The Protestant Reformation

The protestant reformation brought about a lot of change. It began with Martin Luther and his 95 theses.  Before this reformation occurred the Roman Catholic Church held all the power.  This was due to the fact that the Catholics believed that God appointed the pope and that the pope should have power. Because of this power the church was rich; the kings collected taxes from the people and in turn gave some of their profits to the church and in return the church would help them when needed. Luther argued against power being centralized around the pope and caused the kings to feel that they did not have to give money to the church anymore. Along with this change in people’s views of religion, the protestant reformation also impacted education. With the printing of books more people learned to read. Not only did this help improve education, but it allowed ideas to spread fast enough so the Catholic Church could not prevent them. Despite all of the things that happened in this reformation, most of the providences remained Catholic and the Catholic Church fought to regain the power that it had once had.

Erasmus's "Praise of Folly"

This week we took a look at Erasmus’s “Praise of Folly”. In it he tells about all of the wrongs that the different classes of people do. He wrote this book to amuse his friend Thomas More, but as we can see today the book became much more than that. Even though it was written as a joke, the end turns serious when Folly proclaims the virtues of the religious ideals in which Erasmus was brought up. I liked the way that Erasmus wrote the book, it was easy to read and it made sense. One of the things that I didn’t really like is when he says “But wisdom makes men weak and apprehensive, and consequently you’ll generally find the wise associated with poverty, hunger, and the reek of smoke, living neglected, inglorious, and disliked. Fools, on the other hand, are rolling in money and are put in charge of affairs of state; they flourish, in short, in every way.” I do agree with him that there are a lot of bad people running things like government and large corporations, but I don’t think that being wise makes you weak.

Machiavelli's "The Prince"

                Last week I talked about four theories on why Machiavelli wrote “The Prince”, so now I will talk about what he wrote in his book. I liked how he wrote this book since it is easy to read and understand though some of the things that he writes are a little disturbing. The first two chapters talk about what the book will cover and explains some things that the reader should know. The book then goes on to talk about how principalities are either new or mixed. The new ones are harder to maintain unless the prince sticks to the old laws. Machiavelli then gives some traits that a prince should have to gain and rule over his territories. The prince is supposed to be like a fox and appear trustworthy yet know how to deceive.

                Machiavelli also believed that it is better for a prince to gain power by virtue than to obtain it by fortune. The ones that obtain it by fortune will have a tougher time keeping a hold of it. Throughout this book he also gives hints on attacking and defending and how to obtain the people’s support. During class we talked about whether it is better to be loved or respected. We learned that both have advantages and disadvantages to them though people might be more loyal if they respect the prince, since those that only love the prince have nothing holding them to that love. There are many other things that Machiavelli tells princes to do in this book though I feel that I have covered the main ones, so it is here that I will leave you.

Prince (The Four Theories)

This past week we have been reading “The Prince” by Niccolo Machiavelli. There are four theories on why Machiavelli wrote this book. The first is that he wrote it as a handbook for princes. I can partially understand this one since it sounds like he is explaining how a prince should run things and what he should do or not do. The second is that it is a pagan subversive humanist attack on the church and state. I understand this one also since he is pretty much going against all of the teachings of the church. He feels that a prince should use any means to get what he wants and hold what he owns. The third is that he wrote it as a response to his exile. This one I had a hard time figuring out since I didn’t know Machiavelli’s past, but after we went over it in class I can understand why he might have written the book in response to his exile. The reason that he was exiled was that he was suspected of plotting against the madici. He was first fired from his job, then he was tortured, and then he was exiled. It was during his exile that he produced most of his major works including this book. The fourth is that he wrote it as a satire and parody of the Italian government. In other words he wrote it to make fun of the Italian government. This is the most commonly believed theory. I felt that I should start with these four theories and next week I will begin discussing what Machiavelli actually wrote.