Transformations of Early Modernity in NBU Civics - PDF

TRANSFORMATIONS OF EARLY MODERNITY NBU CIVICS PART 1/3: RELIGION A LOOK BACK TO EIU’S CRITERIA  FULL DEMOCRACIES: civil liberties and fundamental political freedoms are respected; have a valid system of governmental checks and balances, an...

TRANSFORMATIONS OF EARLY MODERNITY NBU CIVICS PART 1/3: RELIGION A LOOK BACK TO EIU’S CRITERIA  FULL DEMOCRACIES: civil liberties and fundamental political freedoms are respected; have a valid system of governmental checks and balances, an independent judiciary, governments that function adequately, and diverse and independent media; limited problems in democratic functioning.  FLAWED DEMOCRACIES: elections are fair and free and basic civil liberties are honoured but may have issues (e.g. media freedom infringement and minor suppression of political opposition and critics); have significant faults in other democratic aspects, including underdeveloped political culture, low levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance.  HYBRID REGIMES: regular electoral frauds, preventing them from being fair and free democracies; governments apply pressure on political opposition; non-independent judiciaries, widespread corruption, harassment and pressure on media, anaemic rule of law; more underdeveloped political culture, lower levels of participation in politics, and issues in the functioning of governance than flawed democracies  AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES: political pluralism is non-existent or severely limited; often absolute monarchies or dictatorships, may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meagre significance, infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace, elections (if they take place) are not fair or free (including sham elections), the media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime, the judiciary is not independent, and censorship and suppression of governmental criticism are commonplace. THE LONGER STORY BEHIND ‘RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES’  Apparently, ‘rights and liberties’ are of prime importance to EIU’s vision of a healthy democratic state; but:  Why should human rights and liberties be respected rather than restricted?  How/when/where did this vision evolve?  Why is it that ‘western’ countries evolved to be different from the rest of the world in this regard?  To find out more on these questions, one needs to look at the longer story behind the very idea of human rights/liberties/freedom  In very general terms, this longer story goes back to a period of grand worldview transformations in European history  This period: ‘early modernity’ or ‘early modern era’ (often capitalised)  Rough span: 1500-1800  Provided the immediate soil for the rise and triumph of the idea of human rights and liberties  One key aspect of these grand transformations: religion (more aspects to come over the next couple of weeks) EUROPE AS A HOMOGENOUS CHRISTIAN SPACE  For many centuries prior to the advent of the Early Moden Era, Europe was a homogenous Christian space  Beginning of this process – 27 Feb 380 A.D., when Theodosius I the Great (eastern Roman emperor) together with his colleagues Gratian (western Roman emperor) and Valentinian (co-emperor of Gratian) issued the Edict of Thessalonica  Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire:  ‘It is our desire that all the various nations (...) should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition (...). Accordingly, let us believe in the one deity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We order the followers of this law to embrace the name of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to call their gatherings ‘churches’. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to inflict...’ EUROPE AS A HOMOGENOUS CHRISTIAN SPACE  Gold coins depicting Theodosius (left) and Valentinian (right) EUROPE AS A HOMOGENOUS CHRISTIAN SPACE  The structure of this ancient homogenous ‘global’ Christian space evolved around two principles:  Principle 1: the traditional ecclesiastical hierarchy of ‘laity’ (ordinary believers/laymen/laics) and ‘clergy’ (ecclesiastical officials: deacons, priests, and bishops) In very simple terms: to participate in the life of the Christian Church, ordinary believers took part in its sacraments (baptism, confession, the Eucharist...) administered by the priesthood; inside temples, deacons acted as assistants/servants of priests; the entire Christian community of ordinary believers, deacons, and priests of a given larger region gathered around its bishop: their ‘overseer’ (=episkopos) and keeper of their faith Hence: the ancient Church resembled a multi-faceted structure of many interconnected ‘living organisms’, all (laity and priesthood alike) united together sacramentally in one ‘supreme living organism’ – i.e. the Body of Christ in which all took part via the Eucharist  Principle 2: ‘the Pentarchy’, i.e. ‘the power of the five’ Christian centres The later and gradual growth of five particular episcopal sees as core administrative ecclesiastical centres – i.e. Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antiochia, Jerusalem Hence: their bishops would become the first ‘patriarchs’, i.e. ‘top bishops’...  The five ancient partiarchates in mid-6th c. ( source) THE SPECIAL PLACE OF ROME  Over the centuries however, Rome began to follow a special track of its own  Following emperor Constantine the Great’s decision to move the imperial capital eastwards – to the ancient city of Byzantion, renamed to Constantinople, ‘Constantine’s city’, the Empire’s ‘new Rome’ (today’s Istanbul) – the Roman Church remained, as it were, the top centre of authority throughout Western Europe  This facilitated the gradual development of the idea that the bishop of Church of Rome, i.e. the pope, had so-called ‘fullness of power’ over both church and state affairs  A famous formulation of this vision – Pope Innocent III (1198):  ‘Just as the founder of the universe established two great lights in the firmament of heaven, a greater one to preside over the day and a lesser to preside over the night, so too in the firmament of the universal church he instituted two great dignities, a greater one to preside over souls as if over day and a lesser one to preside over bodies as if over night. These are the papal authority and the royal power. Now just as the moon derives its light from the sun and is indeed lower than it in quantity and quality, in position and in power, so too the royal power derives the splendour of its dignity from the papal authority...’ THE SPECIAL PLACE OF ROME  Left: Pope Innocent III (b. 1160; pope 1198-1216)  In contrast to their eastern counterparts, Roman popes gradually accumulated unparalleled authority over both church and state affairs:  The authority for dealing with church- related matters would become centralised in their hands  They would crown monarchs, thereby legitimising political authority  They would prevent others from receiving the crown THE ‘PURGATORY’  In terms of religious practice – many minor differences between Europe’s centralised Roman Catholic West and the rest of the Christian world (Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa)  One of these related to belief in ‘the Purgatory’  From Lat., ‘to purify/make clean’: a special transitional place for temporal punishment of those who have departed this life not entirely free from certain minor sins  Nature of these sins – not grave violations of divine law, but ordinary daily faults  E.g., Dante sent the souls of the prideful who repented for their pride in the Purgatory; their temporal punishment: heavy rocks placed on their chests  Yet the sins of malefactors such as Cain or Judas were grave; therefore, they ended up in the Inferno (see various cartographies of Dante’s world here)  Hence it makes sense to pray for the souls of the departed, as prayers could ease their temporal punishment in the Purgatory... THE SALE OF ‘LETTERS OF INDULGENCE’  Over time, this belief led to the evolution of a very specific Roman practice: sales of ‘letters of indulgence’  Letters of indulgence = written ‘certificates’ available for purchase by ordinary believers  Granted ‘satisfaction’ (‘indulgence’, ‘excuse’) of ‘purgatorial’ punishments due for certain minor sins – in return to the financial donation made by the buyer/believer  E.g., a pilgrim could visit a holy place and buy an ‘indulgence’ on site – certifying that s/he has visited the place, thereby satisfying the temporal punishment due for minor sins done previously  One could obtain such ‘indulgences’ also for deceased relatives, friends, etc.  Indulgences evolved into a considerable source of income; hence, after the advent of Gutenberg’s printing machine in the 1450s, they would become among the first mass-printed documents  Letter of indulgence – early print (Mainz, 1455, source); probably the first printed ‘certificate form’ with blanks for date/name/place  Sale of indulgences in early 16-c. Germany (source) POPE LEO X  To finance the building of the famous St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope Leo X issued a new ‘mega’ indulgence in 1516: financial donations made by prospective buyers would provide satisfactions of their minor sins  The Dominican friar Johann Tetzel was appointed to preach/sell the letters of indulgence in Germany on behalf of the Church  But Tetzel was overly diligent and inventive while ‘advertising’ Pope Leo’s indulgence:  He composed short, easy-to-remember rhymes such as: ‘As soon as money in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory’s fire springs’  He grossly exaggerated the power of indulgences and would claim that they work even against the gravest of sins (e.g. blasphemy against Virgin Mary, etc.)  Basilica of St Peter, Rome ( source)  Pope Leo X (left)  Johann Tetzel ( right)  Amongst Tetzel’s clients – parishioners of the German university town of Wittenberg (right) MARTIN LUTHER  Chair of theology at University of Wittenberg at the time – Augustinian monk and top theologian Martin Luther (1483-1546)  The messages of Tetzel’s campaign deeply disturbed Luther MARTIN LUTHER  To counter Tetzel, Luther composed a single-page list of 95 statements in October 1517 – ‘95 theses’ (right)  Rejected the idea that obtaining a letter of indulgence was of serious benefit to Christians  Claimed that messages such as Tetzel’s were harmful to believers and undermined the power of true inner repentance, which was of prime importance  Luther’s theses were merely an invitation for an academic discussion – and the result of honest inner concern of what was going on with these sales of indulgence certificates  Possibly, this was a minor disagreement over a rather technical issue... THE 95 THESES  Some of Luther’s theses:  Thesis N41: ‘Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love’  Thesis N42: ‘Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy’  Thesis N43: ‘Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences’ MARTIN LUTHER  This technical disagreement however turned out to be of ‘hyperconsequential’ nature  It would lead to a grand transformation of the entire religious landscape of Western Europe and have abysmal consequences for the centuries to come  This happened over the next four years, 1518-21  Responding to the attacks of his opponents, Luther hardened his position: questioned papal authority, claimed that popes could err in matters of faith  In turn, Luther’s opponents hardened their positions and decided to examine other writings of his – to discover multiple heretical statements inside  On 15 June 1520 Pope Leo X published Exsurge Domine, which listed these heretical statements and asked Luther to come to Rome and repent within 60 days  On the 60th day Luther cancelled his classes and publicly burned the document in Wittenberg  On 3 January 1521, Pope Leo X formally excommunicated Luther from the Church  Luther burning Leo X’s bull in Wittenberg in 1520 (source) EUROPE’S COMPREHENSIVE RELIGIOUS TRANSFORMATION  Normally, this would result in Luther’s being handed over to the secular authorities and burned as a heretic; but something extraordinary happened this time: Frederick the Wise, the prince of Saxony, where Luther resided and worked, took him under his protection  Other princes followed the example of the prince of Saxony – gradual growth of territories under anti- papal rule  In 1529, six German princes even signed a petition to ‘protest’ against Luther’s condemnation as a heretic; hence Luther’s supporters were named ‘Protestants’  Over the next decade, other European theologians followed the example of Luther – gradual rise of the multiple branches of Europe’s ‘Protestant Christianity’  For the first time in history, the Christian core of Western Europe split into two: a Roman Catholic section, and an anti-Roman ‘Protestant/Reformed’ section; very soon, these two sections would start multiple wars against each other; for the first time in Europe’s history, these would be wars of ideas and religious beliefs  Hence – a grand transformation of the religious landscape of early modern Europe: one of deep, unprecedented, hostile religious division  Frederick the Wise, Prince of Saxony ( source)  The ‘Schmalkaldic League’, a union of German Protestant princes in the 1530s (source)  Europe’s other reformers: Switzerland – Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) (source)  Europe’s other reformers: France/Switzerland – John Calvin (1509- 1564) (source)  Europe’s other reformers: England – Henry VIII, founder of the Anglican Church (1534) (source)  Europe’s other reformers: Scotland – John Knox (1514- 1572) (source)