Week 4 (Introduction/Humanism)

Early Modern Period

1500-1800 AD
More travel now, specifically the Columbian Exchange (transatlantic trade).
Wunderkammer/Wunderkammern “room(s) of wonder/marvels”
- Collected numerous things and put them all in a room together.
Information revolution
- The printing press lowered the prices of books, making them more widely available.

Laurentius Valla was a major character in this area.
Desiderius Erasmus
- Translated a new edition of the Greek New Testament.
- Wrote some satirical plays.
  - “In Praise of Folly”
- Seeks the renewal of knowledge and belief based on the ancient doctors of the Church.
- Is said to have laid the egg that Luther hatched.
- Helps to determine not only religious but also social and political boundaries.
Simony
- When you pay to get a church position
Martin Luther
- People before him also called out issues they saw with the Catholic Church.
- Posts 95 theses, gets told to recant them, and gets excommunicated.
- Made the concept of faith alone saves (sola fide)
- Called for reform
Protestant Reform
- Five central ideas
- - Sola Fide
  - Sola Scriptura
  - Sola Christus
  - Soli Deo Gloria
  - Sola Gratia
- Councils held change doctrine
- Many divisions of Christianity, as well as Islam, all throughout Europe.