Essay On The Renaissance

734 Words2 Pages

Aina Ikhwan
Grade 10
Modern World History
Mrs. Rampling

Renaissance: Times of the Corrupt

Italian Renaissance followed soon after the Middle Ages. It was the time of discovery and the revival of a new age—known as The Golden Age. The Renaissance witnessed the great discovery, exploration and inventions. This era was introduced by the birth of the philosophy of humanism, which highlighted the significance of individual accomplishment in a broad range of fields. However, it also had a dark side full of corruption, greed and scandal.

Before, most people in Europe placed great importance on God and religion, but during the Renaissance, some people began to think about the importance of individuals as well. These thinkers were called humanists. In spite of this, people have twisted this idea for the advantage to themselves. Such words to describe them are egoistic and self-centred. The already corrupt Papacy reached its crucial depths during the rule of Pope Alexander VI, who abused his power within the church. He was a pope bent on political and material triumph. It was no secret that Cesare, his son, was a murderer and killed many of his political opponents. As pope, they are granted outstanding privileges. Pope Leo X utilized nepotism to guarantee his position as pope. He also used up the papal treasury with his extravagant lifestyle and projects. To free himself from debt, Leo granted indulgences to those who pay the church (to forgive their sins, thus saving them from the punishment from God). In addition to that, not only was the papacy corrupt but also the rulers. Rulers used many different methods, such as diplomatic marriages and Machiavellian acts to secure their rule of the area. To response whether it is better to be lo...

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...Church to manage or censor what was being written. The productions of secular material such as propaganda cause serious conflict between the Lutherans and the Catholic Church. Martin Luther initial intention was to oppose the practise of selling indulgences, but it was rejected by the Church. Luther said in his writing 95 Theses, Numeral 20, “Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who says that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences.” He also published letter arguing that priests should be able to marry and that Bible should be translated from Latin for other people to read it. It is no accident that the separation of Europe's religious unity during the Protestant Reformation related with the spread of printing. Motivated by religious differences, many civil wars and violence outbreak took place between the year of 1562 and 1598.

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