Renaissance Studies Commons^™

The Image Falls Apart, Alexa N. Curran

Masters Theses

The Image Falls Apart is a phenomenological account of my collision with Rogier van der Weyden’s The Descent from the Cross (ca. 1435). In an ever-expanding landscape of visual stimuli, how do we make sense of images that are an encounter with the sacred? Of what use to a modern viewer is an altarpiece of the late medieval period that, in its miraculous rendering of each of its human figures, reflects the impending iconophobia of the Protestant Reformation? And what does falling have to do with it? With careful attention to the assembly of bodies in space, this multidisciplinary project, …

Ai And A Possible Renaissance For Christian Higher Education, Derek Schuurman

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The early Greeks saw the essence of education as Paideia: the process of forming a whole person into an ideal citizen. They emphasized the formation of virtues like prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance in preparation for active citizenship. In Plato’s Republic, we read that “The object of education is to teach us to love what is beautiful,” which involves the shaping of desire.¹ For the Greeks, the purpose of education was training in virtue.

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

The Substance Of Reality: Moral Perfectionism In Shakespeare's Hamlet., David Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through a selection of and close reading of key passages, I offer an interpretation of Hamlet that seeks to illuminate the play as an important work of moral philosophy, and to situate the play within a strand of moral philosophy named moral perfectionism by Stanley Cavell. Indeed, Hamlet is a masterpiece of Renaissance drama, but when read with attention to moral perfectionism, the play yields additional layers of meaning. Hamlet is a “philosophical drama” that navigates the “moral calling of philosophy”—a text that seems to, almost uncannily, elicit the audience to think reflectively, to ask fundamental human questions along …

The Unicorn And Christ – Metamorphosis And Symbology, Luis Mendonça De Carvalho, Francisca Maria Fernandes, Maria Fátima Nunes, Ana Maria Costa, Paula Nozes, Ana Paula Figueira

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The unicorn is a legendary chimaera that, for centuries, has been present in the mindset of Euro-Mediterranean cultures. Although its morphological description changed, tradition identifies it as an animal like a horse, albeit smaller and with a spiralling horn on its head pointing forward. The unicorn has been known since Antiquity, with references by authors such as Ctesias and Pliny. However, its relevance for medieval Europeans began with the Biblical references to this animal in several Old Testament verses. These verses gave legitimacy to the unicorn, and it was accepted as a tangible animal. During the Middle Ages and early …

Review Of Lu Ann Homza's Religious Authority In The Spanish Renaissance, Alice L. Alvarado

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Lu Ann Homza’s intricate study of the major players involved in religious authority comes to life in her thought-provoking work Religious Authority in the Spanish Renaissance. Homza delicately weaved social, political, and religious analysis throughout the various layers of her chapters to give the reader a sense of the powers-that-be behind the secretive Spanish Inquisition and the overall hierarchical structure of the Catholic church. Homza does not shy away from confronting the previously upheld authority of Marcel Bataillon, and simultaneously challenges the reader to refuse to apply modern constructs or context to the unique time and place known as …

Saintly Cinema: Modelling The Icon In The Flowers Of St. Francis And Andrei Rublev, Alexander Hart

Journal of Religion & Film

Throughout the history of the cinema, filmmakers have turned to the visual arts for inspiration in creating spiritual styles on film. In this essay, it is argued that Roberto Rossellini’s The Flowers of St. Francis (1950) and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev (1966) were influenced by Giotto di Bondone’s frescos and Andrei Rublev’s Eastern Orthodox icons, respectively. Committed to realism, Rossellini adopts Giotto’s proto-Renaissance, humanist art as a model for a spiritual style in which the Transcendent is manifested through the natural world. Subverting terrestrial reality, Tarkovsky adopts the aesthetic principles of the Eastern Orthodox icon, translating Pavel Florensky’s concepts of …

Milton: Politics Of Desire And Dispossession, Sawyer K. Kemp

Open Educational Resources

In this course we will study John Milton’s most famous poem, Paradise Lost, alongside a selection of his major verse and prose works. Milton’s literary projects were inextricably political, and we will wade into the discourse of his legacy as either—or both—state propagandist or public scholar. We will discuss and explore Milton’s role in the charged political climate of the British Revolution of the 17^th century, as well as his work on gender, marriage, divorce, the free press, sin, and heroism.

How do we read Milton’s work in our own political climates of unrest? How has deconstruction of …

Visualizing Ancient Empire In Tudor England: Imperial Monarchy, Reformation, And The Antique Soldier In The Title Page To Richard Grafton’S Large Chronicle (1569), Peter Nicholas Otis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes the iconography and visual sources of the title page to the first volume of A chronicle at large and meere history of the affayres of Englande (1569) by the Tudor author Richard Grafton. Representing the visual synthesis of several distinct but interrelated currents that developed in the preceding century, the title page to the Large Chronicle offers a rare glimpse into a transitional moment in the middle Tudor perception and visual representation of the British past. These currents include imperializing royal iconography, with origins in antecedent representations in the late fifteenth century; the entry of the ‘classicizing’ …

Ecumenical Dialogue Between Reformers And Orthodox Under The Ottomans (15-16th Century), Svetoslav Svetoszarov Ribolov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Despite the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, the Orthodox Church continued to make contacts with the West. In the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Patriarchs Joasaph II and Jeremias II had ecumenical contacts and theological dialogues with two generations of Reformers. Martin Luther and Melanchthon, and later Martin Crusius, Jakob Andrеä, and their associates in Wittenberg took up the initiative for a serious ecumenical dialogue with Constantinople. Despite a sincere desire on both sides, lack of a common methodological framework in the talks did not allow for significant results. In the end, both sides did not …

In My End Is My Beginning: Mary Stuart And The Foundation Of Her Religious Pragmatism, Shantelle M. Clement

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and Dowager Queen of France, demonstrated atypical religious tolerance during the turmoil of the sixteenth-century reformations, particularly in comparison to other monarchs of the time. This research especially focuses on her upbringing in France, and how her education and those around her influenced the pragmatism and actions displayed as a monarch in Scotland until July 1565. Her youth in France and religious tolerance is a rare focus in secondary sources compared to the more dramatic events in her later life.

17th Century Ecumenical Activities Between Ecumenical Patriarchate And The Early Protestant Churches, Svetoslav Ribolov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The ecumenical activities and contacts between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Protestant churches in the 17th century were largely shaped by two remarkable figures of the Orthodox Church–the Patriarch of Constantinople Cyril Lucaris and Metrophanes Kritopoulos, who later became the Patriarch of Alexandria. Their sincere desire for contact with Protestant theologians, along with their commitment to open dialogue and cooperation was the most important factor in Orthodox-Protestant relations in that era. However, while the political climate in Europe initially allowed for some rapprochement between Christians in the Ottoman Empire and those who had embraced the Reformation, things eventually changed after …

Faithful Partner: The Role And Agency Of Pastors' Wives In The Protestant Reformation, Elizabeth M. Dubendorfer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis explores the critical yet often overlooked roles of pastors' wives during the Protestant Reformation, focusing on three key figures: Katharina von Bora, Katharina Schütz Zell, and Elisabeth Cruciger. It examines how these women navigated the complexities of Reformation-era Germany, blending traditional gender roles with new practices that emerged from their unique positions as clerical spouses. By investigating their personal histories, theological contributions, and community engagements, the thesis demonstrates that these pioneering women established a distinct archetype for pastors' wives. This archetype was characterized by a profound commitment to faith, an expanded view of motherhood and wifely duties, and …

Medieval Manuscripts At Loyola University Chicago, Ian Cornelius, Kathy Young

English: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article provides a summary overview of the collection of pre-1600 western European manuscripts in Loyola University Chicago Archives and Special Collections. The collection presently comprises four manuscript codices, at least 38 fragments, and four documents. The codices are a thirteenth-century Book of Hours from German-speaking lands; a fifteenth-century Dutch prayerbook; a preacher’s compilation written probably in southern Germany in the 1440s; and two fifteenth-century Italian humanist booklets, bound together since the nineteenth century, transmitting Donatus’s commentary on the Eunuchus (incomplete) and an anthology of theological excerpts, respectively. The fragments consist of thirteen leaves from books dismembered by modern booksellers …

Il Digiuno Delle Donne Religioso Durante Il Rinascimento, Alessia Nicosia

Italian Renaissance Foodways

Mio advanced integration project è trovare la connessione tra religione e la cultura italiana. Il digiuno ha una relazione per dimostrare la dedizione a Dio, le donne religiosi avevano. Può vedere la intersezione tra religione e cultura con i libri di Laura Giannetti, Caroline Bynum, e Rudolph Bell, per scoprire l'identità italiana e la spiritualità di queste donne religiosi (in particolare Caterina di Benincasa (Catherine of Siena), Beata Colomba di Rieti (olumba of Rieti) e Santa Clare of Assisi) il ruolo il cibo aveva con loro, per esempio nel il digiuno e la eucaristia.

A Friend Who Does Me No Good: Aphorism In Matteo Ricci’S On Friendship, Maximilian Chan Weiher

Asian Languages and Cultures Honors Projects

This paper argues that Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) designed his aphoristic compilation, Jiaoyou Lun 交友論–On Friendship (1595)–to serve the Jesuit mission of converting the Chinese to Catholicism and express the conflict he may have felt exploiting friends to forward the Jesuit mission. Utilizing friendships to allow for greater social influence was central to the Jesuit proselytization strategy in China. However, Ricci’s moral education from youth taught him to judge utilitarian friendships as immoral. The extant scholarship regarding Ricci’s On Friendship fails to acknowledge the significance of the aphoristic form to this work. To illuminate the value of aphorism …

The Dissemination Of Learned Discourse To Common People In Pre-Modern Europe: A Finding List Of Themes Discussed In Standard Sermon Collections (Postils), John Frymire

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

The Dissemination of Learned Discourse to Common People in Pre-Modern Europe: A Finding List of Themes Discussed in Standard Sermon Collections (Postils)

Slides On Thomas More's Warning To Readers, Travis Curtright

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Slides on Thomas More's Warning to Readers, from A Treatise on the Passion (1534)

Hands-On Activity: Learning About Literacy In The Early Modern World, Andrea Wenz

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Lesson plan activity for use in an introductory course on the Reformation or Pre- Modern/Early Modern Europe.

Student Handout: Early Modern Readers And Thomas More’S Treatise On The Passion, Travis Curtright

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Lesson Plan and Handout for Thomas More's Warning to Readers, from his Treatise on the Passion

Psalm Reception History Assignment, For Early British Literature Survey Or Studies In Renaissance Literature Courses, Daniel Knapper

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Psalm Reception History Assignment, For Early British Literature Survey or Studies in Renaissance Literature courses

Spanish Modernization And English Translation To "Prefacio Al Lector" In Historia Particular De La Persecucion De Inglaterra, Y De Los Martirios Mas Insignes Que En Ella Ha Auido, Desde El Año Del Señor 1570 : En La Qual Se Descubren Los Efectos Lastimosos De La Heregia, Y Las Mudanças Que Suele Causar En Las Republicas... / Recogida Por El Padre Fray Diego De Yepes...En Madrid : Por Luis Sanchez, 1599., Carmela Mattza

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Spanish modernization and English translation to "Prefacio al lector" in Historia particular de la persecucion de Inglaterra, y de los martirios mas insignes que en ella ha auido, desde el año del Señor 1570 : en la qual se descubren los efectos lastimosos de la heregia, y las mudanças que suele causar en las Republicas... / recogida por el Padre Fray Diego de Yepes...En Madrid : por Luis Sanchez, 1599.

The Afterlife Of Ludolph Of Saxony's Vita Christi, Emily Ransom

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Spreadsheet of printed editions of Ludolph of Saxony's Vita Christi down to 1660.

Special Topics In European Women’S History Women And The Book, 1200-1900, Katherine Goodwin

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

book history oriented syllabus

Towards A Revised Taxonomy Of Markings In 16th-Century English Bibles, Jeremy Specland

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

overview of hand-written annotations in early printed English Bibles

Jewish Presence In The Venetian Empire: A Challenge To Venetian Mythology, Avery Rosensweig

Honors Theses

This paper attempts to explain the significance of Jewish presence in the Venetian Empire in the context of the myth of Venice. Jews were officially permitted to settle in Venice in 1516, but their connection with the Venetian Empire goes further back. Jews were important for the success of the Venetian Empire, particularly from the sixteenth century onward. The permanent settlement of the Jews in Venice directly impacted the very ideology of the Venetian Empire.

Although the phrase "myth of Venice" was developed by twentieth-century historians, Venetians perpetuated the myth and wove its ideals into the foundation of the Venetian …

A Nation On The Periphery Of History: A Discussion Of Poland-Lithuania During The Reformation, Dillon Piorkowski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project hopes to establish several key points. One of which is that Poland is unfairly represented in Western historiography. Specifically, this means that in the English-speaking academic world, Poland is discussed disproportionately. Countries like Germany, France, and Britain have thousands of pages written about them discussing their roles during the Reformation. But Poland does not. This is evidenced by the many Western textbooks that misrepresent the nation. In turn, the project will use these various textbooks as evidence. The second point this project aims to cover is why Poland’s underappreciation is unfair. Simply demonstrating how Poland is underrepresented is …

Remembering John O'Malley, S.J., John J. Degioia

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

No abstract provided.

Demons & Droids: Nonhuman Animals On Trial, Gerrit D. White

PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas

Nonhuman animal trials are ridiculous to the modern sensibilities of the West. The concept of them is in opposition to the idea of nonhuman animals—entities without agency, incapable of guilt by nature of irrationality. This way of viewing nonhuman animals is relatively new to the Western mind. Putting nonhuman animals on trial has only become unacceptable in the past few centuries. Before this shift, nonhuman animal trials existed as methods of communities policing themselves. More than that, these trials were part of legal systems ensuring they provided justice for all. This shift happened because the relationship between Christian authorities and …

A Humanist's Account: Manetti On Humanism's Impact On Morality In 15th Century Italy., Connor Kurtz, Beau Kilpatrick

Undergraduate Research Events

Abstract

Religion, art, and politics were at their peak during the Italian Renaissance. However, because of the generously allocated talent of the Italian sphere at this time it is easy to overlook the contributions of those who broke away from the Catholic concentration and kick started this humanistic era. Giannozzo Manetti, an Italian politician who in 1452 wrote De Ignate er Excellencia Hominis, a challenge to Pope Innocent III’s philosophy. The text has been translated to “On Human Worth and Excellence” and describes a deep-rooted foundation of humanism in religion. He concludes a functionality of society and religion in …