Piazza Michelangelo, Florence
History 221: The Renaissance and Reformation
Dr. John Lewis Spring, 2005
Tuesday and Thursdays, 3:05-4:20, Dauch 227
Office: 113 Andrews Phone: 289-5346
jlewis8@ashland.edu
Office Hours: Before / after class, and by appt. (I am usually here)
The Renaissance, “Rebirth,” is the Rebirth of the Sense of Life of Classical Antiquity, and the re-integration of Classical Greek and Roman ideas into Western thought. The Sense of Life of any period is the basic outlook shared by the people of the period, which is most visible in the works of its intellectuals and artists. Renaissance Humanism reflects that re-integration in the realm of ideas and art, calling upon the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian Traditions. The Protestant Reformation offered a challenge to the Medieval Church, and broke the political power of the church over Europe.
This course, in summary, will focus on important thinkers and important actors, in an intellectual tradition stretching from ancient Greece to the Renaissance and Reformation. The Organization of the Course is based on Jacob Burckhardt’s classic work, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, followed by a section of the Reformation.
Two short Writing Assignments: Two short written essays, typed, edited for proper grammar, expressing an argument and supporting the argument with information from the readings, as described below. No late papers will be accepted.
A Research Paper will be the capstone of the course. Select your topic and follow the guidelines from the bibliography / research topic sheet. You need to have a topic selected by the Midterm exam. Submit by week 15 (April 18). This is something that we should talk about during the course. The earlier you get on this, the better. 15 pages (approx. 6000 words)
Grading: Based on the two writing assignments (10% each); the Research Paper (30%), a Midterm (20%), and Final Exam (30%). Class participation can influence your final grade by up to one letter value.
Accommodations Statement from Classroom Support Services: “For students who have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please let me know early in the semester so that your learning needs can be appropriately met. It is your responsibility to provide documentation for your disability to the Office of Disability Services, 105 Amstutz Hall, ext. 5953.”
Academic Responsibility and Integrity Statement: “Academic integrity must be maintained at all times. No form of cheating or plagiarism will be tolerated. Such actions will be dealt with in accordance with the procedures documented in the Ashland University Student Handbook.”
Plagiarism: This is my standard paragraph, and standard promise. Plagiarism results in an F for the paper, and may result in an F for the course. ALL plagiarism is reported to the registrar’s office, no exceptions, ever. Please note carefully: plagiarism is stealing someone else’s work and passing it off as your own. ANY DIRECT COPYING that is not enclosed in quotation marks is plagiarism, even if the source is cited. USING SOMEONE ELSE’S IDEAS WITHOUT CITATION is plagiarism, even if you do not quote the words exactly. If you are in doubt, come see me in advance. INTERNET WEB SITES ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE SOURCES FOR WRITTEN WORK, unless discussed in advance. For this course you must go to the library, and read books.
Primary Sources:
Petrarch The
Secret
Pico
della Mirandola, On the Dignity
of Man
Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists
Thomas More, Utopia
Secondary Interpretations:
J. Burckhardt, The
Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (NY: Modern Library, 2002).
J. H. Plumb, The Italian Renaissance (The American Heritage Library, 1961).
G. Chittolini, “The Italian City-State and its Territory” (Handout)
Chronology of Medieval and Renaissance History
CLASS SCHEDULE
THE STATE AS A WORK OF ART
Week 1
(1/10): The Goal and Organization of this course.
A basic chronology of the Middle
Ages, the Renaissance and the Reformation
Read: Plumb, Burckhardt: Table of Contents
Week 2 (1/17): The Political Nature of the Italian City-States:
Florence, Milan, Genoa and Venice.
Read: Chittolini, “The Italian City-State” (Handout)
Plumb, Chapters I, VII, XVII
Get a Start on: Burckhardt, Part One “The State as a Work of Art” (3-90)
Week 3 (1/24): The State as a Work of Art.
Read: Burckhardt, Part One “The State as a Work of Art” (3-90)
Week 4: (1/31): The State and its Princes
Read: Plumb Ch. II, “The Prince and the State,” Ch. XIV “Lorenzo de Medici”
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL
Week 5: (2/7): The Individual and the Political Context
Read: Burckhardt Part Two: “The Development of the Individual” (93-117)
First Writing Assignment: Due 2/3: Consider the following question: what is Burckhardt’s central thesis about the nature of the Italian city-states, and how does he support it? Consider one city-state as a central example for the paper.
THE REVIVAL OF ANTIQUITY
Week 6 (2/14): The Dialogue with Augustine
Read: Petrarch The Secret
Plumb Ch. XI: Francesco
Petrarca
Week 7 (2/21): From the Ruins of Greece and Rome
Read: Burckhardt, Part Three “The Revival of Antiquity” (121-193)
Plumb, Ch. III
Week 8 (2/28): The Humanist Synthesis
Read: Pico “On the Dignity of Man”
Week 9 (3/7): Spring Break. No Classes
THE DISCOVERY OF THE WORLD AND OF MAN
Week 10 (3/14): Natural Science and the Nature of Man
Read: Burckhardt, Part Four “The Discovery of the World and of Man”
Plumb, Ch. VIII
Week 11 (3/21): Leonardo, Scientist and Artist
Read: Plumb Ch. XV “Leonardo de’ Vinci”
Vasari Lives on Leonardo
Week 12 (3/28): Michelangelo
Read: Vasari Lives on Michelangelo
Plumb Ch. XIII, “The Young Michelangelo”
Second Writing Assignment: Due 3/31: In the first class, I made the claim that the Sense of Life of Renaissance culture demonstrates a distinct contrast to the Medieval centuries that preceded. Do you agree with this assessment? Consider Petrarch, Pico or Vasari as a central source: what basic evaluation of the world does he present?
THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION
Week 13 (4/4): Luther’s Reformation
Read: TBA
Week 14 (4/11): Luther’s Reformation
Read: TBA
Week 15 (4/18): The Northern Renaissance
Read: More, Utopia
Week 16 (4/25): FINAL EXAM
RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS:
These questions are suggestions for papers. From the question, develop a title, a theme, and an argument, that is based on primary historical evidence. You must support your conclusions with historical evidence, usually of a text-based nature. Focus on a particular person, event or place, and apply these questions to that topic. Avoid the twin errors of rationalism (building arguments apart from evidence) and empiricism (failing to present the principles by which you organize and evaluate the evidence). Write a 12-15 page, 12-pt., double-spaced, research paper that expands upon readings and discussions of the class.
1. Is there a “Medieval world-view”? How does Augustine represent that world-view, and how did it contrast with the views that dominated the Renaissance?
2. How do the Italian humanists, such as Petrarch and Pico, integrate Classical Antiquity with Judeo-Christian thought? How did particular artists do this?
3. What did the achievements of Magellan, and Columbus, do for the Medieval world-view?
4. “The Popes were nothing more or less than political leaders, who accepted the same terms of politics by force as other political leaders.” Do you agree?
5. Write a critical book review of Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. Do not recap the book; criticize it.
6. In what ways were attempts by the Popes to spread Christianity in fact attempts to increase the political power of the Popes? Discuss, for instance, the Medici Popes.
7. How did the house of Medici rise to such power over Florence?
8. What are the major themes, and purposes, of More’s Utopia? How are Medieval Christian ideals expressed in this work?
9. How did the Platonic Academy, founded in Florence and discussed by Pico, influence artists of the Renaissance?
10. How did the Italian leaders use the Condottieri to buttress their own power, and how would this affect relations between the Italian city-states?
11. What comparisons can be made between the ancient Greek city-states, and those of Renaissance Italy?
12. See Guicciardini, History of Italy: what were the terms of debate over the political reorganization of Florence in 1495? What occurred, and how was it discussed?
13. Discuss the “Holy League” of Julius II; how did it react to the problem of the French in Italy?
14. Describe the sequence of events leading to the sack of Rome in 1526. How would you organize such a discussion? What issues are most important to that discussion and why?
__________________________________________________________
This page updated
1/11/05 Dr. John Lewis jlewis8@ashland.edu
PAPER TOPICS:
These questions are suggestions for papers. From the question, develop a title, a theme, and an argument. You must support your conclusions with direct evidence from the text. Avoid the twin errors of rationalism (building arguments apart from textual evidence) and empiricism (failing to present the principles by which you organize and evaluate historical evidence).
1, Is there a “Medieval world-view”? What is the essence of the Medieval world-view as presented by Manchester, and how did it contrast with the Renaissance?
2. “It was a paradox: the Church had replaced Imperial Rome as fixer of European frontiers, but missionaries found teaching pagans the lessons of Jesus to be an almost hopeless task. Yet converting them was easy.” (Manchester 6) Discuss.
3. What does Manchester mean by the “shattering”? What was “shattered”?
4. What did Megellan’s achievement do for the Medieval world-view?
5. What political principles are revealed in the dispute between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII?
6. What was Gregory’s attitude towards heresy? What does this tell us about the status of Christian doctrines at the time? What factors allowed practices such as simony to develop?
7. In what terms were the Popes indistinguishable from nobility?
8. “The Popes were nothing more or less than political leaders, who accepted the same terms of politics by force as other political leaders.” Do you agree? What weapon did the Popes have that Kings lacked?
9. In what ways were attempts by the Popes to spread Christianity in fact attempts to increase the political power of the Popes?
10. What are the major themes, and purposes, of Erasmus's Praise? How could this work be received by the people of Europe?
11. Who was Maarten van Dorp, what was his relationship to Erasmus?.
12. What was Thomas’s distinctive approach to the question of God’s existence, and how did his approach contrast with the dominant Medieval view?
13. What is Thomas’s view of law, and how is it expressed in a particular area (e.g., natural law), or how is it applied in a particular case (e.g., in involuntary manslaughter)?
14. What is Guicciardini’s fundamental view of history, and how can you discern it from his historical methodology?
15. How does Guicciardini present a “balance of power” principle of politics between self-governing city-states?
16. What were the terms of debate over the political reorganization of Florence in 1495? How does this resemble the principles found in Aristotle’s Politics?
17. What is Guicciardini’s view of the importance of the discoveries in the New World?
18. Discuss the “Holy League” of Julius II; how did it react to the problem of the French in Italy?
19. What were the views of the Italians towards Henry VIII in England? What was Guicciardini’s view?
20. Describe the uprisings against the Pope within Rome, and the nature of the Pope’s rule. In what sense was he merely a political ruler, and in what if any sense did his authority transcend mere political power?
21. Describe the sequence of events leading to the sack of Rome in 1526. How would you organize such a discussion? What issues are most important to that discussion and why?
22. What political purposes were served by the Pope’s claim to moral
authority and the ability to withdraw the sacraments?
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This page updated
01/28/06 Dr. John Lewis classicalideals@yahoo.com