AGE OF REASON/ENLIGHTENMENT

Mark Joshua F. Evangelista

Rizza Ninia DG. Mabugay
3CPE
THE EFFECTS OF THE RENAISSANCE
From the second half of the 14th century to the first half of the 16th,
the European mind-set underwent a great transformation.

The Renaissance, which means rebirth in French, was a
humanistic movement that originated in Italy and spread to France,
Germany, the Low Countries and England. It brought about profound
changes in commerce, culture, literature and the other arts, politics
and religion.
GREAT AGE OF COMMERCE
Great maritime cities sprang up along the coasts of Italy. They
traded with the East bringing back all kinds of exotic goods,
jewelry, Persian glass, Oriental fabrics and books on the
natural sciences, philosophy and religion. Money began to
flow and the level of life became better for everyone. The
common people had more leisure time and started to assert
themselves, changing the political sphere.
NEW DISCOVERIES
The 15th century saw the advent of new technological
discoveries such as the invention of gunpowder in 1346 that
had a great effect on wars and the invention of the printing
press that had rich consequences for the cultural life.

At the same time, the discovery of the laws of nature
revolutionized the study of physics and astronomy, among
others.
HUMANISM
Another outgrowth of the Renaissance was a movement
knowsn as humanism. It taught that human beings should live
a full life here on earth and take an interest in everything they
can the beauties of nature, the knowledge of the natural
sciences and the arts, and the effort to solve the problems of
life.

Christian humanism stressed all this but also showed how the
beauties God had created for human beings could be utilized
by them in their search for God. Well educated Christians
made special use of the new scholarship to study the Greek
and Roman works of literature as well as the Bible. The
common people had available books that explained the
Gospels, recounted the lives of the saints, or dealt with other
religious matters.
The Popes became the patrons of the arts and literature.
Pope Nicholas (1447-1455) founded the Vatican Library that is
world-famous.
Pius II (1458-1464) was a renowned poet who composed hymns in
honor of the Blessed Virgin and a history of his age.
Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) strove to make Rome the most beautiful
city in the world and built the Sistine Chapel (named after him).

Pope Julius II (1503-1513) commissioned Michelangelo to decorate
Sistine Chapel and Raphael to adorn rooms of the Vatican Palace
with his paintings. He also made plans to build a new Church of St.
Peters, although the actual construction on it was begun only under
his successor Pope Leo X (1513-1521).
SISTINE CHAPEL
Despite all this, there was also a dark side to humanism.
It taught that God has nothing to do with the lives of
human being.

Accordingly, the way to happiness was to live without morals
or scruples, seeking all pleasures and living only for the day.
And little by little, this view crept into the mainstream of
society so that there was a need for the Church and its saints
to combat it fiercely.
SAINTS OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES
St. Vincent Ferrer (1357-1419), a great Dominican preacher, spent 20 years
during the great Western Schism traveling through Italy, France, Flanders,
Spain and Britain and bringing countless souls to repentance by his miracles
and sermons.

St. Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444) preached throughout Italy, condemning
abuses and achieving innumerable miraculous conversions.

St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) was the foundress of the double Order of
the Holy Savior, comprising monasteries of monks and convents of nuns.

St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was a mystic who served as an advisor
to Popes and whose exhortations convinced Pope Gregory XI to return from
Avignon and restore the Papacy to Rome.

St. Colette of Corbie in France (1381-1447), St. Frances of Rome in Italy
(1384-1440) and Blessed Lydwina of Schiedam in Flanders (1380-1433).
SOURCE
St. Joseph Church History by Rev. Lawrence Lovasik