The Four Witches

We learn in class that 80,000 people were accused of being witches, but about 40,000 of them were actually executed. These executions normally were punished by burning at the stake. Such as the image above, in the image it is four witches who were burned at the stake at Wittenberg in 1540 (CP). The four were accused of commerce with the devil and of directing magic against their neighbors (CP). Whether or not “magic” really happens, there were many super situations that easily led someone of being accused of witch craft. Or if you had series of bad luck such as the example Dr.Wolbrink had in class, when the woman’s husband died 3 months after their marriage in a fire, or even after the fact when she remarried, her second husband ended up abandoning her with his first wife. Let’s say you were just weird, you could’ve have been a witch who associated with the devil. Once you were accused, for an example at the age of 20, you wouldn’t actually go to trial until your 40s or 50s. Therefore clearing your name actually took a long time. That probably explains the numbers of people who were accused compared to the lower numbers of people who were actually executed.

 

Source: Course Packet

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.