Renaissance, Reformation and Scientific Revolution Movements - History Essay Example

The renaissance, reformation and the scientific revolution eras marked the ages of human revolution. The three eras overlap and there lacks specific timelines when they occurred. The Renaissance era which is also referred to as the rebirth of learning era started in Europe and was regarded the global leader with little knowledge about the existence of other continents and territories. The period is defined as the era of discovery of rational civilization, and it was characterized with the promotion of classical world ideas. The Renaissance era marked the transition from medieval to the modern era. The middle or the medieval age was a period typified with superstitious and artistic primitiveness. The period started in the 14th century when European artists, writers started to look into ancient art and culture specifically those of Greece and Rome.

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The Renaissance period is perceived to have started in Florence which is the modern day Italy. The main cause of the Renaissance was the desire of knowledge especially in the ancient worlds of Greece and Rome whereby the great periods were characterized by good literature, art, and organized systems of administration. Between the 400 AD and 1400AD scholastic philosophy, literature and learning prevailed. It was also a period marked with little scientific advancement. In the 14th century, a painter by the name Giotto and a humanist Francesco Petrarch led the rebirth era. Petrarch wrote about discovery texts that had been ignored for ages and advocated for classical habits. Secular readers developed a taste in old texts mostly classical works which led to the widespread building of libraries in Europe for people to read ancient books.

The Renaissance period was spearheaded by secular men who led the intellectual movement of humanism. Humanism was antagonistic to the scholastic philosophy developed by clerics who dominated the medieval era. Humanism focused on the achievements of humans, scientific advancements, literature and philosophical works in regards to the best ways of living; with the New Testament offering the best spiritual guidance. The idea and invention of the printing press allowed for mass production of texts that were in high demand in Europe reaching a great audience and promoting the classical writings and humanism. The decline and collapse of the Byzantine Empire led to many Greeks migrating to Italy whereby they moved with ancient texts from classical Greek fueling a desire for this ancient knowledge. The weakness of the Catholic Church and its extravagance prompted many people in Europe to embrace humanism which was being opposed by the church.

The Reformation era is the period of religious changes that swept Europe in the 16th century. The Reformation was the greatest Christian movement since the early Church. In the 14th century, the Roman Catholic Church was unquestionable despite its extravagance, corruption, monasticism, church rituals, and the Pope interference of secular affairs. It was also the Church that opposed humanism which led to the renaissance. Attempts to reform the Roman Church were squelched by the Inquisition. Before the 16th century, the church was a political and religious body. The Pope and the clergymen were independent of governments and could not be tried in courts of law. The 16th century marked an era where kings were increasing their power and wanted to be free of the Church interference since Roman Emperor was the head of Kings. Monarchs in Europe, especially in Spain, France, and the United Kingdom, tried to free themselves. The friction between the Kings and the Church ultimately led to the Reformation movement.

Urbanization in Europe from the 15th century due to trade and communication created a lot of wealth for the people. Wealth was previously only confined to the Roman Catholic Church and the monarchs whereby it was used for education and learning which led to the civilization of big population. People became more skeptical and started to question the wealth of the Church. They believed that the Church wealth should be used for noble causes in helping humanity. The ruling monarchs were at the same time confiscating church properties and the wealth citizens helped the ruling class in the struggle with the religion they believed was an extravaganza for the clergymen. The middle class particularly resented the Church because it was controlled by the upper class who were exempted from taxation. The common people were also displeased with the church due to their many vexatious demands.

The main foundational ideas for reformation movement were religious causes. The church suffered from evil practices that eroded the reputation of the church and its followers. The Church was seen as corrupt and vicious, and people lost faith in it. The Church abandoned its main cause and neglected dioceses and instead focused more on politics. The clergymen lived luxurious lives and completely abandoned their religious duties only having a keen eye on amassing wealth; wealth acquired from the poor mostly involuntarily.

The clergymen would often use the church as a place for business. Due to the church involvement in politics and corruption, unfit men were appointed as priests. The issuance of certificates of indulgences by the church was seen as a way of raising more money and attracted severe criticism from the people. Indulgence certificates were documents signed by the Pope, and the people who bought them were forgiven their sins, it was also access to heaven. Any person who sinned could be cleansed using the certificate. Even more barbaric and interesting was when the certificate industry grew to allow people to buy the indulgence for their dead relatives who were perhaps burning in hell; once the certificates were acquired their relatives ascended to heaven. This certificates came to be known as 'licenses to commit sin.' The wealthy in this way had a surety of going to heaven. The Church had flimsy grounds of extorting the peasants like charging people to have their children Christened or else they will not go to heaven. People had to pay the church to get married. All these forms of exploitations turned the people away from the Roman Catholic Church leading to the reformation movement.

The spirit of the Renaissance was key to the reformation movement. Renaissance raised the level of education of people and raised their curiosity. People could question the Church openly something that had long been taboo. The ways of the clergymen could be scrutinized by the public. People needed a change from unholy men in holy order. People stopped following faith blindly. Useless barbaric rituals performed in the church were criticized. The role of the Pope as an intermediary between the people and God was thrown into the great cast. People felt that they could reach God without an intermediary. Schism in the Roman Catholic Church was also another factor that made it lose its prestige. The church cardinals started electing two Popes, the relevance of the holy institution was lost prompting the reformation movement.

The scientific revolution was a revolution in thoughts and practices that brought about modern science. The Renaissance was one of the major causes of the scientific movement in Europe. After the renaissance people could ask questions about ideas that previously had been thought to be concrete. The scientists of this period build on ideas from work of those who came before them. Many observations were made during this era that contradicted contemporaries of previous years. The scientific revolution is thought to be a period of 150 years during which time there were major advancements in science and astronomy. The three major scientists of these era were Nicolaus Copernicus, Isaac Newton, and Galileo Galilei. It is believed that the scientific movement was triggered by Nicolaus when he proposed the heliocentric theory of the universe that suggested that the sun is the center of the universe. This was one of the greatest departures from the Aristotelian truths. The church, however, maintained their geocentric model that said the earth is the center of the universe. After Nicolaus proposal, many scientists used the heliocentric model to do Mathematical calculations of the planet more accurately which suggested that the theory was somehow well founded. Nicolaus, however, did not publish his theory due to fear of backlash from the church. The switch from the Earth-centered universe to the Sun-centered theory had revolutionary consequences as it led to more discoveries.

Another foundational idea of the scientific movement was developed by Johannes Kepler who differed with his master Tycho Brahe who was receding from Nicolaus model that the sun is the center of the universe. Johannes maintained that the Sun is the center of the earth and used precision measurements of Brahe to further expand Nicolaus model. Johannes found that the planets orbits were elliptical and not circular. He also developed a Mathematical formula that could be used to calculate orbital speed and periods. The invention of the telescope helped astronomists like Galileo Galilei develop his own advanced telescope that he used to make observations. He made many measurements that helped him discover that the earth is not a flat surface but circular. Galileo also laid the groundwork for the laws of gravity and motion. Isaac Newton developed on theories of astronomy, gravity, and motion. Newton is regarded as the most influential scientist in the era of scientific movement.

In synopsis, during the three eras of a renaissance, reformation, and scientific revolution there were the key ideas that led to them. The reaction of the people was diverse; the citizens embraced new ideas while the church opposed these ideas as they deemed them to be opposite of Holy Scriptures.

Bibliography

Butterfield, Herbert. 1960. "The Scientific Revolution". Scientific American 203 (3): 173-192. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0960-173.

Hillerbrand, Hans J. 2009. "Transition And Revolution: Problems And Issues Of European Renaissance And Reformation History. Robert M. Kengdon". Renaissance Quarterly 29 (3): 408-408. doi:10.2307/2860289.