ap euro unit 1 mu 1 nb 2 christian and civic humanism

what impacted religious life during this time

a focus on secular political life, and Renaissance emphasis on the individual and Classic knowledge

Northern Europe thinkers

Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas More

Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas More began reading

Classical Christian texts, such as the Bible and writings of St. Augustine

During the Middle Ages, Christianity had become highly dependent on

the pope, and religious rituals, traditions, & relics

Upon re-reading Classical, early Christian writers, Christian humanists found

almost none of these things (rituals, traditions, relics, etc) in the Bible or St. Augustine’s writings

Instead of focusing on pleasing the Church, the pope, and its traditions, these thinkers focused on an

 individual spiritual life and relationship with God

Northern Renaissance

an emphasis on regular human life and religious themes (mostly personal relationships with God)

Erasmus wrote

In praise of Folly (1509)

Thomas More wrote

Utopia (1516)

Thomas More and Erasmus wrote heavily on the topic of

corruption in the Catholic Church and highly criticized the ‘sale’ of salvation, Church positions, and nepotism (hiring family) in the Church

thinkers and ideas began questioning and claiming

the Church itself and its power, claiming the Church had drifted from the true intentions and beliefs of Christianity

One of the first Renaissance thinkers to question the role of the government was

Niccolo Machiavelli, who came from the war-torn Italian city-states

With a focus on the individual, and a break from the importance of theology, thinkers also began to question

 how governmental systems operated

In the Middle Ages, politics were ruled by the idea that

a king, prince, noble, etc, ought to rule as a just and moral Christian 

Machiavelli argued that

an effective ruler would use whatever means necessary to obtain and maintain a kingdom

In his book, ______, Machiavelli outlined that in politics, anything goes:

it can be

the prince, just, unjust, brutal, violent, loving—whatever, as long as it works

At this point in European History, people truly began to question the

legitimacy of the Church and its power over governments

Jean Bodin

an influential intellectual who believed the corrupt Church, and the pope in particular, should not be involved in European politics: Laws, taxes, lands, anointings, etc.

Bodin advocated a

strong, centralized government that controlled their own taxes and politics with no Church involvement

The questioning of the ___ ___ and emphasis on ___ ___life without Church interference spawned a new movement ____

corrupt church, secular political, civic humanism

Drawing still from the Classics, intellectuals advocated that not only should people

seek a well-rounded education, but they should be involved in the community

intellectuals like Leonardo Bruni advocated

proactivity

proactivity

meant voting, participating in politics, and discussing issues and reforms

Because of humanism, Bruni and others emphasized

focusing on secular life and politics, + being involved as a citizen in shaping their own world