concepts of existence and human nature in the time of Charlemagne, be it through the use of characterisation or the novel’s fantastical nature. In this regard, Calvino takes influence from Ariosto’s Orlando furioso. Il cavaliere inesistente, much like the Orlando furioso, blends genres to create a fantasy world in which its characters must go on chivalric quests of self-discovery which, as described by Sara Adler, ‘are complicated by the frequent mistaken identities, enchanted spells, and frustrations of unrequited love which are common in the Orlando furioso.’