The Age of Discovery

Question 1

Four important events (among others) occur in 1492:

Answer 1

• Death of Lorenzo de Medici… Artistic production moves to Rome, Florence falls to the French, then experiences a Medieval relapse with preacher Gerolamo Savonarola.
• Under the Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), the Fall of Granada marks the end of the 800 year-long reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim control.
• The Jews are also expelled from Spain.
• Columbus makes landfall on the American continent (believing it to be India).

Question 2

What motivated the explorers was a mix of modern and old attitudes…

Answer 2

The Modern
1. The curiosity of the Renaissance man, his willingness to find out about the world with the tools made available by naval technology and the new outlook provided by the scientific revolution.

The Search for Personal Glory (The Old):
2. The drive to expand Christianity (beating back or converting infidels). (The Medieval myth of Prester John was still very much alive. According to this legend, Prester John was the king of a Christian nation in Ethiopia, who had called upon all Christians to join him in a holy war against the heathen.) Medieval and modern attitudes also coexist in the Europeans’ view of the indigenous population they came into contact with.

Question 3

One pragmatic reason the fueled exploration was economic

Answer 3

The Turks had taken Constantinople in 1453, blocking the old trade route to the East, so new ways of reaching the Orient (rich in spices) had to be found by Christian Europe.

Question 4

Renaissance Humanists and Protestant Refromers similarities

Answer 4

1. Critique of the Roman church (corruption, materialism)
2. Shunning of medieval theological quibbling. Return to the early Christian writers (e.g. Augustine, 354-430)
3. Emphasis on a better understanding of the Bible (to be acquired through the study of the text in the original languages: Greek, Hebrew).
4. Importance of scholarly learning and philological study of an ancient text. Promotion of literacy.

Question 5

Renaissance Humanist Differences (what they believe)

Answer 5

Humans are perfectible. They can elevate themselves through learning.

Every belief system reflects divine truth (a Neoplatonic notion).

Positive view of human nature, tolerance, integration of different belief systems.

Delight in visual representation, both sacred and secular.

Question 6

Protestant Reformers Differences (what they believe)

Answer 6

• Negative view of human nature
• Humans are hopelessly mired in sin. They can only be elevated by the grace of God.
• Only the Bible points to divine truth.
• Emphasis on the WORD. Little tolerance for visual representation. Iconoclastic spirit. End of patronage for religious artworks.