Humanities Chapter 6: The Gothic and The Birth of Naturalism

Chartres Cathedral

Considered the center of the cult of the Virgin in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Relic

The tunic Mary wore at Jesus’ birth, cherished at Chartres Cathedral.

Stained-glass programs

Their chief purpose in Gothic cathedrals was to tell Bible stories.

Tree of Jesse

A stained-glass window that depicts the Virgin Mary as descended from Jesse, fulfilling a prophecy from Isaiah.

Flying buttress

A support structure built against the exterior wall of a Gothic church.

Saint Theodore

A figure found on the jamb of Chartres’ south transept portal, depicted in a contrapposto position.

Magnus Libri Organi

A collection of musical works created for the Church calendar's feast days.

Viderunt Omnes

A four-part polyphonic composition for the Christmas Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral.

Motet

The minimum number of voices is three.

Trivium

A grouping of subjects that includes Grammar, Rhetoric, and Dialect.

Bologna

The first city to establish a university, becoming a center for law studies.

Latin

Mandatory language studied by students in the first four years of their education.

Robert de Sorbon

Significantly organized theology students in Paris.

Peter Abelard

A logician who taught by the dialectical method and authored the treatise Sic et Non.

Trotula

Recognized as the author of On the Diseases of Women.

Thomas Aquinas

Wrote Summa Theologiae and was a prominent representative of scholasticism.

Sainte-Chapelle

A Gothic church noted for having the highest ratio of glass to stone.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti

Famous for painting the fresco Allegory of Good Government.

Florence

By the twelfth century, it was the center of textile production and trade in the Western world.

Gold florin

The first single currency introduced by Florentine bankers, significant to trade.

Arte dei Lana

Formed the Opera del Duomo, overseeing the construction of a new Cathedral.

Mendicant orders

Religious groups like the Dominicans and Franciscans that do not hold property or engage in business.

Pope Innocent's accomplishments

Formalized Church hierarchy, endorsed transubstantiation, and mandated annual confession and Easter communion.

Simone Martini

Credited with painting the Mesata (Virgin and Child) in Sienna’s Palazzo Publico.

Cimabue and Giotto di Bondone

Cimabue discovered and tutored Giotto, who eventually surpassed him in painting.

Dante Alighieri

Author of the Divine Comedy.

Satan in Dante's work

Found chewing on Judas, Brutus, and Cassius at the lowest level of Hell.

Beatrice

Dante’s guide through paradise, representing the love of his life.

Decameron

Describes Florence during a plague outbreak.

Canterbury Tales

Composed of heroic couplets.

Geoffrey Chaucer

Author of the Canterbury Tales.

Chaucer’s characters

Represent all three social ranks: nobility, clergy, and common people.

Christine de Pizan

Author of the Book of the City of Ladies.