AP European History Document-Based Question
A series of disputes and efforts to reform the Catholic church resulted in the Protestant Reformation that spanned much of the late sixteenth to the early seventeenth centuries. Although the fundamental problems lay in the church and its faith, other factors played a role in defining what the causes of this sudden change were. The Reformation was indicative of economic, social, and political problems prevailing in Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The Catholic church was a wealthy institution in European society, and with their money came dominance over the people. Some of the main accusations made against the church during the religious schism was that the church was misusing the scripture to support the collection of indulgences as the people’s payment for their sins. The excerpt from Instructions for Selling Indulgences (Document 1) conveys the church’s mindset when collecting money from the people, with its justification being that the money collected would be used “for the rebuilding of the church”. This “rebuilding” may well have included the lucrative incomes of the clergy, and other things the laypeople would not have wanted the church to spend large sums of money on. The financial issues were not limited to the church, but were prevalent in many European nations. The peasants from these countries were being heavily taxed, as described in Document 6, irrespective of whether their nobles made efforts to prevent it or not. The heavy taxation left the commoners poor, making the payment for their sins through indulgences even more of a financial strain, prompting them to oppose the practice of selling indulgences.
Their personal oppositions to the Catholic church, along with the popularized teachings of Luther prompted the laymen to express their thoughts through events such as uprisings, as depicted in The Peasant’s War Engulfs Rothenburg, 1525 (Document 5). However, the violent methods the peasants resort to do little to alleviate the conflicts among Catholics and reformers, seen by the way the writer of the Document describes the rebelling citizens as heretics under the teachings of Luther. The church’s high regard for itself also fueled tensions between the clergy and the commoners. Ignatius Loyola, in Rules for Thinking with the Church (Document 7), regards the Church in a way so that it is an institution that is placed above God himself. The omnipotence the Church exerted on society lead to antagonistic feelings towards it. In Document 10, the Church is yet again described as a powerful institution which will not tolerate any dissent, as a refusal to acknowledge the Church’s significance results in one’s excommunication. This stance mirrors that of ruthless absolutists of the time.
The repressive rule of certain absolutists during the time of the religious schism lead to a feeling of dissent, leading to an increased desire for religious freedom. An example of an absolutist ruler is Louis XIV of France, who, as an anti-Protestant, carried out forced conversions to Catholicism of his people. In addition to his repressive religious stance, Document 4 sheds light on Louis XIV’s capacity for ruining a person’s career and social standing if he was believed to be expressing ideas that conflicted with Louis’s. Frederick II’s high regard for absolutist rule is shown in Essay on the Forms of Government (Document 2), as he also believed in the absolute power the ruler could exert over his people. The justification for absolutism is also seen in Document 3, where Joseph II reasons that it is in his concern for the welfare of the monarchy and patriotism that his entitlement to rule by only his standards alone lies in. While the absolutists’ justifications may sound reasonable to some, in practice, the repression of a widely supported belief only motivates people to spread it, and this was the case with the Reformation, with the repressed Protestants displaying an increasing willingness to fight for religious change.
A series of economic, social, and political problems all were precursors to the religious schism that spanned the sixteenth and seventeenth centries. The financial practices of the Catholic church, the social supremacy of the Church, and the absolutists’ severe repression of religious choice all contributed to the efforts to reform the existing Church structure. When analyzing the religious schism in European history, it is important to view its causes not only from a religious viewpoint, but from other various perspectives, so that the many layers of the underlying causes can be thoroughly considered.
The Wheat Controversy (Conclusion)
The consumption of hybridized wheat has been linked with several health problems such as celiac disease, non-celiac wheat intolerances, wheat allergy, and other disorders. Certain properties of hybridized wheat, such as the increased concentration of gliadin, has been shown to increase susceptibility to celiac disease as well as trigger wheat intolerances and allergies (Drago 2006). Diseases contracted upon the consumption of wheat can lead to other health disorders such as osteoporosis and ulcerative jejunoileitis. The possibility that such health complications would be triggered by hybridized wheat was overlooked presumably due to the significant appeal of the new wheat’s characteristics, such as its short length and increased resistance to pests. Though in the short run these reasons may be compelling enough to prompt mass production of the hybridization of wheat, in the long run, the consumption of new wheat breeds can easily lead to drastic and possibly irreversible changes in wheat consumption and health trends around the world.
The modernization of foods is not limited to wheat. The steadily increasing quality of research technology enables researchers to develop numerous innovative ways to increase and improve the world’s food supply. Just as in the case of wheat, many improvements may appear at first ingenious and capable of solving worldwide problems related to food. One such problem is food shortage, due to poor crop yield. Environmental factors such as pests and adverse weather may render crop yields unsatisfactory in meeting the expected amount produced. Unprecedented population increase is also another factor that contributes massive food shortages in certain parts of the world. Yet in some other cases it is simply corporations’ thirst for more profits that prompts them to turn to researchers to “improve” certain foods. Modernized crops generally require less money to grow, which explains how the growing of modernized foods has spread to many countries around the world, even to those who do not have compelling reasons to consume these modernized foods.
In light of all this, it is important to understand that when developing something new, the ostensible positive effects may overshadow the potential negative effects. These negative effects, easily overlooked, can become evident only after the new development has been widely adopted and put into use. Therefore, in many cases, such as with wheat, where its original strains proved to be far safer and nutritious than their modern equivalent, things in nature prove to be in prime condition just as they are found. One can venture to say that this phenomenon is yet another testament to the adage “Nature knows best”.
Baroque, Renaissance and Mannerist Art
I see Mannerism more as a placeholder between the Renaissance and Baroque art periods, than its own distinct art style. Paintings that are classified as mannerist have qualities from both the renaissance era and the baroque era. For example, The Last Judgement, painted by Michelangelo, possesses an amalgamation of Baroque and Renaissance art styles. It has Renaissance aspects such as symmetry and realism (in terms of the proportionality of the figures), and it also includes baroque characteristics such as dynamic, ornate, and dramatic subjects. Since mannerist art pieces include both qualities, and since it is difficult to label a piece of art as exclusively mannerist, I think the label serves only as a convenient placeholder between the two major art periods.
Olympe de Gouges
My name is Olympe de Gouges. I am a French social reformer and writer. I was born to a modest butcher family in 1748. Soon after my husband’s death in 1768, I left for Paris, where I sought to seek fame as a writer. The plays I wrote only met mild success, so I moved on to sociopolitical writing. In my writing, I took up different issues I was keen on, ranging from divorce and maternity hospitals to the rights of orphaned children and of unmarried mothers. Concerning the revolution, I remained a royalist up until Louis XVI cravenly attempted to escape from the country, after which I began to call for his dislodgement from power.
My sociopolitical works focused strongly on civil rights, especially the rights of women. My dedication to these issues stemmed from my firm belief of the complete equality of human beings. One of my most famous works was called the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen, in which I argued that women were equal to men in every respect and thus were entitled to the same rights. This pamphlet was published as a response to the the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which had been adopted by the National Assembly. I believed that the fire of the revolution created a perfect environment for revolutionary thought, and continued to speak for the rights of women, by appearing before the National Assembly and calling for more job opportunities for women, a legal alternative to the private dowry system, and better education for young girls. I beseech my fellow females to not remain in craven listlessness, but to speak out for the rights they are entitled to. I have made enemies because of my ideas, but I remain strong in my belief that one day women will be recognized as equal with men.
AP European History Exploration Timeline
Columbus landed in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, which he named San Salvador. From San Salvador, Columbus sailed southwest, believing that this course would take him to Japan or the coast of China. He landed on Cuba on October 28. Instead of continuing north, he turned southwest, ostensibly giving up on his aim to meet the Great Khan in preference to trying to find gold among peoples he had discovered. In January, having failed to find the source of gold but having made contact with natives seemingly apt for Christianization and confident of the existence of gold somewhere in the vicinity, he headed back to Spain.
Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador, landed on the northern coast of Peru on May 13, 1532. Pizarro advanced across the steep Andes toward Cuzco. When he had reached the Incas, the Spaniards captured the emperor Atauhualpa, dislodged him from his throne, and killed him. Decades of violence ensued, but by the 1570s the Spanish crown had succeeded in imposing control.
AP European History Reformation Timeline
Council of Pisa (1409) - Benedict XIII of Avignon and Gregory XII of Rome refuse to abdicate the papacy, irrespective of Alexander V being chosen as the new pope. This leads to there being three popes in the Catholic church. This is a significant event during the Schism as it shows that the power struggle between the popes and the people backing them intensifies.
Smoke Signals: Response Questions
One reference I recall is from the scene where Victor is urging Thomas to act more imperiously, so as not to let the “white people run all over” them. This refers to the stereotype that white people are characterized strongly by their rampant, many times inconsiderate territorial infringement. This stereotype is understandable, yet it would presumably have the same unpleasant effect on white people as with the Native Indians when they themselves are stereotyped.
Twelfth Night: What are 3 possible themes?
One universal theme present in Twelfth Night is deception. There are two instances of this: one when Sir Toby, Maria, and Sir Andrew play a prank on Malvolio, and another is how Viola disguises herself as a man. In the first case, the three that endeavor to trick Malvolio are tired of Malvolio’s snobbish and haughty attitude, and decide to trick him into thinking that Olivia is madly in love with her. They do this by crafting a fake letter in which Viola asks Malvolio to wear a ridiculous outfit for her and smile all the time in her presence. Besides the fact that Olivia does not fancy Malvolio, the humor in this prank is that Olivia detests the yellow tights Malvolio is asked to wear, and she would also despise the smile on his face because she is still mourning her dead brother. Viola disguising herself as a man is another instance of deception in the play, as she pretends to be a man in order to work for Lord Orsino. Her haircut and unfeminine clothes are effective at deceiving not only Orsino, but Olivia, who quickly falls for Viola.
Another theme present in the play is the unpredictability of love. When Malvolio is tricked into believing that Olivia is in love with him, he abandons his composure and deliberately dresses in ridiculous clothes in order to please her. Considering his usually collected and cultivated manner, Malvolio’s new behavior is highly unexpected, and evoking much astonishment from his peers.
One last theme is the complex relationship between love and the self. This is seen through Olivia, who disregards her social standing, independence and rationale for the sake of openly expressing her love for Viola, who is dressed up as Cesario. Although we see Olivia’s strong independent personality evident in her decision to stay single in order to mourn her brother.