The Interior Castle

          The Interior Castle also known as The Mansions is a book by St. Teresa of Avila. It was written in 1577. The book came about because of an revelation St. Teresa has from God of a crystal globe in the shape of a castle. The castle consisted of seven mansions, which in her riding she interprets as the journey of faith through seven stages, ultimately ending with a union with God. The Interior Castle is often described as a guide for those who want to really understand and seek prayer as a mystical union with God.
          The seven mansions consisted of many different things. The first three mansions are considered to be ordinary prayer or active prayer. The first mansion is a souls state of grace. The second mansion is called the "Mansions of the Practice of Prayer" because the soul seeks to advance through the castle by daily thoughts of God.  The third mansion were the "Mansions of Exemplary Life" characterized through the divine grace of love for God is so great  the soul has an aversion to both mortal and venial sin and desire to do works of charitable service to man for the ultimate glory of God.
           The fourth through the seventh mansion are considered to be mystical or contemplative prayer. The fourth mansions are a departure from the soul to what it gains as God increases him role. The fifth mansion incipient Union where the soul prepares itself to receive gifts from God. The sixth mansion can be compared to loves. And the seventh mansion achieves clarity in prayer and a spiritual marriage or union with God. The picture to the left is of the book The Interior castle. The picture to the bottom of this text is of St. Teresa of Avila.

Flagellant Master Leads His Band of Followers Through a City

     This image was in our book on page 277. I have had trouble finding information about this image, I can only seem to find sites trying to sell copies of it. However I chose this image, to give the readers of this blog (I know there are many) an image of flagellants during the 16th century. The definition of flagellant is, one who scourges himself by way of religious discipline or penance; esp. one of a sect of fanatics (Latin flagellantes) that arose in the 13th century (OED). A sect arose in the thirteenth century calling themselves Flagellants, because the would whip themselves bloody for penance. The black death was a contributing factor to their organization. They believed that by showing their penance through self mutilation would help remove the plague. Other sources say they believed this ritual helped them become closer to God by suffering pain for sin as Christ had.
     After the middle of the 14th century the sect dwindled in France, until the rise in religious civil wars in France in the mid-16th Century. The rise in the reformation contributed to the rise of the tradition. Even today the Flagellants practice and publicly show there penance. There are many reports of flagellants in the Philippines. If you are interested in seeing modern flagellant practices click here . Although, I am warning you that this is graphic, and if you have a weak stomach or have eaten recently I strongly advise you not to view this video. Consider yourselves warned.


Sources:http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/70904?redirectedFrom=flagellants#eid
             http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/flagellants.htm
             http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/flagellants.html

The founding of the Society of Jesus

The founding of the Society of Jesus

On August 15, 1534, Ignatius and six friends vowed to spend their lives helping souls (Zophy). These men traveled around in Europe, along with the approval from the Pope. Which at the time was Pope Paul III, he also provided funds (Zophy).  They spent their time in such charitable activities such as nursing the sick, cleaning, removing garbage, digging graves, and burying the dead (Zophy). The Jesuits would later be established once they went to Rome to offer their services to Pope Paul III, there the Pope appointed them teaching positions at the University of Rome (Zophy). Ignatius (The guy in the painting) was elected as the first superior general of the Society of Jesus. Without him the society probably would not have established such strong ties with the Catholic Church, or even yet would not even been the most influential religious organization in history and changed the life of the Roman Catholic Church (Zophy). According to Zophy, Ignatius had wisely advised Jesuit missionaries to learn the language of the country where they were living. The courage, faith, and hard work of Jesuit missionaries resulted in widespread conversions to Roman Catholicism in Europe and throughout the world (Zophy). 

Source: Zophy. 

King Henry the VIII Artifacts!

"King Henry VIII," artist unknown

          I know that this subject may be a bit late to post on, but recently I remembered that I happen to have a couple of interesting King Henry VIII artifacts of my own from my trip to England this past spring.  The first is an oil painting from the National Portrait Gallery in London.  Just from looking at the portrait, you can tell that Henry definitely had a rich taste for clothing and other accessories.  He believed that clothing was a symbol of social class ranking, and strongly believed that since he was royalty, that he should have the latest in Italian and French fashions.  The greedy king imported furs, velvet, and gemstones from around the world, and, since he hated to wear anything twice, gave away several pieces of his wardrobe to lucky members of his court.  

      

          My second artifact is King Henry's armor, which can be found on display in the Tower of London.  I read on Jacob's post from last week that Henry was painted with proportions much different than he actually had, but being able to see his armor in person was mind-blowing; the picture doesn't do it justice at all.  This man was huge.  The armor pictured above is from his later years in life, and studies have concluded that this guy had a 52in waist and 53in chest, which is severe obesity in today's standards.  Going from his once 32in waist and 39in chest, I'd say he became just about as round as he was tall. 

Sources: 

http://www.royalarmouries.org/visit-us/leeds/leeds-galleries/tournament-gallery/henry-viii/henry-viii-portrait

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1134222/King-size-Henry-VIIIs-armour-reveals-52in-girth--paid-terrible-price.html

anti-jesuits

The counter-reformation of the 16th century sparked a new ideology of the Catholic faith.  Ignatius Loyola realized the importance of a reformation of Catholicism and paved the way for the foundation of the Society of Jesus also known as the Jesuits.  However, the opposition to the counter-reformation from the protestant perspective remained; and in this image, the idea of anti-Jesuit propaganda is evident.   
The image is derived from an anti-Jesuit broadsheet the reveals the opposition of Jesuit views by protestants.  according to the online source, this broadsheet from 1569 portrays a devil-like Jesuit attempting to convert a protestant woman (online source).  However, the Jesuit is immediately killed by a protestant male, which signifies the strength of the protestant religion.  As reformers of this time have signified, the importance of non-Catholic ideas and rituals such as the seven sacraments and indulgences were of importance when designating religious ideology.  Ignatius Loyola's spin off of Catholicism was a reformation of Catholicism itself that kept the same views and ideals, with more focus on loyalty to the church, and an examination of inner-conscience (CP 204).  From the image above, we can see that, though the Jesuits were a reformed version of Catholicism, their views still did not line up with protestant believers, and essentially caused friction between the two; even many years after the Jesuit faith was established in the earlier 1500's.  Broadsheets such as this discuss the opposing arguments between the Jesuit and protestant ideas, and how far some were willing to go to assure that protestants would be informed not to be swayed by Jesuit views. 

Sources;

Course Packet compiled by Dr. Wolbrink
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=3348

The Imitation of Christ

The Imitation of Christ is a book originally written in Latin by Thomas a Kempis. This German man wrote this book and today is considered only second to the Bible when it comes to religious books. The popularity of this book is shown by the replication of it. The Imitation of Christ has been translated into over 50 languages and has been publish in over six thousand editions.

Thomas a Kempis writes in this book about his own personal search for God and also gives instruction on reader's own relationship with God. His writings attempt to show others how to establish a direct relationship with God. As you can see from the title it teaches readers how to be like Christ essentially. The Imitation of Christ has four different sections of detailed spiritual instruction: 1) Counsels of the Spiritual Life 2) Directive for the Interior Life 3) Interior Consolation and 4) the Blessed Sacrament. The impact this book had on Catholic Christianity was extraordinary, even individuals such as Ignatius of Loyola admired and were influenced greatly by the writings of Thomas a Kempis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imitation_of_Christ

Zophy, p. 153

Francis Xavier

               This is a portrait of Francis Xavier, a Jesuit missionary who primary focused on spreading Christianity to Asia.  This painting hangs in the Kobe City Museum, and was done by an unknown Japanese artist around the time of 1620.  Although this paining was created a little after Xavier's death I still believe this is a very significant portrait.  While it is apparent that this piece of art has a much different style than Northern or Italian Renaissance art, there are still some striking similarities to the art seen in Catholic Churches.  The halo around his head and his direct communication with God are distinct Catholic traits.

                This painting is a symbol for the spread of Christianity and the dedication of the Jesuits.  Since Francis Xavier, who was later declared a saint, was so dedicated to the Jesuit mission he successful converted thousands of Asians to Christianity.  Not only did he convert them, but he also had a strong influence on their art.  This is a testament to how strong the influence of Christianity became in Japan and other Asian countries.  This painting also contains other symbols such as the communication with Christ.  This implies that only saintly people, and higher authority has direct communication with God.  From the portrait it is evident how successful the Jesuit mission was in the Asian culture.

A Nun's Life

Teresa of Avila was born on March 28, 1515, to a Toledo merchant and his second wife. Teresa mother died when she was only 15. Not long after the passing of her mother she was entrusted to the care of the Augustinian nuns. She committed herself to a religious life after she read the letter of St. Jerome. She joined the Carmelite Oder in 1535. She spent the next couple of years in this convent, until she became seriously ill. It was an illness that left her legs paralyzed for three years.

When she had a vision of "the sorely wounded Christ" it changed her life forever. She began to have of increasingly ecstatic experiences in which she came to focus more and more sharply on Christ's passion. Using these visions as a guide she began her attempt to master herself and her adherence to the rule. She began to gather a group of supporters, she strived to create a more primitive type of Carmelite. From 1560 until her death, Teresa fought to create and broaden the movement of Discalced, shoeless Carmelites. During the mid-1560s, she wrote The Way of Perfection and The Meditations on the Canticle. In 1567, she met St. John of the Cross, who helped her to extend her reform into the male side of the Carmelite Order. Teresa died in 1582.
(This image shows St. Teresa in her later in her life. I picked this one, because it portrays her as being very holy)

The Real Mother

(This image shows Catherine Parr as a younger woman, and was chosen because it is much more flattering than the later paintings done in her lifetime.)

Catherine Parr married King Henry VIII in 1543, the sixth and final wife to receive such favor (Zophy 236). Already being widowed twice before, left Catherine in a position to marry the old king, she cared for him dutifully in the last years of his life (Zophy 236). As his last wife, Catherine held a level of security the previous wives did not because he already had a male heir, and was slowing with his age. She also functioned as his personal nurse, which gave him a more happy last few years of his life, instead of being surrounded by anonymous doctors and nurses.

Yet the most interesting thing she did focus on was her attention to his children from previous marriages. She cared for them as her own. Finally, Mary, Edward and Elizabeth received a sense of normalcy in their newest mother. Instead of the revolving door of women in and out of their lives she stayed, even after Henry’s death in 1547 (Zophy 236). One specific incident that proves Catherine cared for the children concerned Elizabeth and the predatory Thomas Seymour’s desire for power and influence (Zophy 237). It is interesting because Thomas Seymour was already married to Catherine, yet he apparently saw better prospects for power in attracting her young step-daughter.

The Index

Title page of the Index (1564)

The concern of the Catholic Church over books, which are considered dangerous to the faith or morals of the Church dates back a long time. But in 1559 the first catalog of banned books was actually published. The Index or at full length Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Latin for “Index of Forbidden Books”) was drawn up by order of Pope Paul IV and published by the Sacred Congregation of the Roman Inquisition. The list specified books as unholy, heretic or dangerous to the Catholic religion and included writings of Calvin, Luther, Zwingli, Erasmus, Machiavielli, the Koran etc. Some works were prohibited because of the words the author used or for the life of the author himself; sometimes for both. The Index was an implementation of the Roman Catholic Church to prevent the contamination of the faith or the corruption of morals through the reading of theologically flawed books.

With the invention of the printing press in Europe in the middle of the 15th Century, the problem of control increased. As more books were written, copied and increasingly widely disseminated, subversive and heretical ideas were spread beyond control. Therefore, the purpose of the Index was on the one hand to guide censors of what publications to authorize because printers were not free to publish books without official permission. On the other hand it condemned published books that were judged to be harmful regarding the Catholic believes. It is important to understand, that the Index was never a complete catalog of forbidden reading but those that ecclesiastical authority was asked to act upon. It is still unclear in which way the Index limited the spread of Protestant doctrines since they were already known and shared in Europe. Zophy claims that it at least “had a chilling effect on the freewheeling exchange of ideas that had been such a stimulating part of the Renaissance” (Zophy 264).

Fact is the last and 20th edition of the Index appeared in 1948. The complete publication of the list was suppressed not until 1966 under Pope Paul VI. Today the Index has the status of a historic document.

Sources:

Zophy 264

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/285220/Index-Librorum-Prohibitorum

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/indexlibrorum.asp