Humanities & Classics 1002
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Renaissance Forum
Humanities & Classics 1002 |
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In Reply to: PLEASE POST YOU FIRST REQUIRED POSTING AS A REPLY TO THIS posted by TOM BACIG on December 13, 1998 at 19:30:06:
The views of writers such as Thomas á Kempis, who wrote toward the end of the Medieval period, and those of writers such as Pico della Mirandola, who wrote in the beginning of the Renaissance period, reflect significant but not completely different philosophies. In the short period of forty-five years authors' major emphases are still focused upon God and on man's relationship to God. But,Mirandola, in his writing "Oration on the Dignity of Man," begins to show the Renaissance differences and changes in philisophy from writings like Kempis's "Imitation of Christ."
The Medieval views of Kempis extolled the virtures of focusing on the worship of God and the betterment of the next life. Man was put on this world to serve God. The just purpose of any man was to prepare for the next life. According to Kempis, man was created flawed and these flaws were symbols of the fraility of the flesh. There was nothing man could do to better himself because of these flaws which were seen as blights. The Renaissance views as expressed by Mirandola still placed strong emphasis on God but focused more on the spiritual or divine in this life rather than in the next. Renaissance writers saw the flaws as part of the "package" of this wonderful life. To them flaws were only obstcles to be overcome. Renaissance writers believed that one should shape one's own destiny and explore and appreciate this wonderful life given by God. Mirandola and the Renaissance writers felt that divinity could be "vested" in human flesh, while Medieval writers treated God more as an external force to be feared and praised rather than to be explored and experienced. The Renaissance writer expressed an interest in mortal politics, human condition, and exploration of all things, while the Medieval writer said that one should be satisfied with one's place. To question one's place was seen as wrong. Medieval writers said that wealth outside of the Church was wrong. Renaissiance writers viewed wealth as just another worldly concern which was not at odds with man's relationship to God. Kempis appeared to express the idea that man was flawed and imperfect and God was perfect. Only by confessing one's flaws and praising God was there any hope for man's salvation. Mirandola wrote that man was blessed by God and created in His image, so that man was nearly perfect. Man and God had a much more personal connection for Mirandola and the Renaissance writers. Mirandola felt man had a great freedom and free will in that he was allowed to interact with both the mortal and immortal world. Kempis would have scorned this view as contributing to man's vanity and pride. To Kempis and others of his time all things were God's will and ordained by Him. There was no free will in Kempis's world. All things were seen by Medieval writers as absolute and controlled by a supernatural force. "In The Name of the Rose" was a motion picture directed in 1986 by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Some of the characters in the movie portrayed the views of the Medieval world while others portrayed those of the Renaissance world. Set during the end of the Medieval period, the movie showed the beginnings of Renaissiance thinking. The film is a murder mystery which contrasts the Medieval views of the Inquisition with the Renaissance views as exemplified by the Monk, William of Baskerville. The Abbot in the story was faced with a series of murders in his monastery. He had two options to choose from to solve the murders. The Abbot could use the services of William of Baskerville, who would use secular Renaissance reasoning to solve the mystery, or the Abbot could wait for the Inquisitor, Bernardo Gui, to provide a very Medevial solution to the problem. The Abbot was caught between the two views of thinking and allowed both sides to present their solutions to the problem. Baskerville reached his conclusion through logic and emperical reasoning. He investigated and made decisions based on his observations. He believed in man's capacity for evil. This is the Renaissance method of thinking. Bernardo Gui prortayed the Medieval way of thinking. He attributed all evil directly to the Devil. Persons who had strayed from their true purpose to serve God had to be brought back to the flock by whatever means necessary. Medieval thinking felt that man must be punished for his sins against God and that suffering here on earth would cleanse the sinner. Torture was used to have man confess the error of his ways, and death at the stake would then send the offender to God for punishment. This is much the same as Kempis wrote.
A powerful monk from the Abby, Jorge de Burgos, was another strong symbol of the Medeival mindset for two reasons. His statement on knowledge said that the Benedictines existed to preserve knowledge not to pursue it. He said that there was no future in knowledge; the only future was in the praise of the Lord. Jorge poisoned a copy of a manuscript by Aristotle so that whoever touched it in an attempt to read it died. de Burgos did so only because it was a comedy. He said that "laughter removes fear" and "if man has no fear then man will not follow or respect God's word."
Although the film was produced centuries after the manuscripts of Kempis and Mirandola, it accurately portrays the philosophical position that each writer espoused in his respective time. Thomas á Kempis and Pico della Mirandola and their contemporaries shared a deep-seated belief in God and man's place on earch, but they differed greatly in what that place was. A period of approximately fify years began to preview changes in philosophy which would radically change man's attitude towards himself and his God.