The Renaissance: Literary Humanism and its Role in the Battle of the Sexes

The Renaissance: Literary Humanism and its Role in the Battle of the Sexes
Infiniumetal

Abstract:
Literary Humanism drew the line between the Medieval and Renaissance eras. The changes that emerged were everywhere. Almost everything that was done was done differently. It was not the specific actions that changed but the intent. This impacted not only the geographical areas and those who held the power, but also the educational system. More importantly it heightened the awareness of women within society and those things that gave them a place within society. I feel that the inner status of women changed, allowing them to change their position within the male dominated hierarchical structure. They were able to open the awareness of their previous actions, defend their status, and climb to a higher level. Many of these bold stances changed the lives of women for the better, some still holding true today.


Sources:
The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y.
Civilization, Volume 1, Dennis Sherman 6th edition McGraw Hill, N.Y.
A Letter to Boccaccio: Literary Humanism By: Francesco Petrarch
The City of Ladies By: Christine de Pizan
Machiavelli and the Renaissance By: Federico Chabod


From the fourteenth to the sixteenth century Northern Europe and Northern Italy were enmeshed within changes. These changes emerged within societal, literary, artistic, and political realms. The fuel for the transition from medieval times to the renaissance was humanism. Humanism allowed people to understand their self worth, thus changing their interactions. Powers shifted, with religion not being the forerunner of imaginations anymore. The people’s actions were now being done with the intent to propel the secular world. People all had a place in society, and each one had the capabilities to propel it forward. They were now powerful people with creative individuality in a changing time. This individualism came at a price. It meant that the age-old fires of contention between man and women raged strong and hard.
Women pounced on the chance to express themselves, riding on the wave of humanism. However, some of their actions were immediately suppressed, a few were only challenged within the next century, and some are still allowing women to express their creativity today. In the meantime, men were making changes in their thinking patterns, and this meant that without any barriers to hold them back, almost every realm they roamed within was changed.
1436 was the year of the plague. When farmers and freemen started to dwell in cities the crowding began. This immunologically virgin people offered themselves as a feast to the germs that lurked hiding within their domesticated animals, wastes, garbage, and scavengers. Just when a sense of community and kinship was established, massive percentages of each town in the path of this unstoppable monster were sickened and killed. The silent beast attacked with a savagery that we rarely know of today, it demoralized entire societies. In the aftermath people began to feel special, nay important, in their individual self worth. They saw it as their duty to propel themselves forward from their ancient ways. They refused to allow a hegemonic society to rise and suppress the light of Alethia. The ancient ways of Greece and Rome were rejuvenated. The literature and ideas of old propelled their new concepts of a Classical Civilization. Religion somehow maintained its hold over societies, yet in a different manner, for people now concerned themselves with the physical world.
Humanism allowed men and women to become enthralled with the same classical works, and logic; this meant that they thought and communicated alike. Humanism was a way of thinking. It was a way of studying. It was a way of living. It didn’t define one’s actions, but was defined by the actions one completed at the end of the day. It was not easy to get literary humanism to take hold. Francesco Petrarch wrote a letter to Boccaccio in 1362 that answered some of problems that society posed regarding literary humanism. His opening remark claims, “Neither exhortations to virtue nor the argument of approaching death should divert us from literature; for in a good mind it excites the love of virtue, and dissipates, or at least diminishes, the fear of death.”[1] He also refers to the latest invention of the time; Piety. “While I know that many have become famous for piety without learning, at the same time I know of no one who has been prevented by literature from following the path of holiness.”[2]
It may not be apparent, but Francesco showed us that textual criticism emerged as a result of the humanists looking back at literature and analyzing it. The key difference in the approach texts was that they were not looking for god’s supremacy, but they looked to “the past to illustrate human behavior and provide moral examples.” [3] This was drastically different than before. Social values were being presented as the all important focus of life. Piety was the new yardstick with which society measured itself. This new perspective led directly to the many new features set in place as the demarcation between the medieval and renaissance times.
Men and women were each approached differently by this life giving source called humanism. They each treated it differently and they each gained different elements from it. Overall men still remained dominant in the grander scale of autochthony, religion, politics, education, and art. But, women carved a niche out for themselves and held on. In fact they are currently still widening their cavern to this very day.
To gain a better understanding why, and how, women had the ability to see a changing wave of standards, grasp it, and use it to their advantage we must take a step back and understand the role women held right before the renaissance in the medieval times. Nature played a part on one of the rungs of the ladder to individuality for women. They seemed to have higher incidences of immunological factors in their favor; they also recovered faster than men. “They became a disproportionately larger part of the population.” [4]
In fact, this strong position led to some printed rebuttals on the outlook men had towards women. By looking back at the literature and images of women, Eve and Mary, we can see that men viewed women as signs of “depravity, vanity, fickleness, and weakness.”[5] One of Christine de Pisan’s books The City of Ladies advocated the various positions women held throughout the ages. “She pointed to all the heroic women in history as examples of women’s superior qualities, describing virtue in the most trying circumstances, heroism, self-sacrifice, wisdom, and leadership.”[6] She posed questions and then answered them in a rhetorical manner. She responded to the thought that “women aren’t intelligent enough to learn the law”[7], “and “against those who claim that it is not good for a women to be educated.”[8] “Women could not attend Universities, be ordained as priests, or participate in legal and magisterial roles.”[9]
However, women were not forgotten roles within the framework of society. They held various positions, some of high esteem. Yet, they had to practice these acts within regimented laws governing what was acceptable female behavior. To be more specific women did engage in the cultural enrichment of the Middle Ages. They participated in “nunneries, courts, and individual experiences did permit them to write, engage in intellectual debate,”[10] “act as regents and queens, powerful female saints and mystics.”[11] Women were not simply household items. Women actually were married at younger ages than the men they wed. “Because these men went through apprenticeships and started a business to accumulate capital, they postponed marriage.”[12] This meant that women ran the jobs their husbands left them when they died. “In 1427 more than one-half of Florence’s female population over forty were widows.”[13] On top of running their late husbands businesses, they raised the children. They also engaged in silk spinning, and weaving, and selling items in the marketplace, running inns, and dressmaking. Women were not simply tools of the men who ran societies. As the last darkness before the light finally shone we saw that in 1460 in the town of Arras women were used as scapegoats. Any hint of changes brought a charge of witchcraft on women. This was a show of the women’s traditional subordination to men. For example if they tried to learn to read their vulnerability would make them “targets of denunciation.”[14] In fact, “linked to the fear of the devil was a fear of women.”[15]
So what was the difference between the medieval era and the Renaissance in respect to the status of women? What changed for women? First and foremost, the outlook on life’s values changed, and thus changed the way society viewed the role women played. What was once a backburner position became predominant within society. As a new era emerged women not only took advantage of the opportunity, but helped perpetuate their overlooked roles into distinct societal needs. Take the example of Calvin and his Protestantism. “Calvin’s earliest significant converts were aristocratic women.”[16] Humanism allowed them to look through new lenses. They saw the opportunity to express themselves. They did this via “demanding broader access to education.”[17] Humanism gave them an avenue to justify the things that they were already doing. They were the prominent Bible readers within their family. The new religion gave them the ability to demand that young girls be taught to read early on. This access to literature, coupled with the printing presses rapid influx of personal causes, made women regularly and “prominent in radical movements.”[18]
When we look at the records of the Inquisition it is “full of the trials and executions of women who were martyrs for their beliefs.”[19] The women asserted their individuality and “rejected the authority of the priests with their rights to individual faiths.”[20] In January of 1549 Elizabeth Dirks was interrogated in the Netherlands. She remarked, while being tortured, that she spoke with a free tongue. Her answers were direct, and reflected the outlook that women had on everyday values including religion. “There was a remarkable flowering of new religious orders for women in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, many of which became identified with charitable works.”[21] These female orders had many key roles within philanthropic activities. They opened new hospitals, and “expanded their assistance to the orphans, poor, and unfortunate.”[22]
Last, but certainly not least, women of the renaissance gave our modern culture two of the greatest and everlasting elements of change, St. Theresa, and the Jesuits. She established convents and had her own order dotting the landscape of Spain. Her mystical visions gave her an unwavering faith and her spiritual journeys gave her strength and purpose. Her individuality combined with the ability to bring God closer to the masses, on a personal level, is what made her a saint only forty years post death. She “embodies the religious devoutness of Spain.”[23] One of the new hospitals convalesced the son of a Basque nobleman who was injured in the military. He went on to reform the Church from within. He was St. Ignatius Loyola, and went on to change the various elements of education that have been passed on to modern times relatively uninjured through the Society of Jesus.
The lives of the men changed as well in many areas of life. Art changed, government changed, societal values changed. More importantly the approach to political powers changed. Machiavelli defined the techniques and strategy of gaining and keeping political control through his analysis of statesmanship and power. He was a Florentine Noble who wanted to set down the rules, and moves, for anyone who wanted to seek power. His book the Prince has become the blueprint for dictators. This drastic change in how the powers viewed life during the renaissance had significant impacts on the Church, geography, revolts, economics, and power. The manuscript has been loved and hated for the impacts it had on society.
One of the areas that he writes on is the way to govern cities or dominions that, previous to being occupied, lived under their own laws. He spoke of the ways that a prince must keep the faiths, and how a prince must act in order to gain reputation. His were available to the public and put the pressure on those who were in the Church and on those in control of power. The general masses now had the knowledge to not only point out where the faults of their leaders lie, but also to reach that position and correct it. This caused upheavals, and reforms in the general public as well as the Church. “This was a turning point in the Christian world. The minds of political theorists were no longer trammeled by catholic dogma.”[24] “It was an era in which Unitarian States were being created amid the ruins of the social and political order of the Middle Ages.”[25]
Around 100 years after the Renaissance the strength of the changes was still evident. As mentioned earlier, women propelled Loyola into a new world filled with the light of Christ. He took on Mary as his inspiration, and wrote a book that underwent many revisions called, the Spiritual Exercises. Loyola’s efforts regarding religion were different than any predecessors. Just like women he “emphasized that believers can act themselves; they do not have to depend on faith alone to gain salvation,”[26] He established schools that rivaled anything in place at the time, and for years to come. Four pillars held up the Jesuits: Preaching, Hearing confessions, Missionary Work, and Teaching. The teaching element is what propelled them through all the tribulations posed to them over the hundreds of years to survive today. This was because, “The instructors followed humanist principals and taught the latest ideas, including the most recent advances in science.” This combined with Machiavelli’s works were an unstoppable force in changing the renaissance.
Humanism paved the path for individualism. Since individualisms arrival coincided with the aftermath of the Plague of 1463 this was an important element in the restructuring of societies. As a way of thinking humanism took some effort to take hold. However, once it did it wormed its way in to the very core of the values on life. Other than Machiavelli, men made small changes on many areas, yet, in contrast, women made some drastic improvements to their lives that are still maintained to this very day. The way society handled women changed. They established hospitals, orders, philanthropic activities, each of which had some massive tangential impacts on the activities of the men. The handiwork of St. Ignatius Loyola is an example of this that is still active today.



[1] Western Civilization, Volume 1, Dennis Sherman 6th edition McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 160
[2] Ibid.
[3] The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 407
[4] The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 374
[5] The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 347
[6] The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 375
[7] The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 162
[8] Ibid.
[9] The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 376
f Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 339
[13] Ibid.
[14] The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 421
[15] Ibid.
[16] The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 460
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
[19]The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 466
[20] Ibid.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Western Civilization, Volume 1, Dennis Sherman 6th edition McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 170
[25] Ibid.
[26]The Western Experience, Volume 1, 8th edition, Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Et Al., McGraw Hill, N.Y. page 468