Humanities & Classics 1002
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Renaissance Forum
Humanities & Classics 1002 |
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In Reply to: Re: The 'Holy' Medieval vs. the 'Human' Renaissance posted by Amy Kitchell on December 15, 1998 at 18:00:48:
The Medieval era and the Renaissance era-two periods in history so close in time,yet each boast immensely different ways of life. The mindset of the Medieval period was focused on God and the world of the divine. People of the church were held in utmost respect. In contrast, the people of the Renaissance held different views. They began to question the church and engage in free thought. There was a humanization of the divine;God was viewed as more of a man than a supreme force.
The creation of works such as visual art and literature of the eras tell us much about the time period. The works of Medieval times had dark, melancholy undertones. Life was to be a painful pilgrimage toward gratification in the afterlife. As an author of the time,Thomas a Kempis, wrote in his literary work The Imitation of Christ, "Turn thyself to God with all thine heart and forsake this wretched world and thy soul shall find rest". Physical pleasure and indulgence were to be disregarded, as they were unnecessary sins. This is portrayed in the film The Name of the Rose, which was viewed in class. The film was set in Medieval times. When a monk sinned by engaging in sex with a peasant girl, the punishment was to have the common girl burned at hte stake for seducing a man of the cloth. There was an everpresent fear of the unknown. Fear that indulgence in bodily pleasures or rebeling against the religious code in any way may encourage free thought and divergence from religion, which was the main element controlling society.
In contrast, the Renaissance era ecouraged free thinking. It was a revolutionary time in thought and spirit, compared to Medieval times. Instead of a life of servitude to the Lord, the people of the Renaissance lived in a society of a human-centered life. As depicted in the art and sculpture of the time, Man was a beautiful and important being. As an author of the Renaissance, Pico della Mirandola wrote in his Oration, Of the Dignity of Man, "Man is rightly both called a miracle, and judged a wonderful being indeed". This change in thought and value in such a short span of time is truely remarkable. Man was now depicted as saving the image of God by the glorification of humankind. The Renaissance was a time of the birth of free thought and new ideals and was a turning point for the direction of mankind.
Both eras have shaped society today. They have given us insight to early ways of life and times of great change. Both prove facsinating to study, as they provide a look at the gateways of the knowledge of today.