Let’s talk about religion during the Renaissance.
Although the Renaissance is known for being a rebirth of Classical Greek and Roman culture with the
reintroduction of pagan mythology into the cultural discourse, it was still a society oriented around monotheism
- especially Catholicism. Princes, poets, and poor people were all concerned about the after life – out of either
genuinely personal questions of faith or because they were required to attend church.
The greatest religious development during this time period was the upheaval caused by the Protestant
Reformation, which ruptured the Catholic Church’s control over most of Europe. As one denomination after
another evolved from Martin Luther’s protesting of the Catholic Church’s corruption, Europe, and in turn the
Americas, would be consumed by how to deal with religious doctrine, conversion, indoctrination, persecution,
and wars.
Write two paragraphs:
- Write a one-paragraph reflection on how religion played a role in the Renaissance either at the political or
personal level by using at least one quote from the section entitled “The Reformation” in the “Sixteenth
Century” document. - Write a one-paragraph analysis of either Martin Luther’s “Letter to Nuns” or the excerpts from the Bible in the
“Faith in Conflict” document. For the former, include a quote and discuss how Luther’s request that women quit
the convent is an important difference between Catholicism and Protestantism. For the latter, include a quote
and analyze the minor (but major!) differences in language between the Geneva Bible and the King James
Bible when it comes to “charity” versus “love.”
Sample Solution
