FREE ESSAY ON BIRTH OF A NEW ERA

BIRTH OF A NEW ERA

Despite the problems of the fourteenth century, it marked the beginnings of extraordinary
changes in numerous facets of fifteenth century society. This astonishing revolution was
coined the Renaissance, which meant "rebirth." The Renaissance led to such literary
pioneers as Niccolo Machiavelli. His work, The Prince, gave detailed instructions as to
what qualities a perfect leader must possess and how to use these qualities. Machiavelli
presented a thorough account of a perfect prince and how he achieved and maintained
power. Machiavelli's The Prince is a classic literary example of Renaissance writing in
the ideas it conveys and how it conveys them.
The Renaissance, a time of cultural achievements and economic and political evolution,
developed out of the plague, famine, and death of the fourteenth century. As opposed to
the Middle Ages, the Renaissance introduced such ideas that embodied three
characteristics: individualism, humanism, and secularism. With the arrival of the
Renaissance came the cultural evolution and the introduction of many remarkable
individuals, such as Michelangelo. Due to the emphasis in the Middle Ages to religion,
individualism during the period was nonexistent because of the Christian determent of
self-absorption. Literature emerged in the Renaissance accentuating the individual, which
helped to give birth to talented artists and writers. Individualism put emphasis on
personality and uniqueness and using one's abilities to their full potential. The
Renaissance was all about a quest for glory. Oddly enough, Middle Age artists typically
painted and sculpted anonymously but the Renaissance saw the emergence of artwork with
the artist's signature. Pages 232-234 of Discovering the Western Past illustrate examples
of Renaissance artwork and the cultural achievements of the period. Each page contains a
portrait of an individual, something unheard of during the medieval period because of the
medieval period's tendency to stress the group. Painters began painting realistically in
the attempt to mirror reality and the wealthy hired painters to paint their portrait to
immortalize a part of themselves in a depiction of their glory and accomplishments.
The Middle Ages introduced the importance of education of becoming a civilized person,
and learning was still an important aspect that continued into the Renaissance. The
difference between the two periods was how scholars went about their studies of past
literary culture. The Renaissance style of learning became known as humanism, or "new
learning." Humanists studied the Latin classics to learn about human nature and
emphasized human beings' achievements, interests, and capabilities. On the other hand,
medieval scholars studied ancient works to understand God and interpreted them purely in
a Christian sense. Although Renaissance humanists possessed strong Christian values, they
studied the classics far differently than those in the Middle Ages. While medieval
writers used the classics to reveal God and Christian ideas, humanists tended to look at
the way these ideas were expressed rather than the ideas themselves.
An interesting repercussion of the crisis of the fourteenth century was the economic
prosperity that followed. Apparently the famine, plague, and numerous deaths of the
fourteenth century served as an effective population control and managed to increase the
demand for labor. The increase in the demand for labor allowed for increased wages and
people were back to pre-plague levels of income. With this increase in material wealth
came more importance placed upon the material world instead of the eternal world of
spirit. Even though medieval people were ruthless in their pursuit of the almighty
dollar, they still dominantly focused their attention on life after death. Renaissance
people were quite the opposite in their interests by holding strong religious values yet
centering their concentration on the present material world and the acquisition of
material things. The rising economic prosperity caused people to realize thoughts about
penance and purgatory did not allow them to enjoy the material pleasures they could now
afford. The people had not endured the crisis of the fourteenth century only to spend
their time focusing their attentions to the faith. They wanted to take advantage of their
new prosperity and enjoy their leisure time and discover the joys of living a comfortable
life. Unfortunately, the church was no exception to the sin of avarice. The pope and high
church officials were notorious for throwing their money around and the importance the
church placed upon money. The amount of money flowing around was the major cause of the
Reformation because of Martin Luther's criticism of the idea of indulgences, paying the
church for wrong-doing. He maintained that only faith and a one on one relationship with
God could buy salvation into the eternal kingdom of Heaven.
Political theory plays an important theme during any historical period and the
Renaissance was no exception. In comparison to the Renaissance, medieval political theory
stressed the way government ought to be and high Christian standards were set for a
ruler's conduct. Good medieval governments were supposed to provide justice, law, and
order. The Renaissance work The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli maintained that people
should not only be concerned about how the government was supposed to be run, but how it
actually was run as well. Machiavelli's theories embraced the idea that leaders' actions
cannot be restricted by ethics, but the most effective approach should be implemented
regardless of its morality. The Renaissance marked the beginning of an age where rulers
utilized aggressive methods to sustain and expand their governments. To illustrate the
lengths leaders should go to to preserve their kingdom was when Machiavelli stated "he
who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to
be destroyed by it" (Machiavelli 17). Machiavellian thought is now known as the end
justifies the means.
To go along with this Renaissance political theory was the ideas presented by Polydore
Vergil in Anglia Historia. Vergil wrote about Henry and announced what he believed Henry
did correctly during his reign. After describing Henry's appearance and countenance, he
addressed an aspect of his rule that coincided with Machiavellian ideas. Henry had two
facets of his rule: one being a kind and just leader and the other being a force to be
reckoned with. He treated those "who did not pay him due honor or who were generous only
with promises…with harsh severity" (WRW 243). Henry also "vigorously punished
violence, manslaughter and every other kind of wickedness whatsoever" (WRW 244).
Machiavelli proclaimed that the purpose of the prince was to retain their power and keep
their kingdoms unified. The prince was not meant to be a model of virtue or code of
behavior for his people, but simply to rule effectively. He recognized the imperfect
state of humanity and chose to make the most of it by relating his ideas about the
imperfect world. Machiavelli believed that for the good of the state, sometimes an
effective prince had to abandon his morals at the door and do evil instead of good to get
the job done. Machiavelli decreed that a ruler should ideally be both feared and loved,
but it was difficult to attain both. He comes to the conclusion that the best kind of
prince was mostly liberal, but mean in some instances. A prince who does not exhibit some
meanness will eventually come to ruin because he does not hold the respect of the
people.
The other main theme of Machiavelli's Prince was in regards to the inefficiencies
revolving around social orders involving religion. The role of the Church played an
important role because it was the definitive authority of Europe, with the pope as the
head of the Church and therefore the ruler of Europe. Machiavelli was vehemently opposed
to the control the Church possessed of state affairs. In fact, he believed the Church to
be one of the prince's prime opponents. Machivelli declares the Church to be a strong
entity but the short lives of the pope tend to slow down any attempts at gaining power
for the state. Not only that but the foundation of a papacy allows officials to be
"secure and happy" because "they are ruled by a higher power" (Machiavelli 36), which
basically means that since they are ordained by God they can feel free to neglect their
subjects because they know they cannot lose their princely status. The state does not
benefit from the Church's relationship to the State because of the uncertainty of this
relationship. Tension was always present between the two sects and has historically
caused problems over and over again. One such instance was the controversy over the lay
investiture in the eleventh century and the conflict between Pope Gregory and Henry IV of
Germany. In short, lay investiture undermined imperial power and sought to make papal
authority supreme, a common conflict between the Church and the State. Machiavelli urged
a good prince to maintain some control over the Church and the pope at all costs.
In contrast to Machiavelli's ideas about the Church's role in everyday life was Christine
de Pisan's work The Treasure of the City of Ladies. De Pisan gave numerous instances of
how a woman should live her life for God and follow in His footsteps. One of these
examples included the repeated idea that the main goal in a woman's life was to accept
the Savior so that she would be rewarded with salvation. De Pisan firmly believed that a
woman's most important societal role was being a servant of God. She told women to live
"with the hope of serving only God, as women of the greatest perfection have done" (de
Pisan 45). While de Pisan never mentions the Church and the pope directly, she does not
view them as threatening to a proper lady. Her ideas follow suit with others during the
Middle Ages because of the importance placed upon the Church during the period and the
idea that the Church should dominate all aspects of life. Religion in its purest form
dominated a good princess' life, while the establishment of the Church remained a good
prince's enemy.
Up until the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation, Christians emphasized God and
fate. Machiavelli attempted to adapt modern thought when he attacked the idea that
chance, or fortune, controled the fate of a prince. He acknowledged that luck does in
fact play a part in the affairs of men, but he maintained that human free will also had
strong implications. He asserted, "I think it may be true that fortune determines one
half of our actions, but that, even so, she leaves us to control the other half"
(Machiavelli 74). Machiavelli's logic clearly signified a modern notion of humankind,
although giving luck half of the control over our lives may seem a little liberal. Free
will was hardly recognized in God's plan. God and fate were considered to be the only
sources of human action. Even though Machiavelli clearly supported Renaissance ideas in
this instance, he still admits that a successful prince can easily be ruined if not
prepared for whatever luck may have in store for him.
Machiavelli's The Prince successfully expressed many ideas of the Renaissance. He
detailed how the government should work and what past leaders had done to lead to their
downfall. He emphasized the problems of an ecclesiastical government and how the prince
should do everything in his power to suppress the Church and the pope for the good of the
State. Machiavellian ideas also coincided with that of other Renaissance authors in that
it was necessary for the prince to be both feared and loved.
Bibliography
The Prince
our textbook