History Western Civilization: Lesson 180 Essay- (1) “What do you think is the central point of the essay you read by Mario Vargas Closa?” (2) “What is the truth of the matter regarding the claim that people in the Middle Age thought the earth was flat?”

The central point was that the Spanish conquerors beat the native Indians very easily because the Indians did not think of themselves as unique individuals. The Indians thought they were each part of the body of the emperor. They pretty much thought that they could do only what emperor told them and that their purpose in life was to better the whole society by serving the emperor. They did not believe they could think for themselves as individuals. That’s why they all pretty much gave up when the emperor was captured. They didn’t know what to do without the emperor. It was like the emperor was the brain of the body which was society. Their society couldn’t function without the emperor.

The truth is that nobody during the Middle Ages thought the earth was flat. This myth was made up in an attempt to take a stab at Christianity and the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. People had calculated the circumference of the earth a long time ago and obviously you can’t have a circumference unless the earth is a sphere.

History Western Civilization: Lesson 175 Essay- (1) “How were the ideas of Marsilius of Padua evident in Louis of Bavaria’s conflict with Pope John XXII?” (2) “What can we say about the condition of the Catholic Church on the eve of the Protestant Reformation?” (3) “Discuss the three key developments in the process of political centralization in Spain.”

Marsilius and Louis both saw the emperor as a superior of the Pope. They thought that the Pope should not have authority over the emperor and that things should be the other way around. They thought the Pope should have no authority when it comes to secular subjects. Louis and Marsilius thought that Louis should have the Roman public declare him emperor since the Pope would not.

The condition of the Catholic Church was varying. Less people were going to Sunday mass, but many more people focused on improving their own spiritual lives. Whenever a “special” event would take place in the Catholic community, lots of people would show up. More Catholics were going on pilgrimages. Many high ranking church officials were greedy. Many local church officials were so poor that they would focus on how to get money out of the leity. Some people would apply for a church office then not show up so that they could get paid for doing nothing. Many local church officials would be uneducated about spiritual matters. Monasteries were breaking away from St. Benedict’s rules. Many people saw the Catholic Church as corrupt.

The major kingdoms that divided Spain, Aragon and Castile, were brought together. The second development was the reconquista movement. This movement was when the common people wanted unity with the Church, state, and themselves to drive out the Muslims, which they ended up doing. The third development was the Spanish Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition was an effort to get people who were not sincere believers to abandon their faith. This was done in order to help the Catholic community in Spain stay united.

History Western Civilization: Lesson 170 Essay- (1) “Discuss the rise and fall of Girolamo Savanarola.” (2) “Discuss the Italian War of 1494-1498.” (3) “Discuss some of the significant aspects of the reign of Louis XI.”

You wouldn’t have expected Girolamo Savanarola to come to power because he was anti-Renaissance and the Renaissance was the new popular thing to participate in. Girolamo’s rise to power came from his ability to speak so well that he could convince Renaissance artists that the Renaissance was bad. He created a new constitution and then came to power in Florence. Girolamo tried to get everyone to live a perfectly moral life like him. At first people liked this until their moral views came into conflict with his and they could be charged as criminals. People also lost faith in him because he was trying to create another Western Schism and he would not always follow through with his religious claims and prophecies. Eventually, the people executed him.

French King Charles VIII pursued his claim to Naples by invading Italy. He was successful and cheered on by Milan, an enemy of Naples. Charles VIII started to win so much that even Milan got scared, so all the Italian city states formed an alliance. Eventually, Charles VIII was driven out.

Louis XI was a French King who had lots of spies. He wanted to centralize the government in France as much as possible. Louis XI did not like feudalism. He wanted to be the only monarch and he wanted everyone to owe him direct allegiance. His main goal was to centralize power in the French government.

History Western Civilization: Lesson 165 Essay- (1) “What were some of the problems associated with the Renaissance papacy?” (2) “We normally think of three people in particular as having been the key artists of the High Renaissance. Who were they? Discuss one major work from each.”

One major problem was that the Popes were not concerned with carrying out Church reform. They were too worried about regaining territory or art. Some of the Popes engaged in nepotism. Nepotism is when you appoint your family members to offices around you. Two of the Popes who used nepotism were Calixtus III and Sixtus IV. Sixtus IV also appointed unworthy people to the college of cardinals. Some of the Popes had children, which Popes are not supposed to do. An example of this was Pope Alexander VI. He had many illegitimate and legitimate children. He did not try to hide immoral conduct with women either.

The three great artists of the High Renaissance were Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. One major painting by Leonardo da Vinci was The Last Supper. The painting was still interesting and dramatic even though it was just Jesus telling the disciples that one of them would betray Him while they all sat around a table. Unfortunately the painting deteriorated severely due to a bad type of paint. Pope Julius II told Raphael to decorate the Stanza Della Signitura. Raphael’s objective was to show the harmony between Christianity and the classical world, which he portrayed well. Both Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael were primarily painters, but Michelangelo, the third great artist, was a sculptor. Michelangelo’s specialty was marble carving. One of Michelangelo’s best works was the Pietá. The Pietá was a marble sculpture depicting Jesus’ mother holding dead Jesus in her arms.

History Western Civilization: Lesson 160 Essay- (1) “What are some of the qualities and strategies Machiavelli recommends to political leaders in the excerpts you read? How does this represent a break with the past?” (2) “Briefly discuss three artists from the early Renaissance as well as one major work for each.”

Machiavelli said that a good political leader should be very powerful. Machiavelli said political leaders should not follow any specific moral code. Machiavelli said the political leader should do whatever he wants. Machiavelli said a political leader should do whatever he has to do to keep the government running and powerful. Machiavelli said it is fine if a political leader commits crimes as long as it is for the benefit of the government. Machiavelli basically said a political leader can’t be judged. Machiavelli’s ideas break away from past ideas because he believed the political leader shouldn’t have to follow God’s rules. The people in the past thought the political leader should have to follow religious rules just like everyone else. Machiavelli said it is better to be feared than loved.

Ghiberti was an artist who liked to design doors. He won a contest to design the best doors of baptistery next to a big cathedral in Florence. Ghiberti would work slowly, but he did a very good job and would always follow through with his plans when designing panels on doors. Later, Ghiberti designed a different set of doors called the “Gates of Paradise” because Michelangelo said they would “Grace the entrance of paradise.”. Another famous artist was Ghiberti’s assistant, the sculptor Donatello. He was one of the best Renaissance sculptors. One of Donatello’s most famous works is his statue of David. It is famous because he did not idealize David. He sculpted David to seem as real as possible. Brunelleschi, a loser from the baptistery contest, became the first great architect of the Renaissance. He completed the Duomo, the big cathedral next to the baptistery I mentioned earlier. He was special because he found a way to build a huge dome roof over the cathedral, which everyone else thought was impossible. He also developed a way of drawing with mathematical perspective.

History Western Civilization: Lesson 155 Essay- (1) “Discuss some of the key ideas of the Renaissance.” (2) “In what ways does Petrarch embody the spirit of the Renaissance?”

One key idea of the Renaissance was that people wanted to learn more about the ancient world. People wanted to recover ancient manuscripts. People became more interested in the art and literature of the ancient world. People wanted to merge some of the ideas from the ancient world with ideas in their current time. Individualism became more important in the time of the Renaissance. People wanted individual fame for themselves. People put more emphasis on themselves. More and more people sought out worldly fame. People became more interested in secular ideas, literature, and art.

One way that Petrarch embodied the Renaissance was that he believed their current ideas were boring and that they needed to bring some ancient ideas into their own time to spice things up. Petrarch also embodied the Renaissance with his belief that it was more worthwhile to study ancient manuscripts and ancient ideas rather than current literature and ideas. He wanted to get rid of more current studies and he wanted students to learn more about the ancient world. He embodied the Renaissance because he wanted to learn as much about the ancient poets as possible. He thought persuasion was more important than understanding facts. He embodied the Renaissance because he was a humanist, who sought worldly fame, and he supported individualism. Basically, he was a hipster before it was cool.

History Western Civilization: Lesson 150 Essay – (1) “What were the causes and consequences of the Hundred Years’ War?” (2) “What was the Great Western Schism, and how was it resolved?”

One cause was that England’s King Edward III claimed that he was the heir to the French throne through his mother. The French people denied this because they said a woman could not inherit the throne and a man could not inherit the throne through a woman. England and France both wanted possession over Flanders as well. These causes led to the war. Also both monarchs wanted war. One consequence of the war was the development of the long bow. The long bow was an O.P. bow used by the English. Ultimately the war ended in 1453 with English being pushed out of all French territories except Calais.

The Great Western Schism was a period in church history going from 1318 to 1415 in which there were two popes. Christians were divided in Europe due to the two popes. Part of Europe wanted a French pope and the other part waned an Italian pope. Urban VI and Clement VII both thought they were rightful popes. In 1409 there was a council where a third pope, Martin V, was elected. To end the chaos at the Council of Constance from 1414 to 1418 it was decided that Martin would be the true pope. Over time the other two lines of popes faded away.

History Western Civilization: Lesson 145 Essay – (1) “What was the significance of the conflict between Philip IV and Boniface VIII?” (2) “Based on the video and your reading, what were effects on Europe of the Black Death?”

The main conflict between Philip IV and Boniface VII was over the taxation of clergy. Philip IV initiated the taxes without the consent of Pope Boniface VIII. It was considered to be an honorary custom to ask for the Pope’s consent before the King taxed the clergy. Philip IV was desperate for money so he broke way from the custom. Pope Boniface VIII got mad at Philip IV for not asking him first. The Pope wrote Philip IV a letter saying that Philip could not bypass him in the way he did. Philip then threatened to stop all money from leaving the Church in France to go to other churches. Boniface gave in after the threat. Then Philip put a bishop from in jail without a Church trial and this was the final straw for Boniface. Boniface wrote Philip multiple letters saying that the King had no right to control money moving in or out of the Church and the King could not make decisions that the Pope and other high clergy members should be making. Boniface said the King could not interfere with any Church matters and the King could not override the Pope’s moral judgments. Philip did not accept Boniface’s ideas, and he sent men to beat the Pope up. Philip thought the King could do whatever he wanted.

About  1/3 of the European population died from the Black Death. Bubonic plague was spread by fleas. Pneumonic plague was spread through sneezing and coughing. Many people went crazy from this crisis. Some people heavily indulged in bodily pleasures because they wanted to please themselves while they could. Others would starve themselves and beat themselves to try and please God. Many workers died so the remaining workers were in high demand. This led to pay increases and caused a conflict between the rich and low-class workers/slaves.

History Western Civilization: Lesson 140 Essay – “Based on the video lessons and your reading, what are the reasons behind the conflicts between the emperors and the popes during this period?”

Frederick Barbarossa was the Holy Roman Emperor in Germany and he wanted to take the Lombard cities of northern Italy. He wanted to capture the cities because they had lots of wealth and Frederick wanted to use that wealth to centralize his power. The pope sided with the Lombard cities. Frederick supported many anti-popes rather than the real pope, Alexander III. Frederick did this because Pope Alexander III was supporting the Lombard cities. Frederick threatened to punish people who supported Pope Alexander III rather than one of Frederick’s anti-popes.

After Frederick’s death the pope chose Otto to be emperor because the pope did not want the other candidate to control Sicily and Germany. The pope did not want a powerful emperor because the emperor would probably try to extend his power into religious matters instead of political. Otto lied to the pope and tried to take over southern Italy so the pope deposed him and chose Frederick II as emperor. Frederick Ii then tried to unite Germany, Sicily, and Italy under him as emperor. The popes were having trouble with the emperors because the emperors ambitious. They wanted centralization and the emperors would try to pressure popes into doing what they wanted, which was no separation of church and state.

History Western Civilization: Lesson 135 Essay – (1) “Why was the rise of the medieval towns significant?” (2) “How can we account for western Europe’s sustained economic success?”

The towns attracted people who were trying to flee oppressive areas. An example is when serfs fled their lords’ lands to find freedom in towns. The towns were areas where people could escape feudalism and manorialism. the people who lived in towns wanted to establish what their own liberties were and not have a lord or knight bossing them around. The people in the towns wanted to govern themselves.

One reason for the economic growth was because more people began to appreciate private enterprise and business. Most people believe the primary reason for the growth was because of political decentralization. This meant that there were many small political units instead of a few large countries. Many people believe that political competition kept governments limited in power and gave people more freedom. Since political units were small it was easy to leave and oppressive unit and move to a freer unit. This gave political leaders more incentive to let people be free, because if the leader was oppressive the taxpayers would leave and the leader wouldn’t get as much money.