Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library

HIST 4140/5140 THE RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION

MW 12:00-2:10
A&S 2-42
DR. DEBORAH VESS
WINTER 1998
GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE UNIVERSITY
OFFICE HOURS: My office is located in A&S 2-50A (Dean's Suite). My office hours for the winter quarter are 2:00-3:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays, and from 11:00-12:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you need to see me for any reason and cannot come during these times, please feel free to schedule an appointment. My office phone is 445-4441. My e-mail address is dvess@mail.gac.peachnet.edu.
REQUIRED TEXTS:

Ernst Cassirer, Paul Oscar Kristeller, John Herman Randall, Jr., eds. The Renaissance Philosophy of Man. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948.

John Dillenberger, ed. Martin Luther. Selections from his writings. Garden City, New York: Double Day/Anchor, 1961.

Lewis Spitz. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements, vols. I and II. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1971.
Students will be required to read additional texts on reserve at the library.
GRADING POLICY:
Exams: There will be a midterm and a final in the course. Both exams will include short paragraph style identifications and essay topics. The exams will each be worth 30 percent of the course grade.
"Auto"biographical Presentations: Each of you will present a five to ten minute "auto"biographical sketch of one of our historical figures to the class. This will be a creative activity in which you will attempt to convey the major outline of your figure's life and the important issues and ideas with which he or she had to deal. You may and are encouraged to dress in costume, bring in props or other visual aids. This presentation may form the basis of your term paper, and will count as 10 percent of your course grade. You MUST be present on the scheduled day of your presentation. No makeups will be permitted. See the end of the syllabus for suitable topics.
Class activities and exercises: There will also be several short class activities, including exercises making use of the Internet. These exercises will collectively count as 10 percent of the course grade.
Research paper: Students will select a topic to be chosen after consultation with the instructor and write an 8-10 page research paper. The topic may be the same topic as the "auto"biographical presentation. Papers should include a standard bibliography and endnotes or footnotes in the Chicago format. Graduate students will have additional readings in the course and should produce a 1 0-15 page research paper. The research paper will be worth 20 percent of the course grade.
BROAD THEMES OF THE COURSE:
The Renaissance, or "rebirth," has been hailed by many scholars as the beginning of the modern era. It has long been argued that the Renaissance began in Italy, in part due to its unique economic position throughout the Middle Ages, and to its fascination with the culture of Greco-Roman antiquity. Many humanists were avid hunters of long forgotten manuscripts and art works, and this mania for antiquity infused Italian art and literature with a new character which nevertheless built on the achievements of the medieval world. Since the work of Jacob Burckhardt, the Italian humanists have been seen as the prototype of modern humanity. It was the humanists, who for the first time since antiquity, realized the possibilities of the individual and created a unique place in the cosmos for themselves. The glorified the individual, and in their art, depicted men and women as approaching the gods in grandeur. The humanist found God in the world, rather than in some far removed transcendental realm.
Yet many aspects of their culture drew upon medieval prototypes. Since Charles Homer Haskins' monumental The Twelfth Century Renaissance was published early in the twentieth century, many of Burckhardt's theses have been challenged. Where scholars once painted a wide disparity between the medieval and the modern, contemporary scholars such as Paul Oscar Kristeller now point to the many threads of continuity betwen the two eras. Medieval theology lingered on, and is found lurking in the works of the greatest humanists, among them Petrarch, father of the Humanism. The flourishing of art, literature and philosophy during the Renaissance is one of the miracles of the modern era, and serves as a lasting reminder of the possibilities of the human mind.
The acheivements of the humanists eventually affected the Church as well. Martin Luther employed many of the techniques of the humanists in his analysis of scripture, and so began a debate on theology which would spill over onto the battlefield. Luther began his career as a devout Catholic, an Augustinian monk. He ended it as a heretic, who had been excommunicated from the Church and the realm, and whose writings were placed on a list of forbidden books. In art, he was portrayed as the seven-headed hydra, a man whose evil and pernicious influence brought about the end of a united Christendom. Erasmus, who along with Luther urged reform of the Church, claimed that Luther had "blown out his candle." Where there had once been the beginnings of reform, after Luther the Church stood rigid in its traditional stance.
The title of a recent biography of Luther describes him as "man between God and the Devil." Luther was a man of firm conviction, who was convinced that the theology of the Catholic Church was fundamentally wrong-headed, and that scripture was the only source of Christian revelation. In rejecting the role of the Church as mediator, Luther opened up an era not only of religious reform, but of political and social reform. His claim that "All Christians Are of the Same Estate" aroused rebellion in Germany, causing princes and peasantry alike to seek a new social order, encouraged a new role for women, and brought about more modern ideas on the family. Calling the papacy "The Whore of Babylon," Luther fractured the unity of Christians. Today, there are many denominations bitterly divided on the interpretation of the scriptures. Luther argued that everyone was his or her own priest, thus calling into question the special nature of the priesthood. Luther thus brought the secular character of the Renaissance to the structure of religion, and forever changed Christianity.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
*Students should be able to discuss the historiography of the Italian Renaissance.
*Students should be able to discuss Neoplatonism in the Renaissance and to analyze several the NeoPlatonic themes of several paintings.
*Students should be able to discuss and analyze the stylistic and ideological differences and similarities between the Renaissance and Middle Ages.
*Students should be able to trace the career, major achievements and ideas of Martin Luther, Erasmus, and Calvin.
*Students should be able to discuss the major ideas and achievements of Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael, Dante, Petrarch, Pico della Mirandola, and other significant figures.
*Students should be able to discuss and analyze the departures of the Protestant Reformers from Catholic theology.
*Students should be able to discuss the major tenets of the Council of Trent.
*Students should be able to discuss the historiography of the Reformation.

COURSE OUTLINE

The following outline is a tentative schedule of topics and readings. We may, at times, fall behind the schedule. Please attend regularly and keep informed of our schedule. Please be informed that February 12th is the last day to drop a class without penalty.

January 7:
Course introduction
Historiography of the Renaissance
Chapter 1
Selections from Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, and Paul Oscar Kristeller, on reserve

January 12: The "calamitous fourteenth century"
To what extent and in what ways do events in the fourteenth century support Burckhardt's contention that the Renaissance was a complete break with the culture of the Middle Ages?
Spitz, chapter 1, p. 10-16 , and ch. 2
Spitz, chapters 3 and 5
Humanism in Literature and Philosophy

January 14:
What problems and issues in the fourteenth century Church are reflected in the literature of Dante and Boccaccio? What new attitudes toward the works and figures of pagan antiquity are found in these works?
Selections from The Inferno and The Decameron on reserve

January 19:
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday: no classes

January 21: "There is nothing to be seen more wonderful than man"
In what lies the dignity of humankind? Having descended from Mont Ventoux, what does one learn about the human predicament?
Petrarch and Pico della Mirandola
Cassirer text, p. 23-147; 215-257
Humanism: The Arts

January 26: The Quattrocento
How do Donatello's David and Mary Magdalene depart from traditional medieval inconography?
Giotto, Masaccio, Ghiberti, and Donatello
Spitz, chapter 8 (p. 192-202)

January 28:Marsilio Ficino, Neoplatonism and the Arts
What does Titian's Venus symbolize? Does the art of Boccaccio and Titian lend support to Burckhardt's claim that the Renaissance humanists were more pagan than Christian?
*discussion of the art of Titian and Botticelli
Kristeller selection on Marsilio Ficino, on reserve
Cassirer text: p. 185-215

February 2: Neoplatonism in marble: Michelangelo
Why did Michelangelo think that his "unfinished" works were more perfect than those that were "finished"?
Vasari, Lives of the Artists: Michelangelo on reserve
Poems of Michelangelo
Vess, Neoplatonism and Michelangelo, in the World Civ Virtual Library: unit on the Renaissance under HIST to 1550 (http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/dvess.htm)
Internet assignment: study the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Link to the Vatican through Dr. Vess's World Civ Virtual Library; HIST to 1550/Renaissance. Please write a two to three paragraph description of the ceiling, making note of the most noteworthy and unusual features.

February 4: The Renaissance "man"
What lessons are meant to be learned by those who view Raphael's School of Athens?
Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael
Vasari, Lives of the Artists: da Vinci and Raphael on reserve

February 9: Midterm exam
Hour II: "It is better to be loved than feared"
To what extent does The Prince foreshadow modern politics? How "Machiavellian" was Machiavelli?
*Machiavelli's Prince and Renaissance politics

February 11 (February 12th is the last day to drop a class without penalty)

*special case study of Richard III
*trial of Richard III: use the Richard III Society homepage and mock trial at Indiana University as a resource to prepare your cases.
*The Borgia
Internet resource: go to Dr. Vess's World Civ Virtual Library/HIST to 1550/Renaissance/Politics outline and explore the Richard III Society's Page.
Excerpts from The Prince on reserve at the library.

February 16: The Renaissance and Reconnaissance: Europeans in Africa, America, and Asia

A Renaissance in Africa
Spitz, chapter 10
Vess, excerpts from "The Mudfish and the European: An African record of the Age of Discovery," Teaching History (Fall 1997) on reserve; see also the unit on Africa under HIST to 1550 in the World Civ Virtual Library (http:/www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/dvess.htm)

February 18:Global Change and Exchange

Europeans in the Americas and Asia:
In what ways did the Renaissance in Europe compare with the renaissance in China during the Ming and Ching dynasties? In what ways did the discovery of the Americas have an impact on the economy of China? What European customs and inventions affected Japan?
Excerpts from The Columbian Exchange on reserve; other texts as assigned
Northern Humanism and the Reformation

February 23: The Reformation
How were Renaissance humanism and Reformation thought related?
How would you describe the personality and character of Erasmus?
*historiography of the Reformation
*Humanism and the Reformation: Lorenzo Valla and Erasmus
Spitz, chapter 12
Cassirer text; p. 147-185
Erasmus, Handbook of a Christian Knight, The Praise of Folly

February 25/March2: Luther and the peasants
Was Luther a humanist?
How did Luther's remark that "All Christians are of the same estate" influence the social upheavals of the sixteenth century? What did Luther mean by this remark?
Spitz, chapters 13 and 14
Luther, The 95 Theses (Dillenberger, p. 489), The Freedom of a Christian (Dillenberger, p. 42), The Bondage of the Will (Dillenberger, p. 166), An Appeal to the Ruling Class of German Nationality (Dillenberger, p. 403), The Pagan Servitude of the Church (Dillenberger, p. 249. More commonly known as "On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church")

March 2: Term papers due

March 4: Calvin and The Huguenots in France
How might Calvinism be related to the rise of capitalism in the west (The Weber Thesis)?
Spitz, chapters 16 and 19

March 9: The English Reformation and Thomas More
Given that Lord Chancellor Thomas More was known to oppose many of the situations described in Utopia, what criticism of Church and State do you think More meant to make in the book? How does the More who wrote Utopia measure up to the More who went to his execution over Henry VIII's reformation?
More, Utopia, on reserve
Spitz, chapter 17

March 11: Last day of class
How does the Council of Trent support Erasmus's claim that Luther blew out [his] candle?
*The Catholic Reformation
*Ignatius Loyola
Spitz, chapters 18 and 21

FINAL EXAM Tuesday March 17 11:30 A.M.

POSSIBLE FIGURES FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Your "auto"biographical sketch should make an attempt to present the life of one of the following figures as accurately as possible, conveying the relevant events and issues of the times and with which that person had to deal. Your sketch will be presented orally, and should be in the first person. Sample creative autobiographies can be found on my WWW site (http:www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/dvess.htm). Go to Writings Aids/Creative Writing Pieces.
Sample video tapes of student performances are also available for you to see.
Machiavelli
Leonardo da Vinci
Raphael
Lucretzia Borgia
Cesare Borgia
Lorenzo de Medici
Julius II
Dante
Boccaccio
Petrarch
Calvin
Titian
Botticelli

POSSIBLE PAPER TOPICS

Your research paper may be a more extended and formal biography of the figure whose life you chose to present orally to the class, or may be selected from one of the following topics:
The rise of capitalism
The Weber Thesis (that Calvinism contributed to the rise of capitalism)
The 30 Years War
The Peace of Augsburg
Was Machiavelli a "Machivellian"?
Dante, the vernacular, and The Comedia
The Borgia
One of the Voyages of Discovery, or one of the explorers
Thomas More
The English Reformation
Giotto
The Venetian Renaissance (Tintoretto or other figure)
any other topics approved by the instructor