Humanities & Classics 1002
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Renaissance Forum
Humanities & Classics 1002 |
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William's approach was different from that of the majority of the monastery in that he was willing to look for a human murderer rather than giving up the search to the excuse of the presents of the Devil. William was willing to look for scientific causes of death in each of the victims.
William was able to determine the truth or falsity of a hypothesis by examining the facts and evidence he found. He did not make blind accusations like Bernardo Gui. Like William said in the movie, when he was an inquisitor he sought to guide rather than to punish. Perhaps this is while he was willing to look deep into the mystery and take the time to find solid answers.
The monks were so willing to attribute the events to the influence of the devil/witchcraft possibly because they didn't want to betray any of their brothers or the didn't want to defy the assumptions of the authorities. Also if they were to blame a human for the murders and deny that it was the work of the Devil himself then they might be accused of heresey themselves.
Perhaps Jorge didn't want to destroy the manuscripts because he wanted to rid the Church of any persons who might support laughter or who were the most susceptible to the "evils" of laughter. By posioning the manuscript Jorge was able to punish those who sought to learn about laughter and set an example to the other monks. Jorge saw laughter as a threat to the medieval way of life because he saw it as descreasing the power and influence of the authorities. He stated in the movie, "laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith, because without fear of the Devil, there is no more need for God."
These are some of the answers our group came up with, but I also agree with many of the other ideas that were brought up in class.