Thalia C.

Sanders

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Martin Luther was a Renaissance man that inspired the Protestant Religions. In Italy, during the beginning of the fourteen century, the Renaissance era was widely accepted as the period in which classical literature arose from the great civilizations. The classical text returned the historians back to the sources of knowledge and standards of beauty created in classical Greece and Rome, during 800 B.C.E. through 400 C.E. The Renaissance revived the three ancient elements that were neglected in the West which were as follow: individualism, activism and realism. Martin Luther was a Renaissance man because in more ways than one he either was inspired by the people who were the patrons and creators of the Renaissance spirit, or he inspired those that were the patrons of the Renaissance from art to politics and warfare. The characteristics of individualism was the optimistic faith in the human potential for exciting new and innovative ideas in the human ability as well as the ability to act on their own individual choices. The second characteristics of the element of activism are the fact that the theme prevailed throughout the Renaissance period. The characteristics of activism were to will the good of all men; and to know the truth if you wanted to make a difference to do any endeavor; and the theme was secular. The third and last element is realism, and the characteristic was the pride about how the people during this time period, the Renaissance Age, accurately viewed the world.

Nevertheless, some saw the era of the Renaissance period as a time that spurred the intellectual history of the Western Empire. The examples of Petrarchs (Francesco Petrarch, 1304-1374) ancient Greece and Rome are the exact characteristic of the models that had shaped the New World. The models influenced the New World so much so that after the circa 1396, there were many classical authors that sought to recapture the study of (ancient) Greek texts and (ancient) Greek manuscripts, etc.
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Although the Renaissance was an age of accelerated change that began in Italy, the southernmost part of the continent of Europe the Western Empire quickly took hold on its ideas. The Renaissance rapidly spread throughout the New World, even unto this land that we know as America. During this historical era of the Renaissance, many historians are quick to include the Middle Ages, which is before 800 B.C.E. However, it was during the Middle Ages that people focused on individualism and realism. Moreover, the Renaissance Age received new emphasis because the people, that were the urban dwellers, strove for excellence. The historians identify the Renaissance Age as a time of clarity, with a unique state of mind or a unique set of ideas, about everything from art to politics.

At the core of the Renaissance movement, writer Giovanni Pico della Miranda (14631494) wrote about the need for advocacy, of an element known as individualism. He wrote that man ought to have faith in their creator that shaped his own destiny with execution of the full human potential (Sherman and Salisbury, 2011, page 311-312; and Biography). In essence, the Renaissance, can be best be summarized by a painting of the portrait on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the famous artist Michelangelo (1475-1564) which is called the Creation of Adam. The portrait painted by Michelangelo echoes the ideas of Pico. Late in the period of the Renaissance Age, many new artist gained new found respect and they also gained many prominent patrons (Sherman, Salisbury, 2011, p. 328; and Encyclopedia Britannica Online).

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Moving toward the fifteenth century, the Lutheran Religion appeared to be a great threat to the powerful Medieval Christian Church (the Catholic Church). However, the Catholic Church sacraments came under papal scrutiny and criticism during the Middle Ages. For instance, the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 had declared that it was the Catholic Church which was the only way; meaning that to be Catholic was the only way to (individual) salvation. On the contrast, a new popular piety and personal mysticism along with the spread of Renaissance Ages ideas of individualism raised questions about the individuals path to the salvation plan. The Catholics countered by creating the Devotion Modern. One of their followers was author Tomas a Kempis (1380-1471), and he wrote The Imitation of Christ (1425); and he argued that Modern Devotion was just as important as (any other) dogma.

On the contrast, the Northern European states had a fiery preacher, and a revolutionary son of an upward mobile family living in Germany, and his name was Martin Luther (14831546). As a Catholic Monk, a Priest and a Doctor of Divinity in theology; Martin did not believe that he could ever be worthy of salvation, he had no comfort in the Catholic Churchs promise of grace in the sacraments and good works. Finally, Martin Luther found peace in the word of God, the biblical passage about the Righteousness of God in the Pauline passage, which can be found in the Book of Romans Chapter 1 and verse 17, that states that it is written that the just shall live by faith. Thus Luther interpreted the biblical text, that faith alone in the son of God would save their souls. Nevertheless, the Protestant Church would suffer another blow to Luther because congregants could not and would not repeat the words, Luther says. To the present day, there is enmity with the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Christians, and the Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Christians. To make a long story short, the Holiness Pentecostal Churches in which the Apostle Peter actually began his intimate ministry with the Holy Ghost

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on the day of Pentecost is what many Christians claim to represent his ideas and to have a relationship through the Catholic Church i.e., St. Peters Basilica, the church in the Vatican. Today Christianity is about two billion strong and Christians dont dance like they used to, the Protestant reform church has changed for the good and sometimes for the worst, if you figure in fascism; but most importantly the Church ought not to be dancing to the tune of any excessive indulgence and by any means the Church should avoid purgatory, and not even entertain solely just what Luther said. The individualism of the Renaissance movement had to rely on the promises in the Bible, the faith in the grace of God. Nevertheless, many Christians split with the Lutheran church because they refused to repeat, Luther said.

In addition to individualism, humanism also spread first throughout Northern Europe continent. The humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536), was the greatest Christian humanist. Like the Italian humanists in Southern Europe continent, his humanistic study emphasized that language had to be applied to the original biblical text that was translated from Hebrew, the Old Testament, and the New Testaments Aramaic and the Greek translation to Latin; which is known as the Vulgate. Aramaic is the first language of man to be recorded, and it is also the Language of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the famous satire, Praise Folly (1511), Erasmus wrote about his disappointment in the church corruption because the priest didnt live like Jesus and worshipped his mother, Mary the Virgin. Martin Luther was a contemporary of Erasmus who had recognized the long-term impact of the humanist thought; because Erasmus laid the egg that Luther had to hatch. In 1517, Luther launched his critique in Germany, and two other authors wrote fiery letters called the Critique of Church Wealth and Against abuses in Indulgences, which is shown on page 351, in Document 11.1 (Salisbury, 2011).

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All the elements of the era of the Renaissance Ages characteristics from the transformation of thought were in place, because the first Bible was printed in 1455; and by 1500 there were many printing presses throughout Europe. The study of classical texts had helped change the views of themselves and their approach to the world, because of a German Silversmith named Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400-1470), which allowed some of the greatest Greek work to spread throughout the Western Society (Salisbury, 2011, pages 351 and 376).

The second element of the Renaissance was the element of realism through art. The characteristics of the new ideas about art influenced architecture and also reshaped urban planning throughout the Western civilization. In 1494, the French invasion of Florence, Italy temporarily caused the fall of the Medici Rule. Meanwhile, the Northern Court was bringing in all of the art and ideas of France to other Northern European Monarchs. Other than Leonardo Divinci, Michelangelo was also commissioned to create a work of patriotic art called David, in 1504 (David Picture courtesy of J. Huston McCulloch). Then there were other sculptors that developed new and bold art techniques, the most popular innovation was known as linear perspective. For instance, the Shepherd Giotto di Bondone (ca. 1267-1337) was a revolutionary painter that painted the religious portrait themes, such as the Lamentation over Christ fresco. Many composers of art drew their inspiration from humanists studies that gave a realist touch to them that sympathized with the human emotions. The influence of the Renaissance in Italy migrated and was moved to Northern European.

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However, Luther articulated the core of beliefs for the priesthood of all believers, instead of just a hardcore of rebels from the Catholic Church; it was Luther who birthed my voice and probably all of our Protestant voices to this very day, but with a bloody price from his ideas that were inspired by the ideas from the era of the Renaissance Age which started at the Diet of Spier, in 1529. First, the people set out to make sense of individualism from the era of Renaissance Age. Then, many Protestants rejected most of the art forms of the Patrons (Catholic Church) saints, because they were excessive and warranted idolatry, so much so that there was a period of Protestant iconoclasm. The Protestants, like Lutherism moved on from realism to attack the Middle Ages root of the Catholic Church, by sharing the same basic principles: salvation by faith, not works; the Bible as the sole authority; and a priesthood made up of all believers. As a result, the painter Lucas Cramach the Younger, painted Martin Luther and the Wittenberg Reforms, circa was the 16th Century (Salisbury, 2011, page 352, 353-354; and see Figure 11.3, courtesy of Britannica).

In 1524, a peasant war broke out after the circulation of the Twelve Articles, which was a counter to the Roman Catholic Church. Luther also wrote a treatise called Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants. In 1530, Charles V, the grandson of Ferdinand (r. 14791516) and Isabella (r. 1474-1507) of Spain had tried to tighten the reins on their campaign of religious suppression against the Lutherans. In 1540s, Ferdinand encouraged talks between Lutherans and Catholics about reconciling. In 1550, Lutheranism had captured half of the Western Empires population. In 1555, Ferdinand helped negotiate the Peace of Augsburg,

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which is also known as Cuius Region, Eius Religio, thus the unity of the church was officially split to this day. Lastly, the religion of the Lutheran church was the only church that was a legitimate alternative to Catholicism, while you were in Germany.

Nevertheless, Luther was still considered a Renaissance man because he picks up the foundation laid by Pico, as characterized by the Renaissance element of individualism. Unfortunately after two years, he had written the Ninety-Five Theses, in 1517; and Luther and Ultirch Zwingli (1484-1531) finally met because they had a common interest. In 1529, a Hessian Prince brought Luther and Zwingli together and the new reformed churches went their separate ways from each other, and the state government in the farther western parts of the Western Civilization (or Western Europe) eventually separated church and state. First, civil war broke out between the Catholics and Protestants at a time yet when the faithful of the Protestants were comparably smaller than todays Christian Protest population. The Christian population consists of over two-thirds of the people on the planet earth; which claim to be Christians throughout the world of two billion people (Sherman and Salisbury, 2011, page 354). The last element of the Renaissance that illustrates that Martin Luther was a Renaissance man is activism, which was characterized by the most energetic spirit of the period of the Renaissance Age against the excessive patronage of the church in the arts. The spirit of activism was characterized as secular (Sherman and Salisbury, 2011, page 312). Many Renaissance were not religious like Petrarch, and they toiled for the persons salvation right here and right now. Renaissance thinkers were awakened to the classical worlds of Greece and Rome. Moreover, Martin Luther was an idealistic Renaissance thinker because he was the epitome of a person that boldly asserted a powerful belief in the individual human to choose right and wrong (page 317). The Renaissance age, was vital to the element of activism because the movement was a witness

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to the renewed belief in human beings capacity to perfect themselves, to assess the world realistically, and to act vigorously to make an impact on their society. Many people like my ancestors were more preferable to Calvinism, which was founded by the French Scholar, John Calvin (1509-1564). However, those that were living amongst the British Isles to the British West Indies preferred Calvinism. For instance my ancestors that were exiled from Scotland were greatly impacted by Englands Henry VIII (1509-1547), so much so that he wrote the Defense of Seven Sacraments, in 1521; which was a blatant attack against Martin Luther. My ancestors that had favored Calvinism, favored a religion that later became a tolerated faith, after the 30 Years War, in the northwest courts of Northern Europe, such as England, Holland, Scandinavia, and many northern German States (Salisbury, 2011, pages 366371).i The secular tone was that the rebels in the British Isles, once named Alba had said that they would not pray for the succession of the British Monarchy, after Anne Boleyn was beheaded and laid to rest in an improper burial. Anne Boleyn was from a prominent Scottish family, a cousin to Jane Seymour, the 3rd wife of Englands Henry VIII (1509-1547), which was a cousin to Mary Queen of Scots, the founder of the Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian religion. Anne Boleyn was the founder of the Church of England. After Marys death the real family members have not been able to recover the remains of Anne Boleyn to this date, which are at the bottom of the Westminster Abbeys Church. The Rebellion touched on each of the elements of the Renaissance eras characteristics it touched on the practicality of the sensitive areas of belief, faith, and ideas. The Rebellion spring boarded from the period of the Renaissance eras elements of individualism, activism and realism. Surely the martyrs could be doing something else with theirselves other than rebelling. Nevertheless, it was Luther, the Renaissance man and

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the fact that his had left a long impression on the hearts and minds of rebels, like me. Nevertheless, Luthers long-term impact would be full of turmoil and rebellion. The following events characterized the elements of the period of the Renaissance era: 1. There was the treaty called, the Peace at Westphalia, it is the agreement that ended the 30 Year War (1618-1648); and that took place on German territory (Salisbury, 2011, page 371). The thirty years war was in Bohemia, which is modern Czech Republic in 1618, that tried to vanquish Protestants (page 369). 2. Next, the Holy Roman Empire, under Ferdinand II (1619-1637) went to war to claim Bohemia, his forces seemed to assist the Catholic Hapsburgs to the Protestant. They also had the assistance of the Powerful Catholic Maximillan of Bavaria (Salisbury, 2011, Map 11.3, page 370). 3. In 1624, Albrecht von Wallenstein gave the Catholic cause considerable help. He introduced a new way of funding wars. 4. In 1627, Wallensteins army had begun to conquer the northern region of the Empire which was the center of Protestant Strength. 5. In 1629, Ferdinand confidently issued the Edict of Restitution, which ordered all territories lost to Protestants since 1552 to be restored to the Catholics. 6. In 1630, the war changed from religion to politics and weakened the power of the Habsburgs. The Protestants found a champion in Swedish King Gustavus Alsophus (1611-1632). 7. In 1632, Gustav fought Wallensteins army at Lutzen; but his army won and Gustav was fatally wounded, and he died.

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8. In 1632, Gustavs successes opened the final phase of the war that had lasted until 1648. The Protestant Prince raised new armies in 1635. The Emperor Ferdinand II agreed to suspend the Edict of Restitution and to grant amnesty to most of the Protestant Princes. Then the Catholic French declared open war on the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, in 1635. 9. In 1640, the war pretty much stopped because the kings and princes that started the hostilities had all died, and those left were exhausted (Salisbury, 2011, page 371). Meanwhile, the Scots in the continent of Northwestern Europe were fighting for their ideas, in the British Isles. For instance, the Scots fought the Second Bishops War in August 1640, as well as the Battle of Newburn. Lastly, Germanys population was reduced drastically because of the incursions and war; however, the exhausted lands were gained by France and Sweden etc.

Finally, Luther was a Renaissance man because his writings helped mobilize peasants to establish amazing Republics, beyond that of Germany but not limited to the United States. More and more people were exiled from the continent of Europe freely and against their will; some fled to the continent when Queen Mary (r. 1553-1558) came to power, and she tried to undo all the gains of the Protestants (Salisbury, 2011, page 359). Lastly, Luther was a Renaissance man because he left his legacy with the common goals of individuals who sought the Protestant Religions, through the elements of the Renaissance period through art that had the characteristics of individualism and the realism; and that had also inspired so many people during the period of Renaissance era; because the characteristics of the elements could also be for the priesthood of all believers.

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WORKS CITED

Sherman, D., & Salisbury, J. E. (2011). The West in the world (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

M. (2012). Creation of Adam. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved September 10, 2012, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/12980/The-Creation-of-Adam-detailof-the-ceiling-fresco-by.

McCulloch, J. H. "David: A New Perspective." Digital Michelangelo Project. Stanford University, 7 June 2007. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://www.econ.ohiostate.edu/jhm/arch/david/David.htm>.

" Michelangelo." 2012. Biography.com 10 Oct 2012, 03:56 http://www.biography.com/people/michelangelo-9407628 Martin Luther and the Wittenberg Reformers [Photograph]. Britannica Online for Kids. Retrieved 10 September 2012, from http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-119968

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In Europe, there was a century of religious warfare, from 1559-1648 (page 366-371). The Reformation established alternative Christian sects it raised the possibility that individuals might follow their own consciences in matters of religion. The church served a society as the central institution in peoples lives, and struck at the foundation of European politics and social realities. The Protestant, initially led by Martin Luther, a Renaissance man, questioned the assumption an identity of belief between rules and subjects. As a result there was the French wars of religion from 1562-1598 (page 367). In addition, the flourish of Protestant beliefs, caused the Council of Blood in the Netherlands, which was ruled by Spain, it was nation comprised of seventeen provinces in the Netherlands: Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, in 1566 through 1609 (pages 367-368). The Council of Blood was also known as the Council of Troubles.

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