Medieval Times: Lecture Handout

Benson K. Wong (Oct 2005) 1
Renaissance, the Reformation &
Era of European Exploration –
Background, developments and
Impact
Mr. Benson K. Wong
SSC2049-01E

Macro Perspective
• The era of the great and existing changes since the 15th
century
1. The end of feudalism: people could freely move in and
out  social mobility
2. The Fall of Constantinople by the occupation of the
Turks  The revitalization of the ancient civilization
3. The flourishing of arts  masterpieces
4. The scientific and technological innovations  great
discovery and exploration
5. The challenge of the authority holding taken-for-grant
practice  The religious “revolution/reform”

Reasons for changes [1]
1. Economic development:
• The crusades between the 11th
and 13th
centuries
brought a great increase in trade between East and
West. Many Italian city-states along this trading route
grew rich. Italian merchants became wealthy and
began to improve their living conditions by learning and
collecting beautiful things around them.
2. The decline of feudalism:
• Towns became rich and bought their independence
from the king or a lord with the Increase of trade and
commercial activities. A lot of serfs began to escape
from the manors and went to live in those free towns.
• Many people escaped for survival from countryside
under the widespread of the Black Death, leading to
the decline of Feudalism

3. The decline influence of the Church
• Churches were no longer the only centers of
learning.
• Many universities and schools started to
provide education for people, especially in the
rich towns. Students could now choose to
study things that interested them, and express
their ideas freely which led to the revival of
learning and the question of the beliefs
advocated by the Church

4. Improvements in printing: About
the mid-15th
century when
Johann Gutenburg from Mainz,
Germany, developed the
advanced technology: The
movable- type printing was
made by pouring molten metal
into a mold [ 模子 ] that never
varied – so the size and shape
of letters were consistent.
Books could now be copied
faster and sold inexpensively.
New ideas could be spread
more quickly and easily.

Number of printing machines
[Source: Leinwand, G., The Pageant of World History, p. 225]
YEAR 1480 1500
Italy 235 532
Germany 78 214
France 20 147
Holland 14 40
Spain 6 71
Other places 28 46
TOTAL 382 1050

Renaissance ( 文藝復興 )
• What?: “rebirth”, “revival” of
classical learning/ancient
Greek and Roman civilization
• When?: 1350-1600 – a
transitional period between
the medieval and modern
times.
• Where?: Started in Florence
( 佛羅倫斯 ) and then spread
to other Italian city-states. By
1500, it had reached most
countries in Europe

Renaissance
• Italy started the Renaissance in the 14th
century
with the below reasons:
1. History: The glory of the ancient Roman
civilization  the revival of the ancient
learning.
2. Language: Italians were interested in ancient
Latin writings since the Italian language was
based on Latin.
3. Economy: larger and richer towns  a greater
interest in art and learning in the towns than in
the countryside. The wealthy Italian rulers and
merchants were willing to spend their money
on arts (e.g. painting, sculpture, music and
poetry)

Renaissance (Reasons)
4.External: the fall of the Constantinople
(1453)  many Greek scholars fled to
Italy and bought with them precious Greek
manuscripts and a knowledge of ancient
Greece.

Humanism ( 人文主義 )
• A way of thought emphasizing
human beings and human values.
People have free will of their own
and are capable of rational thinking.
They have a duty to improve their
life on earth and should also search
for the truth.
• They still believed in God, but they
were paying more attention to the
world they lived in and the things
around them. This change in
outlook was reflected in their works,
most of which were about human
beings and human feelings.

Art – Painting & Sculpture
• Content: not only religion, but also every
aspect of real life and the beauty around
them.
• Major figures:
– Leonardo da Vinci ( 達文西 )
– Michelangelo ( 麥開羅基羅 )
– Raphael ( 拉斐爾 )

Leonardo de Vinci
• ‘Renaissance man’: a printer, a sculptor, a poet, a
composer, an architect, an engineer, and a scientist (e.g.
designs for tanks, cannons, flying merchants)
• 2 famous paintings: “Last Supper” and “Mona Lisa”

Michelangelo
• Artist: painted huge pictures on “The Last
Judgment [ 最後的審判 ]” and “The
Creations [ 創世紀 ]” on the ceiling and
walls of the Sistine Chapel [ 西斯汀大教
堂 ] in the Vatican [ 梵帝崗 ], Rome.
• Fine marble sculptures: “David”, “Moses”
and “The Pieta”
• Architect: The great dome of St. Peter’s
Cathedral and St. Peter’s Square

Raphael
• Printer: good at printing the Virgin Mary –
“Sistine Madonna” [ 西斯汀聖母像 ] and
“School of Athens” [ 雅典學院 ]

Architecture
• Modeled their designs after ancient Greek and
Roman buildings
• Used a lot of tall columns and large round
domes, decorated with colorful frescoes
• (cf. The Medieval Times: adopted the Gothic
style - pointed arches, tall pointed towels and
high vaulted ceilings, decorated with colorful
stained glass windows)

Notre Dame of Paris
Florence Cathedral, Italy

Literature
• Dante [ 但丁 ]: (e.g. The Divine
Comedy [ 神曲 ]) Most of his
poets wrote about the dark side
of the Christian Church
• Shakespeare [ 莎士比亞 ]: (e.g.
Romeo and Juliet [ 羅密歐與茱
麗葉 ], Hamlet [ 王子復仇記 ],
The Merchant of Venice [ 威尼
斯商人 ]) Many plays showed
the injustice of society and his
deep understanding of human
nature.

Science
• Copernicu [ 哥白尼 ]: a scientist and
churchman – the sun is the center
of the universe; the earth was only
one of the planets moving around it.
• Vesalius [ 維塞利亞斯 ]: As a father
of the modern science and biology,
he published a book entitled On the
Fabric of the Human Body
describing many parts of the human
body.
• Galileo [ 伽利略 ]: made a telescope
and proved Copernicu’s idea was
right.

Politics
Niccolo Machiavelli [ 馬利基維 ]: The Prince 君王
論
• Background: plotting, assassination and
poisoning were common amongst city-states in
Italy
• advise princes on how to gain and hold power?
– “The end justifies the means”: Terror and violence
should be used if necessary
– encourage the appearance of a political savior who
could unite Italy under one ruler and get rid of foreign
invaders

[remark: This is NOT an advertisement!]

Impacts
1. People were free gradually from the church’s influence,
contributing to the development of the independent
and free thinking, question of unreasonable ideas and
beliefs, and awareness of their own abilities and of the
world around them.
2. Scholars no longer accepted whatever they were told
by the Church. They went back to original, classical
manuscripts and started to study and think for
themselves.
3. Big change to education: Humanism emphasized the
new structure and goals of all-rounded education: (1) a
broad knowledge + spiritual, physical and intellectual
development & (2) familiar with dance, music and art

Reformation [ 宗教改革 ]
• What?
– A movement took place in the religious
beliefs of many European. As a result,
new religions began in Germany,
Switzerland, France and England.
– An attempt to reform or improve the
Catholic Church
• When? Since 1517
• Who + where? Martin Luther [ 馬丁
路德 ]: a monk teaching about the
Bible in a German university in
Wittenberg

Reasons [1]
1. Corruption:
• During the Middle Ages the Church grew rich and
powerful as kings and nobles handed over large
amounts of land for religious uses. By 1500, many
bishops and religious orders owned huge estates.
While popes, bishops, and abbots were leading lives of
luxury, many priests were poor and ignorant men.
• 4 abuses:
– Nepotism [ 用人唯親 ]: promoting relatives to high positions,
regardless of their suitability
– Simony [ 聖職買賣 ]: buying/selling positions
– Pluralism: holding more than one Church position at the same
time.
– Absenteeism: absent from the place a person was supposed
to serve

Reasons [2]
2. The failure of the Church to reform: most reformers
were burned to death for heresy
3. The inadaptability of the Church to face changes:
• New spirit of questioning and discovery during the
Renaissance
• “Priests were not the truth of knowledge”
• Invention of printing helped the critics
• Taxation: People in England, Germany and Spain were
unwilling to send money to the popes and followers
4. Clash over indulgences/pardons [ 贖罪券 ]
• Churchmen sold the tickets for getting rid of sins,
saying that if a person bought it, he would not be
punished for his sins. Many people thought that the
Church was wrong to make money in this way.

Luther broke with the Pope
• 1517: Luther wrote a list of
95 objections to the
Church, nailed the list to a
church door.
• 1521: The Pope
excommunicated Luther,
but many people
supported him and
became his follower.

Luther broke with the Pope
• Favorable political circumstance: Germany was
divided into more than 300 small states ruled by
bishops or a prince. Some princes supported
Luther’s ideas because he would be useful to
them in their struggle against the Holy Roman
Emperor, who had very little power over the
princes.
• Frederick of Saxony, one of the German princes,
rescued Luther and allowed him to translate the
New Testament into German and wrote books
explaining his religious beliefs.

Lutheranism
• Main beliefs:
1. Faith alone
2. Bible was the only authority
3. Communion Service [ 聖餐拜受 ] replaced the Mass
4. Priesthood of all believers
5. Consubstantiation (both the body and blood of Christ and the
bread and wine were all present 聖餐中麵包和酒與耶穌的血肉
同在 )
6. 2 sacraments [ 聖餐禮 ]
7. Married clergy
• They formed the protestant Church and were called
“Protestant” because they protested against the
teachings of the Church. A new division of Christianity,
Protestantism, was born.

Impacts [1]
1. Religious wars, e.g.:
• War within Germany. In 1555, the fighting ended with
the Peace of Augsburg. Most of the northern German
states became Protestant whereas the Southern states
were still Catholic.
• War between England and Spain
• War between England and Ireland
2. New Religious beliefs:
• Lutheran
• Calvinists (John Calvin in Switzerland)
– Each person must pray to God in his own way. No priest or
church should order him how to pray
– Sins: dance/go to the theatre, gamble, drink wine, play
games/wear pretty clothes

Impacts [2]
– Beaten the young man in public if he disobeyed his parents
– Follow the Jesus Christ’s teachings without any change
3. The Catholic Counter-Reformation
• The movement towards reform within the Catholic
Church, beginning in earnest after the election of Pope
Paul III in 1534.
• Major measures:
– Appointed a commission of cardinals ( 樞機主教 ) to enquire
into the abuses in the Church
– The foundation of the Society of Jesus [ 耶穌會 ] (1540)
– Set up the Roman Inquisition [ 宗教法庭 ] (1542)
– Called the Council of Trent: to clarify doctrines, improved the
standards of clergy and issued Index of banned books (1545)

Council of Trent

Era of European Exploration
• The Age of Discovery and Exploration
• Reasons:
1. The fall of Constantinople: found a new sea route to
the East for the stoppage of the trade on land
2. The technological breakthrough: reliable maps, new
navigational instruments and better ships were
ready by the year 1500
3. Breaking away from the monopolistic trading
controlled by the Italians in the Mediterranean Sea
4. Others (more land and treasure, spread Christianity,
Marco Polo’s legacy, testing whether the world was
round/flat)

Developments
1. Prince Henry of Portugal [circa 1430-1460]:
explored the NW Africa
2. Bartholomew Diaz [1488]: The Cape of Good
Hope
3. Vasco de Gama [1498]: sailed round the Cape
of Good Hope and reached India
4. Christopher Columbus [1492]: across the
Atlantic Ocean and reached the American
continent (New World)
5. Magellan [1519-22]: sailed round the world

Impacts
1. Growth of trade between the East and the West: sea
route replaced the land route
2. The center of trade moved from the Mediterranean
Sea to the NW Europe (nearby the Atlantic Ocean) –
emergence of Portugal, Spain, Holland, France and
England (cf. the decline of Italian city-states)
3. Rise of Europe as nation-states: national monarchies
rose in Western Europe with the support of the middle
class against the nobles.
4. The Expansion of Europe: Mercantilism ( 重商主義 :
supported their own merchants in trading with the East
by sea).

Retrospect
1. Medieval Times: A transition from the ancient time to
the modern time
2. The increasing and then declining influence of the
Roman Catholic Church
3. Religious struggles: Catholics and Protestants +
Christianity and Islam
4. Economic developments served as the driving force
behind changes
5. Political changes: The rise of nation-states ruled by the
enlightened despots (e.g. Louis XIV in France, Peter
the Great & Catherine the Great in Russia, Frederick
the Great in Prussia) and the Age of Revolution in the
18th
century

In-class exercise [1]
The Seven Stages of Man:
• In one play, Shakespeare said that there are 7 stages
in the life of a man:
1. Crying and being sick in the arms of its nurse or maid
2. With his heavy bag of books on his back; he goes to
school slowly like a snail
3. Writing poems to the lady whom he loves
4. Speaking bad languages and always ready to fight
5. With a fat stomach and a serious face
6. With trousers too big for him, with poor eyesight and
with a child’s voice
7. Nearly ready to die; he is like a baby again. He has no
teeth and cannot see well.

In-class exercise [1]
Keys [a word carrying the equivalent meaning is
also correct]:
1. A baby
2. A schoolboy
3. A lover
4. A soldier
5. A judge/wise elder
6. An old man
7. A very old man

In-class Exercise [2]
• Use what you have learned about the
Renaissance to do one of the following tasks:
1. Sell a product (material/non-material [i.e.
service] one) / a belief/an idea (e.g. humanism,
liberalism) (*Remember: How the features of
the Renaissance can be reflected in the
product/belief/idea you sell to the people?)
2. Draw a picture/collect some pictures with
illustration to show how the Renaissance still
affects our everyday life.

Medieval Times: Lecture Handout

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Medieval Times: Lecture Handout