Chow terms

Count Roland

Song of Roland (unknown author) legendary Frankish knight and the nephew of Charlemagne

Courtly love

(Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot) lancelots devotion to queen guinevere is an example of courtly love (courtly love is a medieval european ideal of romantic love usually between a knight and noble lady whom he serves)

Meleagant

Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot; the villain who kidnaps queen guinevere

Five Ways/Five Proofs

Aquinas, Summations; these are the five philosophical arguments for the existence of God

“Now whatever is moved is moved by another…”

(Aquinas, Summations) this is a quote that starts the argument of the unmoved mover. 

“Although the truth of the Christian faith… surpasses the capacity of reason, nevertheless that truth that the human reason is naturally endowed to know cannot be opposed to the truth of the Christian faith.”

Faith and Reason Controversy, Aquinas; Aquinas is presenting his views on faith and reason, he argues that reason and faith cannot ultimately contradict each other because all truth is God’s truth

“That the Roman church has never erred and will never err to all eternity, according to the testimony of the holy scriptures.”

Papal Documents; this statement reflects an early claim that later developed into the doctrine of infallibility in Catholic theology

The Two Swords

Papal Documents; the two swords are a theory about Church and state, one is the spiritual power of the church (held by the clergy) and the other the temporal power of secular rulers (emperors, kings)

“I AM THE WAY INTO THE CITY OF WOE”

Dante’s The Divine Comedy; The Inferno this quote is spoken by Virgil, Dante’s guide, at the entrance to Hell

Limbo

Dante’s The Divine Comedy; The Inferno Limbo is the first circle of Hell in Dante’s inferno, it is the dwelling of virtuous non-Christians and unbaptized infants, who cannot enter Heaven because of original sin but have not committed personal sin

Francesca and Paolo

Dante’s The Divine Comedy: The Inferno Francesca and Paolo have an affair (he is the younger brother of her husband)

Judas, Brutus, and Cassius

Dante’s The Divine Comedy: The Inferno these are the ultimate sinners-traitors-punished in the lowest circle of hell

“The holy fire of love”

Dante’s The Divine Comedy: The Inferno this fire symbolizes the transformative, sanctifying power of God’s love that moves the souls toward salvation

“Man as a creature of indeterminate nature”

Aquinas, Summations he is discussing the nature of man and the union of body and soul

“The true Apollo”

Dante’s The Divine Comedy: The Inferno when dante refers to the “true apollo” he aligning classical inspiration with divine truth, showing that all human knowledge and art ultimately point to God

Lorenzo the Magnificent

Machiavelli, The Prince, Lorenzo is referred to as an example of a ruler who balanced power, popular support, and patronage

“Knowledge of the actions of great men.”

Machiavelli, The Prince; this phrase refers to the study of the deeds of past rulers and leaders– Machiavelli wants to provide rulers with practical guidance by studying historical examples

Virtú

Machiavelli’s The Prince Virtu is a ruler's skill, strength and decisiveness in acquiring and maintaining power

The Three Walls of the Romanists

Luther, Luther argued that the roman church had built three “walls” to protect itself from secular and popular authority

Natural gifts

Machiavelli, The Prince argues that rulers are born with certain natural gifts or innate capacities that allow them to effectively govern (courage, strength, intelligence, decisiveness, charisma)

Supernatural gifts

Machiavelli, The Prince faith, hope and love (given by God)

Christian Liberty

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian religion; Christian liberty is the state in which a believer is freed from sin and from the law as a means of salvation, they are bonded to God’s will and freed to serve others in love