The half-millennium instilled similar fears of the time of the millennium. Fears of the end of world preceded by the rule of Antichrist were accompanied by the ideal of a second Charlemagne who would return to Italy on his holy mission to recover Jerusalem from the Turks. The French invasion and the political revolution in France offered the opportunity for Savonarola’s visions to flourish as divine truth in the public eye.
Savonarola, being a politically ambitious man, sought out a life beyond the simplicity of a friar. On November 9th, 1494, Savonarola was elected one of five ambassadors to the “Christian King”, Charles VIII, in Pisato to discuss the renegotiation of the submission of Florence. The Florentines had agreed to pay 120,000 florins and make concessions to the Medici family. Within the next week, the king had left the city without bloodshed. The serious danger posed by the French troops disappeared before the eyes of Florence. In 1495, Savonarola depicted the Pope as a heinous fiend in his sermon in his quoting of Psalm 2:2 “the devils, the lukewarm, and the powerful of the earth rage this war, and because the lukewarm have neither virtue nor truth in them, the powerful.” At the turn of the century, the powerful members of society were found in good relation with the Pope. In his Treatise on the Rule and Government of the City of Florence Savonarola’s speech was captured, “humankind is very prone to do evil, especially when it is without law or fear…there is no animal more evil than a man without law.” Despite the treatise having the claim that the subject is Florence, the link is made between “evil” and a “man without law”. The Pope, being a supreme figure in all ecclesiastical ways, was able to supersede the law...
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...ven Age theory, he believed his own life span was part of the fourth age: a time of indifference. The fifth age, would be filled with the persecution of the Antichrist. Savonarola never lived to witness the day the Borgia Pope died; his death can be interpreted as the persecution of the papal Antichrist. This defeat would usher in the sixth age of renovation when pagans and other infidels would be converted to rejoice under the true faith. This one flock would then be able to rejoice in a millennium of heavenly peace. Both men, as different as they were, lived in a time of civil, social, and religious unrest in Italy. The death of Savonarola and Pope Alexander VI did not cease millennial thought, nor did it hinder the power of the Dominicans. The relationship between the two men, exemplified how apocalyptic thought was subject to, and regarded in Italian politics.
In the book, Giovanni and Lusanna, by Gene Bucker, he discusses the scandalous actions of a Florentine woman taking a wealthy high status man to court over the legality of their marriage. Published in 1988, the book explains the legal action taken for and against Lusanna and Giovanni, the social affects placed on both persons throughout their trial, and the roles of both men and women during the time. From the long and complicated trial, it can be inferred that women’s places within Florentine society were limited compared to their male counterparts and that women’s affairs should remain in the home. In this paper, I will examine the legal and societal place of women in Florentine society during the Renaissance. Here, I will argue that women were the “merchandise” of humanity and their main objective was to produce sons.
“I’ll be out of here and away from all you knaves for one time anyway, as not a month will pass before you’ll see whether I’m nobody or a somebody.” The story of Bianco Alfani reflected the nature of 14th century Florentine society where, as Alfani remarked, the election to public office could make or destroy a person. In late 14th century and early 15th century Florence, decreased population and expanding commerce provided a favorable environment for ambitious individuals. The real life examples of Buonaccorso Pitti and Gregorio Dati demonstrated the positive role of ambition in Florence. Pitti, a nobleman had an extremely successful career, partaking in military campaigns, holding public office in Florence and being an ambassador to foreign courts. Gregorio Dati, the grandson of purse venders, engaged in commerce, rising in social standing which culminated with his election to public office. Holding office was a definitive sign of success and recognition in Florence. In contrast was the tale Bianco Alfani, a deemed man unworthy of office. As told by Piero Veneziano, Alfani was the chief jailor in Florence who was duped into believing he had been named captain of the town of Norcia. Alfani publicly made a fool of himself, spending all his money and creating a great fanfare over his supposed appointment. Comparing the lives of Pitti and Dati to the story of Bianco Alfani illustrates how economic and social change in 14th century Florence produced a culture centered on reputation and commerce. For men like Pitti and Dati, who flourished within the constraints of Florentine society, their reward was election to office, a public mark of acceptance and social standing. Those who were ambitious but failed to abide by the values o...
Carleton- Munro, Dana. The Speech of Pope Urban II. At Clermont, 1095. The American Historical Review. 11. no. 2 (1906): 231.
Samuel Preus’s article “Machiavelli’s Functional Analysis of Religion: Context and Object”, written in 1979, places Machiavelli’s “understanding of religion as typical” in Renaissance Florence. He argues that for Machiavelli, “religion was something that demanded scrupulous attention, but its importance derived from its impact on the causes of men’s actions, not from its truths.” Machiavelli’s “religion” was a broad term embracing all human attitudes and actions occurring with reference to a divine order… “Depending on circumstances, religion could function as social glue or lubricant in others when Machiavelli wished to inaugurate new laws.” Machiavelli argued that religion should not only maintain the status quo, but could also be called upon to authorize major innovations and new institutions. Machiavelli’s attack on the pope in the Discourses places him in close proximity to the Reformers, making Machiavelli almost a pre-Reformer. The religion the Papacy offered, subverted Florentine republicanism and liberty. Preus sums up his article by naming Machiavelli a methodological atheist and his writings on God and religion fall into the ironic trend of Machiavellian
By the turn of the sixteenth century, the Italian Renaissance had produced writers such as Danté, Petrarch, Boccaccio and Castiglione, each with ideas rooted in the revival of Greek and Roman Classics, localization of the Christian traditions, idealistic opinions of women and individualism. From these authors spread the growth of the humanistic movement which encompassed the entirety of the Italian rebirth of arts and literature. One among many skeptics, including Lorenzo Valla, who had challenged the Catholic Church fifty years earlier in proving the falsity of the Donation of Constantine, Niccolò Machiavelli projected his ideas of fraudulence into sixteenth century Italian society by suggesting that rulers could only maintain power through propaganda, as seen with the success of Ferdinand of Aragon in Spain circa 1490. Today, the coined term Machiavellian refers to duplicity in either politics or self-advancement. Unlike most philosophers of the sixteenth century, Machiavelli wrote from the perspective of an anti-Humanist; he criticized not only the Classics and the Catholic Church, but also encouraged the deceitful use of religion and hated the humanist concepts of liberty, peace and individualism.1
Pattenden, M. (2012). The Papacy since 1500: From Italian Prince to Universal Pastor- Edited By James Corkery and Thomas Worcester. Journal of Historical Association. 97(325), 123-125
If “imitation is the sincerest flattery,” then more than 250 years after his passing Alexander Pope deserves a spot in the ranks as one of the most flattered writers of all time. His works have been dissected of every phrase of possible significance and spilled onto page-a-day calendars and books of wit across the world. The beauty of his catchy maxims is that they are not only memorable, but attempt to convey his philosophy with perfect poetic ingenuity. Unfortunately, his well-achieved goals of “strik[ing] the reader more strongly” (Man 2527), easy retainability of his words, and most decidedly, conciseness, also yield an undesired effect. Utilizing this dicey method of epigrammatic couplets for such serious issues, Pope sacrifices pieces of his intended message, for the sake of rhyme, leading to easily misleading and generalizing messages that are open to scathing criticisms, misunderstandings and the possible loss of his some of his composition’s integrity as well as a confusion of his own convictions.
Machiavelli’s views were drastically different from other humanists at his time. He strongly promoted a secular society and felt morality was not necessary but stood in the way of a successfully governed state. He stated that people generally tended to work for their own best interests and gave little thought to the well being of the state. He distrusted citizens saying, “In time of adversity, when a state is in need of its citizens, there are few to be found.” In his writings in The Prince, he constantly questioned the citizens’ loyalty and warned for the leaders to be wary in trusting citizens. His radical and distrusting thoughts on human nature were derived out of concern for Italy’s then unstable government. Machiavelli also had a s...
Words and Deeds in Renaissance Rome: Trials Before the Papal Magistrates comments upon the transcripts of trials held in Rome in the 16th century, a transitional period leading up to the Reformation of the Catholic Church. The authors Thomas V. and Elizabeth S. Cohen set out to use these documents to illustrate common occurrences, beliefs and values between the years 1540 and 1575, a time of major political and theological revolution. The work presents nine accounts of people tried before the Papal Magistrates in Rome, each case formatted as a different chapter. The dialogue follows several pages of commentary analyzing significant concepts and how it exhibits social values.
Have you heard of a man named Alexander the Great, the famous historical figure? There are many amazing stories about him explaining the courageous things he had accomplished. However, if you learn more about him and his accomplishments you will soon realized the real person Alexander was. Alexander the Great, ruler of his empire was in fact not great as his title states. The definition of great is a person who shows concern for others, has leadership and shows intelligence. Alexander didn’t show any of these characteristics therefore he doesn’t deserve the title of “great”.
The Medici, masters of Florence, originated from a back room of a war shop managing a small scale operation: The Medici Bank. Through loyal clients and by ambitious risk taking the Medici family gained a great deal of power. Many of the techniques this family used to climb up the ranks in social hierarchy were credited to Niccoló Machiavelli, who prescribed his teachings in The Prince. In this book, addressed to Lorenzo de’ Medici, the Magnificent, Machiavelli discusses the qualities and actions a Prince needs to exhibit in order to gain power and to succeed. The actions of the Medici family illustrated the teachings of Machiavelli by manifesting how the ends justify the means, how politics are separate from ethics, by taking calculated risks
Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron is a series of tales written during the Late Middle Ages that is meant to entertain the reader. While the entertainment value of Boccaccio’s work in undeniable, the Decameron also provides the reader with information about society at the time, and Boccaccio’s own worldview. One of the most prevalent themes throughout the Decameron is the portrayal of clergymen and members of religious communities as negative influences on those around them, constantly behaving in a manner unfit for those who are supposed to be moral and spiritual exemplars. Throughout the tales told by the lieta brigada, many priests, and friars are portrayed as being extremely lustful and greedy, frequently indulging in sex (often with the wives of other men), and living lives more befitting of a minor lord than a monk. Those clergymen who are not portrayed as out rightly immoral are usually stupid, and are unable to stop others from acting immorally because of their ignorance. Despite this, a few of the clergymen in the story are shown as ultimately having good intentions, or improving in morality through the actions of another. To understand all of these criticisms of the clergy, we must look at them through a historical lens, and observe the behavior of members of the Church in the Late Middle Ages. Finally, these analyses of the Decameron’s portrayal of clergymen may give us insight into Boccaccio’s own faith, and allow us to understand the motives of the author. In this essay, I will analyze the portrayal of clergymen and members of religious communities in Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. I will focus on the licentiousness, greed, and stupidity of these members of the Church, while also evaluating the few portrayals of good me...
Alexander II has been considered “a great historical figure without being a great man, that what he did was more important than what he was.” ( W.E Mosse) For 26 years, Czar Alexander II ruled russia. During his reign, he made his mark on history by stepping outside of the box and going to extreme measures to help his people. He has been labeled as the “Liberator of tsar” for the ending of serfdom. Czar Alexander II of Russia has made an impact on history because of his interesting background, fatal assassination, and the changes made after his assassination.
There are many leaders in the world, but a great ruler is passionate, honorable and one who can inspire even in the most hopeless circumstances. Alexander the Great was a great ruler. Alexander the Great was a ruler that was not only inspiring, but he was fearless, smart, bold and courageous. Alexander the Great inspired his soldiers to crave more. He has inspired people since the day he started ruling. What is inspirational about Alexander the Great is that he inspired his troops to the point that they did not question him when they were outnumbered three to one in a battle, they trusted him with their lives and were willing to die for him (Alexander the Great: man behind the legend).
Alexander Pope was born in London in 1688. As a Roman Catholic living during a time of Protestant consolidation in England, he was largely excluded from the university system and from political life, and suffered certain social and economic disadvantages because of his religion as well. He was self-taught to a great extent, and was an assiduous scholar from a very early age. He learned several languages on his own, and his early verses were often imitations of poets he admired. His obvious talent found encouragement from his father, a linen-draper, as well as from literary-minded friends. At the age of twelve, Pope contracted a form of tuberculosis that settled in his spine, leaving him stunted and misshapen and causing him great pain for much of his life. He never married, though he formed a number of lifelong friendships in London's literary circles, most notably with Jonathan Swift.