Which Came First??

The Council of Trent may have been in part brought about in response to Martin Luther. Yet actions of the Catholic Reformation were in progress before Luther was even conceived as a threat to the Catholic Church. This can be seen as starting under Pope Alexander. Though under pope Alexander during the renaissance a reform group was conceived it had little to no observable effect on any of the issues plaguing the church at the time. Yet the reform process was expedited by Luther’s criticism of the Catholic church although many loyal Catholics did agree with Martin Luther that there were issues that needed to be fixed within the church. These loyal followers instead brought about the Council of Trent to solve the issues that they saw needed clarification. Also the Council of Trent condemned the protestant movement.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Trent#List_of_decrees

Happy Massacre Day!

St.Bartholomew's day massacre was killing spree in Paris, France after King Charles IX of France ordered an assassination on the Huguenot Protestant leader the Duke of Guise in Paris. King Charles was very influenced by his mother Catherine de Medici who just so happened to have ordered the assassination of a huguenot leader just two days before King Charles ordered an assassination. This mommas boy listens to everything she says. She told Charles that the Huguenots were planning a rebellion against him and obviously he doesn't want that to happen so he ordered the assassination of their leaders. This obviously did not sit well with the Huguenots. Soon after the massacre began.

The following piece by François Dubois depicts a proclaimed eye witness experience of this massacre. As shown in the painting, there is utter chaos through the streets of Paris as thousands are being killed. According to different factions during the time period anywhere from 3,000-70,000 people were killed during the St.Bartholomew's Day Massacre. This massacre ended about 10 years after the Duke was assassinated.
http://www.britannica.com/event/Massacre-of-Saint-Bartholomews-Day
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/saint-bartholomews-day-massacre

The Spanish Armada

The year was 1588 and the war was over England. The Spanish Armada was a Spanish fleet of 130 ships with a strategic aim to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I of England and the establishment of Protestantism in England. The fleet was tasked with the purpose of escorting an army to invade the English mainland. If they succeeded the course of English history would have taken a drastically different path.

The descent of the Armada came at a pivotal time of change in sea warfare. The Spanish represented the old tradition while the English fought with new design and tactics. In the old model, war was fought on sea as if on land, with soldiers discharging arrows and handguns, boarding the enemy ships and engaging in hand fighting for battle wins. The Spanish ships, or galleons, were made for this type of fighting. They were impressive in size and rode high out of the water with towering masts, but their height and broad nature made them awkward to sail and maneuver.

English captains inspired a new form of ship which was made to be lower in the water, with a long prow and much reduced masts. These sleek ships carried more sophisticated forms of rigging, enabling them to sail closer to the wind, thus making them more maneuverable and faster than the Spanish galleons. The English navy relied on gunnery, rather than boarding, to defeat an enemy. The design of the ships allowed the English to close in and fire repeatedly on the sides of the Spanish ships at short range, inflicting considerable damage and sinking ships. The Armada did not have a way to counter with gunfire-centered attack as Spanish crews were not trained to load and fire repeatedly during a battle and their guns were not designed for rapid fire.

Credits:
http://www.britishbattles.com/spanish-war/spanish-armada.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada

Images:
http://www.britishbattles.com/spanish-war/spanish-armada.htm

The Four Witches or the Three Graces plus a Fourth

The Four Witches is an engraving by Albrecht Durer, dating to 1497. The work shows four sensual, nude women gathered in a circle. The women almost look like they are conspiring to do evil deeds together as seen by their expressions and indicated by the bones scattered. The doorway, to the right, is likely a gateway to death as seen by the bones lying across it. The doorway to the left seems to show the Devil, or a monster, engulfed in flames and might be intended as a gateway to hell. The intended meaning of the woodcut is unclear; possible interpretations range from the Three Fates with Discord, to Aphrodite and the Three Graces, or four witches, or four girls in a bath house. The engraving could also depict the Greek goddess Hecate, goddess of the crossroads and patroness of magic, witchcraft, necromancy, and sorcery and her counterpart, Diana. The goddess was often depicted with three faces, suggesting that she could look in all directions. Whatever the subject, the woodcut showcases the fears of witchcraft and paganism in the newly formed Protestant world. 

Credits:

http://risdmuseum.org/art_design/objects/342_the_four_witches
http://www.wga.hu/html_m/d/durer/2/13/1/019.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Witches

Images:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Witches

Judensau: Anti-semitism in the Reformation

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Judensau is a folk art image of Jews in obscene contact with a large sow, which is seen as an unclean animal in the Jewish religion, that appeared during the 13th century, mainly in Germany. The arrangement of Jews surrounding, suckling, and having intercourse with the animal is a blatant example of antisemitic propaganda during the Reformation. The earliest appearance of the Judensau dates to about 1210 on the underside of a choir-stall seat in 1210. Images appear mostly in carvings and sculptures on church walls where they were likely to be seen by many. With the advent of the printing press, the image started to appear more frequently in woodcut form, accompanying many antisemitic commentary in pamphlets. The facade of the Stadtkirche, in Wittenberg, contains a Judensau, from 1305. The sculpture portrays  Jews drinking from a sow's teats, as the rabbi looks under its tail and remains one of the last remaining examples of "medieval Jew baiting" in Germany. 

Credits:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judensau

http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/Judensau.htm

Images:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Judensau-Wittenberg.jpg

Malleus Maleficarum

The Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of the Witches, is a pamphlet on the prosecution of witches, written by a German Catholic clergyman, Heinrich Kramer, in 1487. A short three years after its publication, the Catholic Church condemned the treatise in 1490; although, it was still used by royal courts and contributed to the increasingly brutal prosecution of witchcraft in the 16th century, coming at the end of the Reformation. According to the Malleus Maleficarum, there are three elements to witchcraft: the evil intentions of the witch, help from the Devil, and the permission of God.

The treatise is divided into three sections. The first aimed at clergy and refutes critics who deny the existence of witchcraft. The section examines the concept of witchcraft theoretically by addressing the question of whether witchcraft is real or imaginary. The second lays the foundation by describing forms of witchcraft and remedies for it. Matters of practice, the powers of witches, and their recruitment strategies were discussed. It details how witches cast spells and tells how to help those affected by witchcraft. The third section is the legal part of the pamphlet. It offers a step-by-step guide to the conduct of a trail and the formal charging.

Credits:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum
http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org

Images:
http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/WordPress/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/MalleusLatin2.jpg

The Three Graces

This painting, called the The Three Graces,was made by Raphael in 1506, and was a probably a panel in diptych given to Scipione di Tommaso Borghese.  The first panel has Scipio, the sleeping knight, choose between Venus, who represents pleasure, and Minerva, who represents Virtue; this panel has three graces rewarding his choice, virtue, with the Golden Apples of the Hesperides.  The painting is composed with a sense of harmony and balance.  The three graces personify grace and beauty, and are the handmaidens of goddesses, usually Venus.  What each of the three graces represent has been disputed; some say its the giving, receiving, and returning of gifts, while others saw them as three phases of love: beauty, arousing desire, leading to fulfillment, and others say they symbolize Chastity, Beauty, and Love.  The Three Graces are in their classical pose, seen throughout centuries of painting, with two facing the audience while one is turned away.  This painting was the first to display the a female's nude front and back.  It was based on a classical sculpture of the Three Graces found in Siena.

Sources:

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/raphael/2firenze/1/21graces.html 

Codpiece: Does Size Matter?

When someone thinks of King Henry the VIII of England, typically the initial thought is about his six wives and the split with the Catholic Church. Yet this one of kind king also had a one of kind codpiece. This interesting piece of fashion was initially designed for modesty to ensure that the male genitals would remain covered no matter what the man was wearing or doing. Eventually this innocent and modest piece of garment quickly became a fashion statement that quickly became essential for everybody who wanted to be somebody. Yet King Henry VII took this to a whole new level as his codpiece grew in size over his lifetime to prove its that this piece of garment met a kingly level. Eventually Henry VII had padded his codpiece so much that it was an unbelievable size; even for a king. Also due to the large size of some codpieces that people would hide valuables and even possibly weapons in them. So in-essence this became a multi-purpose piece of fashion, that also offered battlefield protection to ensure the Henry VII could have his baby boy. Unfortunately, though this fashion died out in England after Queen Elizabeth I came to power as she has no need for such gaudy fashion.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/ampp3d/henry-viiis-codpiece-big-america-4797298
http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/European-Culture-16th-Century/Codpiece.html

A Witch's Burning Secret

During the reformation and post reformation, claims of witches living amongst the people of Europe became very frequent. Accusations that certain people, mostly women, were witches and housed the devil himself within them. In 1515 outbreaks of witch hysteria rained over Geneva, Switzerland as they accused and burned over 500 people at the stake. Just nine years later in Como, Italy, another 1000 people were executed under accusations of witchcraft. The only thing necessary for an execution of a "witch" was someone simply saying "He/She is a witch!" and they were then taken to trial. During these "trials" a witch would be found guilty of witchcraft with practically no way of escaping the accusation. Since witches house the devil they are known to lie. In this case anything they say is a lie unless they admit to being a witch of course. Even in this scenario they will be found guilty and executed. All of this chaos stems off of paranoia of the catholic church and the protestants.

The following piece is called 'The Examination of a Witch' by Matteson. Although this painting is from 1853 it holds the same value of those during the European witch trials. In the painting, the woman is being deemed a witch due to body markings that the town has seen. In this the presumed judge is examining these markings as others in the scene are fainting because of the disbelief that they are in the presence of a "witch". The woman's expression is that of a person who knows their fate. Being executed in a way only fit for a witch.

http://www.wsc.mass.edu/mhj/pdfs/TEACHING%20RESOURCES%20Teaching%20the%20Salem%20Witch%20Trials.pdf
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/witchhistory.html

Three Decades of Divinity

The thirty years war began in 1618 and lasted until 1648. This war began with the holy Roman Empire attempting to "curtail certain religious privileges enjoyed by his subjects".. This sparked an uprising among the protestantsThe protestants then turned to some of the most powerful and well known protestant states in Great Britain, Denmark, and the Dutch Republic. In order to counter them other forces were brought into the picture such as the German catholics, Spain, and the papacy by the Roman Empire. After thirty years of fighting and many lives lost, the war ended at the Battle of Prague in 1648.

Through this long time span, life did not seize, and since life did not seize, art continued to be made. There were many pieces created regarding the war as it was a very volatile time period. A piece  called 'Rocroi, the last tercio' by Augusto Ferrer Dalmau depicted as seen by many as the turning point of this war as it showed that the perceived invincibility of the Spanish was false. The Spanish army was slaughtered by the French. In this piece, it is shown that many of the Spanish lay dead in front of a large amount of French soldiers realigning. Dalmau does not leave any room for imagination as he made this piece very graphic in many manors from dead horses, dead men, and how could one leave pools of blood from the image. A statement is made from this piece giving the viewer no choice but to know who won this battle.
http://www.history.com/topics/thirty-years-war

The Lion of the North

King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden was one of the most power people in Europe at the time of the Thirty Years War. He led Sweden which up until this time had been seen as a lesser power. Under his leadership Sweden became the most powerful protestant state and would prevent the destruction of the Protestant League during the 30 Years War. Swedish involvement in this critical religious war that also led to dissolution what was left the Holy Roman Empire was a pivotal moment that completely changed the momentum of the war. Yet Gustav’s impact and progress, as a commander on the battlefield with no equals, during the war would find itself-undone when the King of Sweden was slain on the field of battle in Leipzig. The protestants would hold on and survive the war to negotiate the peace of Westphalia in 1648. Peace between the different denominations of Christianity would largely remain as both sides no turned to witch hunts to satisfy their taste for blood.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavus_Adolphus_of_Sweden#Life

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War#Political_consequences

Reformation & Religious Tolerance?

Upon reading the New York Times review of Benjamin Kaplan’s book, Divided by Faith, I gravitate towards the description that “Kaplan maintains that religious toleration declined from around 1550 to 1750.” (Steinfels). This argument for the decrease in religious tolerance during the period appears supported by events of the period, like, for example, the pockets of witch-hunting. Clearly, the Reformation did not necessarily promote open acceptance of all different reform movements that sprung from the period, if it did offer a Protestant alternative to the Catholic Church. One example of decreased religious toleration manifests in the experiences of the Anabaptists of the period, who were “arrested, burned at the stake, and sometimes symbolically punished by drowning” (Zophy 207).

Here, I utilize a woodcut to illustrate the persecution of the Anabaptists. Granted, this particular woodcut comes from “Martyrs Mirror,” a seventeenth-century collection of illustrations by Jan Luyken. Therefore, the art piece is subject to the influence of historical hindsight/revision itself. The specific engraving I chose depicts the drowning of Heinrich Summer and Jakob Mandel in 1582, both of whom were Anabaptists. The illustration naturally draws focus to the anguish of the man who has been subjected to the drowning. The figure above him actually seems to be questioning/displaying anger over the death, hands spread out in a gesture motioning to the plight of the man (Summer or Mandel presumably). Accurately, there are many onlookers- persecution during the Reformation period was intended to be public. The castle in the background and a sort of antiquated feel to the portrait (even for the 1500s) may hint at the feudal system that organized society primarily in the medieval period. In this way, the artist seems to separate his time period from even that of just a century previous. In general, the woodcut demonstrates the ways in which the Reformation was as much a challenge of older structures of religion/society as it was a reinforcement of order/religion/power structures in an intense or instigative manner.

Sources:

Steinfels, Peter. "A Revisionist Historian Looks at Religious Toleration." New York Times, Nov. 24, 2007. Print.

On the artist- http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/?/en/collecties/jan_en_casper_luyken/jan_luyken

On the Martyrs Mirror- https://kauffman.bethelks.edu/martyrs/creation.html

Image- https://mla.bethelks.edu/holdings/scans/martyrsmirror/

He's Out for the Count- "The Bewitched Groom"

As we have studied, the Reformation occurred contemporaneously with some major pockets of witch-hunting in German regions and elsewhere. The atmosphere of religious fervor, growing bureaucracy, and the religious upheavals/resulting societal expectations contributed to the appearance of witch-hunts. However, there were many factors involved and I chose this particular woodcut to examine the witch-hunts in relation to the influence of the Reformation. Entitled “The Bewitched Groom,” this woodcut was produced by Hans Baldung Grien in 1544.

Although not necessarily focused on witches, the woodcut is telling in a number of ways. For one, the witch-like figure leaning in by the windowsill appears old and is waving a sort of broom or possibly plant stalk in a violent manner. Secondly, the male figure is drawn at such an angle as to emphasize male sexuality, even as he has been rendered unconscious or at the least, knocked down. Importantly, his tools lay loosely by him, un-useful in his bewitched state. Moreover, the horse stands with his rear towards the main figure, which suggests the inverted or unnaturalness of the scene overall. Reformation ideals called for the man to be the powerful and moral leader of the house, while women were expected to be obedient wives and mothers. This woodcut displays the fear of non-conformity to such order. As described, the woman’s age, appearance, and action make her unsuitable for female domesticity. The male is bewitched and again, not able to carry out his duties. Overall, this demonstrates how the Reformation, rather than a free flow of religious debate, became a rigid sort of structuring mechanism for society, in which notions of gender influenced the occurrence of witch-hunts.  

For a clearer image/info- http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/336238