Monthly Archives: June 2025

Humanism and Renaissance Art

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Italian scholar Niccolo Machiavelli.

By the 15th century, many scholars in Western Europe adopted humanism, the belief that humans and earthly inventions are better than Christianity, the Church, or religion in general. Civic humanism is when these scholars put their worldviews at the service of the state government causing many influential people in Europe to become humanist. Consequently, they started to claim that the Catholic Church should not have as much influence on government. 

One of these humanists was Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) who wrote “The Prince” (1513), which contrasts medieval works with politics, and ancient and contemporary sources on morals. Machiavelli stated that the government should do whatever it needs to maintain itself and be prepared to act immorally if necessary. In fact, he wrote that in order to maintain its power, the state must “act treacherously, ruthlessly, and inhumanely.” Because he saw Christian governments as being bound to morality, Machiavelli wanted to bring back ancient forms of government like the Roman form.

In the early 15th century, the Florence Cathedral commissioned bronze doors to be made for the baptistery and had a competition between seven artists to make them. Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) won and we still have his submission today. Ghiberti crafted 28 panels for this church that were so grand even fellow painter and sculptor Michelangelo described them as “so fine that they would grace the entrance of paradise.” Ghiberti’s assistant, Donatello (1386-1466) made use of his time working for the great artist and created the Statue of David (1440). 

Bronze doors of the baptistery on the Florence Cathedral.

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), considered the first great architect of the Renaissance, completed the dome of the Cathedral in Florence, while Michelangelo planned the dome of Saint Peter’s Cathedral in Vatican City. Another influential architect, Leon Battista Albert (1404-1472) made a guild of other young builders to help him with his work. Cimabue (1240-1302) is famous for the mosaic of Saint John, and although he still used made elements from the Eastern Byzantine style of religious architecture, his works were considered a step forward towards portraying emotion and realism.

Cimabue influenced medieval painter Giotto (1276-1337) who made his figures realistically and portrayed more feeling. This can be seen especially in his painting “The Kiss of Judas.” During the 13th and 14th centuries perspective and foreshadowing started to develop more and more. 

Masaccio (1401-1428) pioneered the use of light and shade to provide detail, and influenced later painters in the next century even though he died at a young age. Paolo Uccelo (1397-1475) put exceptional emphasis on perspective in his work “The Hunt By Night” and Fra Angelico (1387-1455) is known as the last medieval painter before most artists switched to Renaissance style. 

“The Hunt By Night” by Paolo Uccelo (1470).

Starting in the 14th Century, Catholic painters in Western Europe used more detail and portrayed emotion and perspective in religious paintings, whereas in Eastern Orthodox churches they continued to use the traditional Byzantine style, which still persists today in Russian and Greek churches. 

The “Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi” Part 3 

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Brother Giles and Saint Francis.

At the Fransician monasteries, numerous monks practiced “foolishness for Christ,” which is the behavior of giving up all of one’s worldly possessions, joining a monastic order, and making one seem foolish or crazy in order to mask humility and holiness. Many monasteries in the East practiced this way of monasticism. However, in the West one of the only examples of this radical path is Saint Francis of Assisi and his followers. 

Brother Juniper was viewed as a fool, but Saint Francis swore that he was a holy and wise man. Juniper gave up everything he had on earth to join the monastery and help teach the monks. In order to gain salvation, he stated, you must have unbreakable faith along with devoting works to Christ. 

Another example is Brother Giles, who purposely made his own bread by hand, showing the other monks by example that you had to work to gain rewards. He regarded obedience to God as the true prayer of Christians. So great was Brother Giles’s merit that everyone followed his example, such as doing penance for their sins. 

In their writing the monks explained that virtue is the ladder up to heaven and that humility is the greatest of virtues that can help you get there. Holy fear is a channel of divine grace, they continued, and humility is a sure cause. They stated to not defend your own cause and to turn the other cheek, because Christ said those that are prosecuted and hated for His sake will acquire the kingdom of heaven.

Brother Giles wrote a series of sayings which were included at the end of “Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi.” For instance, he stated that righteousness makes a good life easy, to suffer for Christ is a good thing, and to use Christ’s passion as an example for holy endurance. You should help yourself first before you ever preach to other people and sometimes keeping silent is the best option. 

The Avignon Papacy and the Fourteenth-Century Crisis

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Historically, the papacy was always located in the Vatican in Rome, however for a 68-year period in the 14th-Century it was centered in Avignon, France. A highly scandalous time in Church history, French monarchs had higher authority over the papacy than before and 111 out of the 134 cardinals were French. During this period there was also increased taxation of clergy and people illegally holding Church offices in order to earn higher income. Absentee pastors collected income while deputies did all the work and dioceses were left for generations without a bishop, due to the fact that these hierarchs were solely appointed for monetary gain. 

Why Did The Residence Of The Pope Move To Avignon In The 14th Century? | HistoryExtra
Palace of the Pope’s in Avignon, France.

 Overall, this era produced many of the Church abuses that Martin Luther would later talk about in his Ninety-Five Theses since these problems were either created or got worse in Avignon. Despite the corruption, most of the seven Popes in office during the Avignon period were actually competent, but the bishops and cardinals gained massive power over the Popes and the Church as a whole. 

Pope Benedict XII (1334-1342) tried to reform the religious order and was careful about who he appointed. He also refused to wage war on behalf of Church territories, unlike how previous Popes had done. Although there were some good Popes, the papal office was still soured mainly because Popes like Clement VI (1342-1352) lived extremely luxurious, handsome and liberal lives and rewarded office seekers and appointed people to Church offices based on monetary gain. 

The Avignon papacy wasn’t the only crisis in Europe during the Fourteenth-Century, the others include harvest failures, the Hundred Years’ War, the Great Western Schism, the Black Death, and major social upheaval. The Great Western Schism was a period when there were two popes: one in Rome and one in Avignon, which caused all of Europe to be divided. 

However, the most famous and largest disaster was the Black Death, which killed 25-50% of Europe’s total population. It was especially deadly in urban areas, with most large living centers experiencing a death toll of 80-90%. Additionally, there were peasant uprisings across Europe, mainly in England, and from 1315-1317 crop failures and cattle disease are estimated to have killed 10-20% of Europe’s total population. 

Brought to Italy from Central Asia by boats that carried fleas on rats, the Black Death was a confluence of the bubonic and pneumonic plagues. 

Many people in Central Asia had built up a strong resistance to the plague, but not so in Europe. Because of the catastrophic numbers of death, people reacted in extreme ways, thinking God was punishing them for their sins. Some dedicated their lives to Christ, knowing they could die at any time, while others lived in debauchery for the short time they had left.