Renaissance of the 12 th Century

1. Renaissance of the 12th Century

2. Was it all darkness and ignorance? No!

3. Advances of the 12th Century • Trade • Hanseatic League • Venice (Silk Road) • Marco Polo • Philosophy • Scholasticism • Made ancient philosophy compatible with Church doctrine • Late 12th century -- rediscovery of the works of Aristotle

4. Advances of the 12th Century • Science • Search for Facts • Rediscovery of ancient knowledge • Technology • Gunpowder • Improved Ships (led to Age of Exploration) • Navigational tools (Astrolabe reintroduced via Muslims) • Windmills

5. Scholasticism • Support church doctrine through study, reason, and logic. • Opposed mysticism and the simple view of the world as a struggle of good vs. evil. • Thomas Aquinas -- away from Augustinian view and more toward Aristotelianism • Tabula rasa: Aquinas said the mind at birth is "blank slate.” Man is given the ability to think and recognize ideas through a divine spark.

6. Thomas Aquinas • 13th Century • Summa Theologica • Summary of main theological teachings • Influential. Consulted after Bible on religious questions. • "Five Ways": arguments for the existence of God. • Aristotelian reasoning = logical argument • The intricate design and order of existent things and natural processes imply a Great Designer must exist. Therefore, proof for the existence of God.

7. Important Points from Summa Theologica • Theology is the greatest and most certain of all the sciences, since its source is from God, who is all-knowing. • Unbelief is the greatest sin. • The contemplative life is greater than the active life. • If a person has a spell put on them to cause them to get married, that marriage is invalid. • Natural desire is to understand the essence of something. • Everyone is called to religious life: children, women, men. Monks and Bishops live in a state of perfection.

8. 12th CenturyThe Arts and Architecture • Romanesque • Links Medieval architecture to that of Rome • rounded arches • Gothic • Nothing to do with Goths • Notre Dame • Pointed arches • Point to Heaven • Gargoyles • Highly decorated with statues inside and out Romanesque

9. Romanesque

10. Early Gothic Notre Dame: 1163-1250

11. Gothic

12. Chartres Cathedral: built between 1145 - 1220

13. Venetian Gothic

16. Gothic Art • Main forms: • sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manuscript • Art becomes more human (again) • Virgin Mary is shown with the characteristics desirable in an aristocratic woman • Portraits and sculpture are less stiff and formal, more natural

18. The Church • Dominates all aspects of life • Membership not optional • Governs all life milestones: birth, marriage, death • Even cooking instructions used references such as “boiling an egg during the length of time wherein you say a Miserere."

19. Problems within the Church • Avignon Papacy • Background: French king vs. HREmperor • 1309-1377 Popes from France, not “Roman”. Popes reside in France. • 1377 Popes move back to Rome, but rival faction stays in France

21. French Popes and Persecution • Cathars (Heretics) • Physical world is evil • Renounce anything associated with authority • Enemies of French King and Pope • Pope begins systematic persecution

24. More Problems • Great Schism • 1378-1417 • Two rival Popes • Council of Constance • Church council trumps Pope’s authority • No Pope may oppose council dictates • Conciliar Movement • Reform, 14th/15th Centuries • Church is ultimate authority, not a secular leader • Result? Church loses influence

25. Man becomes more “human” • Before the 12th century, man was becoming more Christian. Now, man was becoming less Christian and more human (individualism). • Birth of Humanism • People began to doubt that all men were born sinful and doomed to damnation • But still deeply religious. Mostdesired personal and intense religious experience. The Age of Faith

26. Church vs. Civil Justice • Before: based on Christian beliefs about divine law • Will of God, Fate • Other ideas • Guilt crosses generations • Only church can absolve sin • 12th century: real-world politics = emphasis on secular law • Revival of Roman law • Review of church law • Courts use witnesses and juries • Precedent (Common Law)

27. Desire for Knowledge • Men and women, but only men are “educated” • Love of knowledge for the sake of learning – not for the Church or for the study of Law • Universities increase • Oxford, Paris, Bologna

28. 12th Century Scholars • Read Latin classics • Analyzed Roman law • Read and commented on Church texts • Traveled to Spain to learn from Muslim scholars • Traveled to Constantinople to read “lost” Greek texts • Revived science, philosophy, math, and medicine • Result: More thought, discussion about problems

29. The Liberal Arts • Trivium = “The Foundation” • Grammar, logic, rhetoric • Quadrivium = “Fine-tuning” • Arithmetic AND Geometry, Music, Astronomy • “Classical Education” – not possible without recovery from Islamic and Byzantine scholars • Post-graduate work = philosophy and theology

30. Ambition and Social Class • Merchants motivated by profit. • Increased trade = increased profit • Merchants worked cooperatively to share the risk and the profit (Hanseatic League) • City States: Guilds, Alliances • Peasants motivated by status • Crusades are a way to increase status • When the rigid social structure begins to break down, peasants take advantage of this

31. Ambition: the Upper Classes • Sons of nobility entered monasteries for the status– whole family closer to God • University = increase in status. Knowledge = Power • Wealth was less important than personal freedom, titles, high office.

32. So, how does the 12th Century compare to the later Renaissance? The Middle Ages were not all about superstition and ignorance The 12th Century paved the way for the later renaissance of the 15th/16th centuries. There are more similarities than differences when comparing the Renaissance of the 12th Century with that of the 15th Century

33. Summary of the 12th Century • Original thinking • Energetic pursuit of knowledge and wealth • Study of Latin to improve writing and speaking • Study of Logic to create clear thinking and reasoning • Study of Aristotle – master of logic