THO Reformation Reading

In the reading we had tonight in THO, Martin Luther splits Christianity into different sections of belief with the reformation. This all starts with his 95 theses which he posts on the door of the church. My question is, what about the ideas and concepts of indulgences finally drove Martin Luther over the edge with disgust of the church and caused him to start the reformation, and how does this reflect the church at the time?

Galileo Trial

Of the six documents we read for the Galileo trial, which do you think is the most supportive of Galileo and which one is the least supportive?

Copernicus or Galileo

If you were one of these men who discovered/believed that the earth was not the center of the universe, what would you do? Would you: attempt to prove it, possibly be resented for it, and yet attempt make a name for yourself like Galileo; or write it down, tell no one, but conversely not get fame or recognition for your discovery, and thus peacefully die like Copernicus?

Galileo's discoveries and the Bible

Do you agree with Galileo? Or do his discoveries indeed go against the Bible? How so? Based on that, is he a heretic? Or is he simply going against the ignorant (and false) beliefs held by those in power at the time (the Catholic Church), who simply didn't understand God's creation fully? How did this impact society's view of Galileo's discoveries?

Machiavelli in chapter fifteen says, "the distance is so great between how we live and how we ought to live that he who abandons what is done for what ought to be done learns his ruin rather than his preservation" (66). Essentially, Machiavelli states that the human condition has deteriorated so much that when some tries to lead a good life he will see his demise. Do you agree with Machiavelli? Does this idea of his come up in life today?

Machiavelli's attitude towards the Medici family

Do you think Machiavelli purposely chose to leave out his personal opinion while he was writing the Prince? I ask this because he wrote this book for the Medici family so maybe he thought that his own opinions would conflict with the Medici's opinions.

The Prince & Violence

Thus far in our readings of The Prince how does Machiavelli view violence in correspondence to power?

Abraham and Giannotto in The Decameron

On pages 38-42 in The Decameron, Abraham ended up seeing the beauty of the Holy Spirit despite the corruption of the church, whereas Giannotto tried to hide it from his friend. Why do you think Giannotto thought Abraham would not be able to see the holiness in the church that he professed himself to be righteous?

Renessaince Art

In the paintings we looked at in class the other day, two of the paintings were made to draw your eye towards Heaven and God.  Why did the other artist choose to make the connection between the mother & son instead of  to Heaven and God like others?

Women in the Decameron

Why do you think that the women think that they are so subordinate to men? In the church they describe themselves as "fickle, quarrelsome, suspicious, timid and fearful....men are truly leaders of women" (18-19). Why do you think they describe themselves in this way instead of supporting each other?

How do you think the movement of the renaissance was represented through the paintings of Giotto, Botticelli, and Rafael? What elements were different and which ones stayed the same?

Guilds in Late Medieval Cities

So after reading the Human Odyssey, one line really stuck with me. "Craftsmen and merchants wanted to make even more money, so they tried to improve their products or sell something else no one else had." (Klee, Cribb, Holdren, 39). What interested me about this quote was the last part about selling something no one else had. As explained in the reading, the guild system was an association merchant and tradesmen organized that "set standards for their work and protected their interests." (40). In a guild, innovation was not allowed, yet these merchants were improving their products and creating things no one else sold. This leads me to believe that the rise of cities during the late medieval ages is what caused the guild system to die, as everyone just wanted to make as much money as possible. What do you guys think about this?

Mercutio

Why has Shakespeare ended Mercutio's dramatic life so early in the play?

Women in The Decameron

Do you think that women felt like they should not have rights, as suggested in The Decameron, pages 18-19, in 1353?

Romeo and Juliet and the Renaissance

Did the end of the feud in Romeo and Juliet represent the start of the renaissance?

Time of Romeo and Juliet

What are some pieces of evidence that place the story of Romeo and Juliet after the Plague?

Shakespeare's idea of love

Do you think Shakespeare's personal ideas of love are shown in Romeo and Juliet?