A Church in Crisis - Renaissance (Part 3)

 

At the start of the 16th century Italy was dominated by war.

 Major powers of Europe vied for the control of the Italian peninsula.

 The King of France held sway over the Duchy of Milan.

 French influence had replaced that of the Medici family in the Republic of Florence.

 In the south; Spain controlled the Kingdom of Naples.

 The Spanish Borgia family had significant political influence in the Papal States.

 Worse still, the Archduke of Austria wanted to march into Italy; to receive the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.

 It was in this context that Julius II was elected Pope in 1503.

 He chose his name in emulation of Julius Caesar.

 Unlike his predecessors, he was a soldier; often called “the Warrior Pope”.

 Once elected he worked to centralize the Papal States; until then a realm loosely held together by a patchwork of communes and signorie.

 Julius publicly declared he will : “Free Italy from the Barbarians”.

 But behind the political scene; the Church faced, a different kind of opposition.

 By the late Middle Ages; disorder and upheaval surrounded the Catholic Church.

 Between 1378 and 1417, two men , one in Avignon and one in Rome; claimed to be the true pope, and were then joined by a third claimant from Pisa, all denouncing one another.

 The sordid political scheming and intrigue was unbecoming of the Papacy.

 Its reputation and prestige suffered; until the Council of Constance of 1414, laid the foundations for a resolution of the Western Schism.

 But while the Council ended the conflict; the Catholic Church remained affected for years to come; by the emergence of a new reform movement known as Conciliarism, which aimed to restrict the power of the Pope.

 Throughout the 15th century, the Church’s authority was eroded by institutional decline in morality and discipline.

 The Papacy fought back to maintain its political position; but continuous claims of corruption undermined its efforts.

 One of the most infamous cases was the scandalous Alexander VI, a Borgia Pope, notorious for his massive ill-acquired wealth, the sale of ecclesiastical privileges, promotion of friends and relatives to positions of power, and the fathering of up to 8 children with different mistresses.

 Incredibly , despite the myriad of transgressions and accusations of corruption; the Papacy survived and had emerged supreme in ecclesiastical matters by the Fifth Council of the Lateran.

 Held between 1512 and 1517; the Fifth Council of Lateran was the eighteenth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, summoned by Julius.

 The goal was to restore peace among Catholic rulers; and assert the authority of the Pope.

 But this would come at a cost.

 Years of corruption and scandal had provided a spark that ignited the Reformation.

 Churchmen such as Erasmus and Luther; proposed reform that threatened the authority of the Church.

 Their work was often based on Humanist texts that criticised the New Testament.

 The famous Ninety-five Theses written by Martin Luther in 1517; denounced what he saw as the abuse of the Church’s practice of selling indulgences and its corruption.

 His work led to the Reformation; a break with the Roman Catholic Church that claimed hegemony in Western Europe.

 With the election of Pope Paul III, uncertainty continued to prevail within the Catholic Church; in the wake of the sacking of Rome by Charles V and the Protestant Reformation.

 In 1543, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, the seminal work by Nicolaus Copernicus, was published.

 A novel hypothesis at the time, it challenged the traditional understanding of the Earth and the planets.

 Its author was hesitant about publishing his work, perhaps fearing criticism, or worse; ostracism; a fear delicately expressed in the dedication of his masterpiece to Pope Paul III The Church And The Renaissance The Renaissance left its indelible mark on Rome, the papacy, and the Papal States.

 But although it challenged tradition, this was a period of great artistic patronage, and architectural magnificence; a time when the Church pardoned and sponsored the genius of Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Bramante, Raphael, Fra Angelico, Donatello, and Leonardo da Vinci.

 Yet, this was a period when the episcopal offices; and even the papacy itself; were sold to the highest bidder, often found among the wealthy Italian families that bought positions for their own members; some of whom were known for immorality.

 The Church came to represent great artistic endeavours but also great nepotism.

 With the revival of Neoplatonism and further ancient philosophies; Renaissance Humanists did not turn their back on Christianity; rather, they embraced it in their art and architecture.

 A multitude of splendid works were devoted to it, connecting Classical Greek and Roman ideals and religious imagery.

 Despite its secular disposition, Humanism flourished against a Christian backdrop.

 As a consequence, the Renaissance greatly influenced the evolution of contemporary theology.

 A great example of this is Michelangelo's Pietà, which portrays Mary holding the body of Jesus after the crucifixion.

 The work draws on classical Greek art and religious imagery.

 It is this character of Renaissance art that helped reshape the way people thought of the relationship between man and God.

 Thus, the Pope effectively acted as head of the church and one of Italy’s most important secular rulers.

 Pontiffs such as Julius II enlisted troops to secure and expand their temporal realm.

 They invested in sumptuous lifestyles and extravagant projects.

 They competed with the finest Italian families for personal indulgences.

 At the same time, they invested heavily in civic projects; financing the construction and repair of bridges, churches, as well as the impressive Roman aqueducts that still operate today.

 The standout project was the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica, from 1505 to 1626.

 Built on the site of the old Constantinian Basilica built in the 4th century AD, it is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and is described as “the greatest of all churches of Christendom”.

 The work on the majestic basilica was a period of intense exposure to Greek culture.

 It introduced new ways of learning, most notable in the fields of philosophy, poetry, classics, rhetoric, and political science; encouraging the influence of the Humanism ethos within the Church.

 Counter-Reformation

 As the Protestant Reformation gathered momentum across Europe, undermining the theological and ideological teachings; the Roman Catholic Church fought back.

 Four components characterised the Counter-Reformation: political reform, spiritual movements, new religious orders, and ecclesiastical reconfiguration.

 The Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation began at the Council of Trent (1545-1563).

 It continued for 100 years until the Thirty Years' War ended in 1648.

 The reforms emphasised a return to traditional theological and spiritual practices.

 Priests received training in religious devotion and theology.

 New religious orders emerged, like the Jesuits, and new spiritual movements oriented towards the devotional life and a personal relationship with Christ, including the Spanish Mystics and the French School of Spirituality dedicated.

 Counter-Reformation helped develop the Roman Inquisition in the latter half of the 16th century, to include prosecution of individuals for a variety of crimes relating to religious doctrine, alternative religious doctrine, or alternative religious beliefs.

 The primary emphasis was the mission to reach faraway lands around the world that had been colonized predominantly by Catholic settlers; and to try areas such as Sweden and England, that were once Catholic but had become Protestant during the Reformation.

 Francesco Petrarca

 Francesco Petrarca, commonly known as Petrarch, is one of the earliest Humanists.

 An Italian poet, intellectual and statesman, he found fame as the man accredited with finding Cicero's letters, often thought of as an event that initiated the 14th century Renaissance.

 The letters included a detailed historical account of the Fall of the Roman Empire.

 His sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe, becoming the blueprint for lyrical poetry.

 His work was used by Pietro Bembo in the 16th century as a model for modern Italian language.

 Petrarch was born in 1304 in the Tuscan city of Arezzo and spent his early childhood in the village of Incisa, near Florence.

 At the age of five, he reallocated to Avignon and nearby Carpentras, where his family moved to follow Pope Clement V and his Avignon papacy.

 Encouraged by his father, he studied law at Montpellier University.

 Still, he never lost sight of his passion for Latin literature and poetry.

 As an adult, Petrarch travelled extensively across Europe.

 While his constant love of travel earned him the nickname "the first tourist", he also worked as an ambassador and was a collector of Latin and Greek manuscripts.

 He was instrumental in recovering knowledge from writers of Rome and Greece.

 In 1345 he personally discovered a collection of Cicero's letters not previously known to have existed, the collection Epistulae ad Atticum, in the Chapter Library of Verona Catherdral.

 Disdaining what he thought was the ignorance of the centuries preceding the era in which he lived; Petrarch was the first to coin the historical term, the “Dark Ages”.

 Father Of Humanism

 If anyone should claim the title as the Father of Humanism, it is Petrarch.

 He is also frequently known as the Father of the Renaissance.

 In addition to discovering and interpreting classical texts, Petrarch published his poetry and philosophical ideas.

 He argued that God provided humans with intellect and creativity, who must use these gifts to their fullest.

 In his seminal work Secretum meum, he argues that secular pursuits do not contradict a relationship with God.

 He believed in studying human thought and action through ancient history and literature as a moral and practical study.

 He remained committed to the Catholic Church throughout his life, unifying the ideas of human capability and religious devotion.

 In many ways, Petrarch's work shaped not only Humanism but the Renaissance.

 Despite his introspective demeanour, his ideas went on to shape and inform future debate for 200 years.

 Petrarch believed in quiet study and solitude; and had wrestled with ideas of how active and meditative life could co-exist.

 In his 1346 work De vita solitaria, he celebrated Pope Celestine V’s refusal of the papacy in 1294 as a virtuous example of a return to a simple solitary life.

 It was a view that was strongly challenged by Dante.

 Political thinker and statesman Leonardo Bruni made the argument for the active life, or “civic humanism”, instilling the idea that the pursuit of personal fulfilment should be grounded in classical example and philosophical contemplation.

 In summary,

 The Renaissance formed during times of religious uncertainly and corruption within the Papacy that culminated during the Western Schism, when three men claimed to be the true Pope at the same time.

 The Renaissance represented reflection and studying of Greek Christian works, particularly the original Greek New Testament.

 Humanists like Erasmus and Lorenzo Valla set the stage for the new Protestant Movement.

 The Pope acted as head of the church and one of Italy’s most important secular rulers.

 Pontiffs such as Julius II enlisted troops to defend and expand their temporal realm.

 The Counter-Reformation was the Catholic response to the Protestant- Reformation.

 Petrarch is traditionally regarded as the Father of Humanism and the Father of the Renaissance because of his influential philosophical attitudes and his discovery and compilation of classical texts.

 He was born in Arezzo, Tuscany, in 1304, and then lived in Incisa, near Florence.

 His family relocated to Avignon in 1309 to support Pope Clement V,

 Petrarch travelled throughout Europe for personal satisfaction and collected many ancient texts contributing to the start of the Renaissance.

 As a reflective person, Petrarch attempted to resolve internal conflicts.

 His Humanist philosophy formed the basis of intellectual debate for over 200 years.