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Global Exploration. The motivation: in 1453, Turks take Constantinople (renamed Istanbul), thus blocking direct routes from Europe to Asia. Europeans seek all-water routes to Asia Vasco da Gama (Portugal) sails east around Africa to India
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Global Exploration • The motivation: in 1453, Turks take Constantinople (renamed Istanbul), thus blocking direct routes from Europe to Asia. • Europeans seek all-water routes to Asia • Vasco da Gama (Portugal) sails east around Africa to India • Columbus (Italian, employed by Spain) sails west and “discovers” America
Spanish in Americas • The Conquest: in 1521, Cortes with 600 soldiers overtakes Aztec Empire (Mexico) • Mexico’s population: • 1521: 25 million • 1600: 1 million • Bartolome de Las Casas, Very Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1552)
Catholic Reformation • Beginning in early 16th century • Two movements: • Internal reform of Church • Expansion of Church’s influence
Council of Trent (1545-63) • Reaffirms the 7 sacraments (Protestants had reduced the number) • Makes guidelines to eliminate abuses by clergy • Increases preaching to the uneducated, and monastic intellectual life
Council of Trent (1545-63) • Revives Inquisition, establishes Index Expurgatorius • Emphasizes mystical experience
Jesuits (The Society of Jesus) (1) • Founded by Ignatius Loyola, a former Spanish soldier, in the 1530s • Jesuits took special oath of allegiance to pope • In Europe, defended Catholicism against Protestantism • In Americas, India, China, and Japan, did missionary work
Jesuits (2) • Jesuits functioned according to two principles: “mysticism and militant religious zeal” (509): • Personal, intuitive experience of God (this is similar to the Protestant sensibility) • Absolute obedience to the Church • Spiritual Exercises (1548) combines these principles (see 510): mysticism as physically tough practice
Jesuits (3) • From 16th to 19th centuries, Jesuits were the main intermediaries between Europe and Asia • Matteo Ricci in China (late 16th, early 17th centuries): first dressed as a Buddhist priest, later as a scholar • Jesuits much more successful at conversions in Latin America than in Asia
Teresa of Avila • Like Ignatius Loyola, brings together sensual and religious experience • Like Loyola, she was peripatetic: known as “the roving nun” • Visions (1611) • Richard Cranshaw appeals to St. Teresa in his The Flaming Heart (1652)
Mannerist Painting • Intermediate style between the Renaissance and the Baroque, esp. present in Italy and Spain • An expression of the Catholic Reformation tendencies of sensuousness and mysticism • Its characteristics: “spatial complexity, artificiality, and affectation”; also “psychological intensity” (513).
Parmigianino, Madonna of the Long Neck (1534-40)
The Baroque Style • In general: “ornateness, spatial grandeur, and theatrical flamboyance” (518) • From Portuguese barocco: pearl of irregular shape, used for decoration/ornament • Baroque painting: “asymmetric compositions, strong contrast of light and dark, and bold, illusionistic effects” (518)
He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight.--Luke 24:30-31
Baroque Architecture • Baroque Catholic churches are decorative theaters where Catholic rituals are performed • See Bernini, Baldacchino, p. 532
How does the Baroque style differ from Mannerism? • Both are spatially complex in composition and in human figures. • Both have strong contrasts of light and dark. However: • Baroque is more naturalistic, creating life-like illusions • Mannerism is more artificial and mystical in its effect
How does the Baroque style reflect the ideas and issues of its time? • In Southern Europe, reflects the religious zeal of Catholic Reformation, combining sensuousness and mysticism • In its spatial expansiveness, reflects European exploration of and expansion across the globe • See Andrea Posso, Apotheosis of Saint Ignatius (1691)
Protestant Baroque • Like Catholic Baroque, Protestant Baroque is mystical, but: • Unlike the Catholic Baroque (ornamental, theatrical), the Protestant Baroque style is unornamented and anti-theatrical • Focus is on private (rather than public) devotion, and internal vision • Bible is central, rather than later saints • Financed by new commercial class
Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son (ca. 1662-68)
English Commonwealth • Elizabeth I (1558-1603) [Tudor] • James I (1603-1625) [Stuart] • Charles I (1625-1649) --Civil War (1642-48)-- • Oliver Cromwell (1649-1660, Puritan “Commonwealth”) • Charles II (1660-1685); the Restoration [Stuart] • James II (1685-1688 [a Catholic]) • William and Mary (1689, “Glorious Revolution”)
Van Dyck, Charles I on Horseback (c. 1638)
King James Bible (1611) • “authorized” English-language edition • Written by committee of 54 scholars • Based on earlier 16th century English versions as well as on Hebrew and Latin manuscripts • Concision, rhythm, and poetic imagery have influence on English language in general
John Donne (1571-1631) • Meditations, Holy Sonnets, and other poems (e.g., “The Flea” and “Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”) employ metaphysical conceits, extended metaphors that bring together two seemingly dissimilar things • These conceits reflect “the baroque affection for dramatic contrast, for frequent and unexpected shifts of viewpoint, and for the dramatic synthesis of discordant images” (569)
John Milton (1608-74) • A Puritan and a defender of Cromwell • His modern epic poems: Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained • Form: Blank verse • Plot: cosmic account of the relationships between God, Satan, and humanity • Themes of Paradise Lost: “knowledge, sin, and free will” (570) • Paradise Lost: possibly an allegory of English Civil War?