English 104 Final
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- John Gutenberg is hailed as the inventor of the printing press. His moveable type was a key element in reprinting information quickly. His invention spurred many people to translate the Bible for mass printing. This spread the Christian word in common vernacular.
- Florence, Italy was the center of the Renaissance. It was a source for many of the Renaissance’s greatest thinkers to receive patronage. Furthermore, it was a center of commerce and trade. This economical intersection became on of the most powerful and wealthy cities in Europe. With the help of the Medici family, Florence became a major axis of banking. Because Florence was on the cutting edge of almost every industry, Geoffrey Chaucer made a trip to Florence to sample some of its literature.
- The Medici family was one of the most powerful families in Italy and Europe during the Renaissance. The family’s influence spread all over Italy. They brought stability to the city states and stopped most of the wars between the city-states. However, there were some dissenters and intercity battles still waged from time to time.
- The romance is a form of literature that glorifies chivalric ideals. The knight dedicates his life to the king and love to his lady. The romance of the Middle Ages was much different from the romantic love we know today. It was based solely on the male’s point of view; it held the woman as being an object of a man’s affection, nothing more. The romance mainly focuses on “courtly love.”
- Don Quixote is viewed by many as the first novel. The reason for such a viewpoint is that it was the first anti-romance. Previously, the literature of the time focused on the ideals of chivalry and courtly love. It was known as romance literature. With Cervantes’ work, he poked fun at the ideas of the romance and promoted realism.
- The scientific memoir is a term that has recently become popular. It is constructed out of the compilation of the letter correspondence of the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the letter was one of its most important forms of literature. One example of a scientific memoir is Dava Sobel’s Galileo’s Daughter. She used the letters to write her book on Galileo’s biography and scientific achievements.
- The Dialogues was written by Galileo. He wrote the book to reinforce his support of Copernicus’ heliocentrical theory. Though he did go through the proper measures for the book’s approval, the Inquisition still found his book too strong an anti-thesis of their beliefs and banned the book.
- Shakespeare is one of the founding fathers in regard to the female heroine. His plays were written at the same time as Queen Elizabeth’s rule. Therefore, it would be in his best interest to portray female heroines in a comedy, or a happy ending. The Merchant of Venice is an example. In the play, Portia chooses the man she wishes to marry, saves her husbands friend from harm, and destroys the typical woman stereotype.
- Before the printing press, the one of the only ways texts were copied was by monks. In the monastery, the monks worked diligently translating and producing manuscripts. This function was so important that a room, the scriptorium, was designated for the task.
- As time passes by, almost everything undergoes and evolution. The passing of information is no exception. In the beginning, the only way to pass information was by word of mouth. The oral tradition was a form of wondrous stories to help people remember, but it was not very accurate and changed with each telling. The manuscript brought stability to the stories. Monks labored away and spent many months in translation, but the numbers produced were limited. With the arrival of the printing press, books could be printed in mass, printed in various languages, and distributed throughout the world. The evolution of information is still changing today.
- Savonarola was a radical Florentine Dominican monk. He was named vicar-general. He preached political reform and spirituality. He opposed the Medicis and had them exiled from Florence, but his over zealous actions eventually had him excommunicated from the church, hung, and burned.
- England was one of the most important centers of literature during the Renaissance. Of all the literary forms, plays had the widest impact. The reason for this is the common illiterate man could go and appreciate it. Drama was one of the most liked forms of plays, and these dramas were performed in playhouses such as the Globe Theater. Many writers, such as Shakespeare, gained fame for their dramas.
- St. Thomas a Becket was a martyr. He was appointed archbishop of Canterbury and was made chancellor by Henry II in hopes that he would be in full compliance. St. Thomas became took his new position to heart. He refused to support Henry’s demands and was condemned. He was later assassinated on his own alter. The biographical genre was a product of stories written to commemorate the saints in The Saint’s Life.
- St. Thomas More was an active supporter of Humanism. Humanism is the spirit of learning with the revival of classical literature and a renewed confidence in the ability of human beings to determine for themselves truth and falsehood. More wrote Utopia. It criticized many aspects of life in contemporary Europe and established a whole new type of writing and outlook on life. The appreciation of the classics was a staple of the Renaissance, and More supported the devotion to the humanities or literary culture.
- In the Middle Ages, the body of land we refer to as Europe was simply known as Christendom. The land was inhabited by Christians, thus the name. It wasn’t until the Renaissance when the term Europe was first seen. The Renaissance was a revival of the Greek culture. The word Europe descends from Europa, which refers to the daughter of Phoenix. The word Europe insinuates both the rebirth of the Greek culture and the emergence and separation of an area. Today we know Europe as a distinct and separate continent, an entity set apart.
- Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is based on the time’s common practice of pilgrimage. Pilgrimages were important parts of faith at the time. In his book, all of the travelers are going to St. Thomas a Becket’s shrine. To illustrate frequency of such journeys, the host is portrayed as a tour guide. The travelers compete in a story telling competition to help pass the time. The stories are merely a subplot to the main idea of the journey.
- Time has undergone many changes itself. It has morphed from the pagan time concept to today’s nanosecond timepieces. In the Middle Ages, the monastery bells were the main way of keeping track of time. They operated to signal the beginning of new hours for the monastery to function. This system gave rise to the modern 24 hour day. Our 365 day calendar was established by the 'Julian Calendar', introduced in 46 BC. This was later modified for the 'Gregorian Year'. Pope Gregory XIII was responsible for its introduction and formulation, which gave rise to the standardization of many Christian feast days. The invention of the timepiece allowed the common man to keep track of the time of day on his own. It has progressed from Christian Huygens pendulum clock, to George Graham’s compensating timepiece, to modern watches. The concept of time has been changed over the years by these concepts to produce our modern sense of it.
- A bestiary is a moralizing or allegorical beast tale written in the Middle Ages. These stories depict animals and the characteristics they represent in the culture of the time. One example is the Pearl Poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The system is arranged by the purity and respect for the animals. The stag is among the noblest animals while the fox and the serpent are among the foulest. The bestiary was one of the main literary forms in the Middle Ages. It was used to create metaphors for other parts of the tale.
- The stereotypical idea of an illegitimate child in the Middle Ages was that the child was deceitful, despicable, traitorous, and untrustworthy. This holds true in Shakespeare’s King Lear when Edmund tries to steal his wealth though deceit. On the other hand, in Dava Sobel’s Galileo’s Daughter, Suor Maria Celeste has a loving relationship with her father regardless of being his illegitimate child. Galileo and his daughter lived in the Renaissance. It is apparent that illegitimacy had taken on a new stereotype and was more widely accepted.
- During King James I’s rule, there were several Bibles in print. The Geneva Bible was the most popular, but its marginal notes were a little to radical for King James’ taste. He then ordered that a translation be made of the Holy Bible into English for the benefit of the Church of England. He hoped to produce on text which everyone could accept and eliminate any prejudices in the text. It was completed in 1611 and became the predominant translation of the Holy Bible.
- William Shakespeare was one of the first writers to glorify the female character. Previously, the female character was mentioned merely as an object of a man’s affection. Shakespeare uses The Merchant of Venice and King Lear as tools to illustrate female characters. Goneril and Reagan are King Lear’s treacherous daughters. They lie and deceive him to attain their inheritance; this proves women can be as ruthless as men. Cordelia is King Lear’s honest and caring daughter, but when she answers Lear in a way that displeases him she is cast out. Yet, she still returns to him in his time of need demonstrating a woman’s depth of character and compassion. Finally, Portia is the embodiment of intelligence, independence, and power. She is not willing to accept her stereotypical place and takes action to attain the effect she desires. All four characters are examples of Shakespeare’s steps to enhance female literary characters.
- Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk. He became unhappy with the corruption in the Catholic church when he visited Rome. In 1517, he wrote the 95 Theses and nailed them on the Castle Church’s door in Wittenberg. His intentions were to stop the abuse of indulgences not to unhinge the papacy. However, his 95 Theses spurred the Protestant Reformation.
- The Inquisition was a council designed by the Catholic church to deal with heretics and the spreading of ideas that dissented from the church. The Inquisition used a device called the Index to list all of the literature that would corrupt “devout Catholics.” It was first published in 1559 and last published in 1948. Books such as Galileo’s Dialogues and A Pilgrimage to Rome by Michael Hobert Seymour were listed on the Index. It wasn’t until 1966 that the Catholic church suppressed the use of the Index.
- The Catholic church reacted to the Protestant Reformation by initiating the Counter-Reformation. The Protestant gains and chaotic Counter-Reformation caused Pope Paul III to form the Council of Trent. From 1545-1563, the council met to debate possible solutions to the problems facing the Catholic church. The council resulted in many reforms for the improvement of the Catholic church. The Jesuits played an important role in the enforcement of obedience to the doctrine and the extirpation of heretics. They were fanatical Catholics pledging complete obedience to the church. They became the most influential carrier of Catholicism to the non-Catholic world.
- “Felix Culpa” is a Latin term meaning “Fortunate Fall.” It was introduced by St. Augustine. The “fall” refers to Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, and the “fortunate” refers to Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. Without Adam and Eve’s Original Sin, mankind would not have had to have Christ’s everlasting salvation. It is better to have been redeemed by Christ than to have persevered in innocence. Through our Original Sin, we have eternal grace. “Felix Culpa” shows that God can create good out of man’s evil deeds.
- Religion has evolved from the early pagan beliefs to today’s common convictions. At first, pagan theology believed in cyclical events. They believed things happened by chance, and the wheel of fortune symbolized the elusive turns of man’s fate. This poses an interesting debate on the concept of fate and free will. Free will embodies man’s choices and the consequences of those actions. Fate is the enactment of God’s Providence. God is not evil, but man does evil. This leads to the belief of free will. God is omniscient which promotes predestination. Augustine debates this point in On Free Will.
- Cosmology is the study of the structure and evolution of the universe. Aristotle was the first to attempt an explanation of the universe’s motion. It is Aristotle’s theories that gave rise to “The Music of the Spheres.” The music is produced by the perfect harmony of all the spheres of the universe. However, Aristotle could not account for all of the movements in the heavens with his theory. Ptolemy had a background in cosmology and made a few adjustments of his own. In the Ptolemaic Universe, the Earth was immovable, but he placed Earth slightly off-center. This was a violation of the rule of the Earth-centered universe, but it was more of a bending of the rule and was accepted. The stars, moon, Sun, and all of the other astrological bodies orbited the Earth. However, they followed two other constraints. They were both epicyclical and equantical. This is a complicated concept, but it accounted for all the movements in the heavens.
- The Bubonic Plague was responsible for 25 million deaths, over a third of Europe’s population, from 1347 to 1352. The disease was carried by fleas on black rats. The rats stowed away on ships from the East and infected millions. It was given the common name of “The Black Death” for good reason. The unsanitary lifestyles of the time gave the rats a place to live and multiply. The fleas would bite people and the plague would spread. Survival chances were infinitesimal once one had the disease. The people did not know what was causing the plague. They then turned an eye on the Jews because the Jewish people seemed to be immune. The Jews’ immaculate cleanliness was the true reason for their lack of contraction. However, this fact escaped the masses and the Jews were persecuted for the plague.
- For many of the people in the Middle Ages, water was known as aqua vitae, or the “water of life”. Alcohol played the important role of purifier of the hazardous water supplies. Water rivaled with plague as the major cause of death until the 19th century. Wine had an antiseptic power and acidity that helped clean the water of bacteria and other harmful agents. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the only group that had the finances and capability to continue the production of alcohol was the church and monasteries. For the next 1300 years, the clergy were the predominant figures in the manufacturing of alcohol and especially wine. Even though the role of wine in daily life has changed, it is undeniable that it played an important role in the Middle Ages.
- Courtly love was the Medieval aristocracy’s way of distributing power and wealth. The marriages that it spawned were not weighted on affection in any way. The relationship was purely a business arrangement as far as the families were concerned. On the other hand, romantic marriage was the path of the poor and those without substantial financial wealth. The two parties involved decided to marry because of a mutual affection for one another. The code of courtly love has broken down years ago and only vestiges of it remain. However, romantic marriage is the foundation of our current culture’s relationships. Though financial status is taken into account, it usually is viewed as a bonus rather than the reason for marriage, at least in my opinion.
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