Notes 10/2

The Tempest, with race and race relations

- the plot involves the stranding on an island of sorcerer Prospero and his daughter Miranda. There Prospero finds and raises Caliban, a native of the island, whom he instructs in his own language and religion. After Caliban's attempted rape of Miranda, Prospero enslaves him, earning the hatred of his erstwhile pupil. - Modern scholars often note the echoes between this play and the realities of imperial conquest and settlement in Shakespeare's day. They argue it is no accident that the poet portrayed Caliban as a monstrous dark-skinned island native who was best suited for slavery. - Shakespeare borrows words from "Of Cannibals," suggesting that he may have intended to criticize rather than endorse, racial tolerance.

Peter Paul Rubens

The most famous Baroque artist who studied Michelangelo in Italy and took that Renaissance style to the next level of drama, motion, color, religion and animation, which is portrayed in his paintings. - developed his own rich, colorful style, which was characterized by animated figures, melodramatic contrasts, and monumental size - excelled in glorifying monarchs such as Queen Mother Marie de'Medici of France - a devout Catholic - one of his trademarks was the fleshy, sensual nudes who populate his canvases as Roman goddesses, mater nymphs, and remarkably voluptuous saints and angels

what spurred the early development of the baroque?

- Rome and the revitalized Catholic Church of the late sixteenth century - the papacy and the jesuits encouraged the growth of an intensely emotional, exuberant art. These patrons wanted artists to go beyond the Renaissance focus on pleasing a small, wealthy cultural elite. They wanted artists to appeal to the senses and thereby touch the souls and kindle the faith of ordinary churchgoers while proclaiming the power and confidence of the reformed Catholic Church. - the baroque era drew its sense of drama, motion, and ceaseless striving from the Catholic Reformation.

when did persecution for witchcraft occur?

- began before the Reformation in the 1480s, but it became especially common about 1560, and the mania continued until roughly 1660

when and where did witch trials begin?

- began in Switzerland and southern Germany in the late fifteenth century, but became less numerous in the early decades of the Reformation when Protestants and Catholics were busy fighting each other - picked up again in about 1560 - estimated that between 16th and 17th centuries, between 100,000 and 200,000 people were tried and between 40,000 and 60,000 were executed

gender in the witch-hunts

- between 75 and 85 percent of those tried and executed were women - some demonologists expressed virulent misogyny, or hatred of women, and particularly emphasized women's powerful sexual desire, which could be satisfied only by a demonic lover. - most people viewed women as weaker and more likely to give into the Devil - in both classical and Christian tradition, women were associated with nature, disorder, and the body, all of whichw ere linked with the demonic

William Shakespeare background

- born in 1564 to a successful glove manufacturer in Stratford-upon-Avon

did people agree or disagree with Montaigne's views?

- in his own time, few would have agreed with his challenge to ideas of European superiority or even his more radical questioning of the superiority of humans over animals. But, his popular essays contributed to a basic shift in attitudes - he inaugerated an era of doubt

how did baroque art spread to protestants as well?

- it was more than just "Catholic art" in the 17th century and the first half of the 18th - although it is true that Protestant England nor the Netherlands ever came fully under the spell of the baroque, niether did Catholic France. - Protestants accounted for some of the finest examples of baroque style, especially in music

view on what witchcraft was

- nearly all premodern societies believe in witchcraft and make some attempts to control witches, who were understood to be people of magical forces - in the later Middle Ages, many educated Christian theologians, canon lawyers, and officials added a demonological component to this notion of a witch. For them, the sense of witchcraft was making a pact with the devil. Witchcraft was thus spiritualized, and witches became the ultimate heretics, enemies of God.

Bach

- organist and choirmaster of several Lutheran churches across Germany, Bach was equally at home home writing secular concertos and sublime religious cantatas - his organ music combined the baroque spirit of invention, tension, and emotion in an unforgettable striving toward the infinite - was not fully appreciated in his lifetime, but his reputation has grown

why did the baroque style spread?

- partly because its tension and bombast spoke to an agitated age that was experiencing great violence and controversy in politics and religion

what contributed to the increse in witchcraft persecution?

- religious reformers' extreme notions of the Devil's powers and the insecurity created by the religious wars - both Protestants and Catholics tried and executed witches, with church officials and secular authorities acting together

what happened after the initial subject had been questioned?

- the people who were implicated were brought in for questioning, sometimes leading to a small hunt, involving five to ten suspects, and it sometimes grew into a which historians have called a "witch panic" - in witch panics, a wider variety of suspects would be questioned, including wealthy people, men, and children - mass panics tended to end when it became clear to the legal authorities, or to the community itself, that the people being questioned or executed were not what they understood witches to be, or that the scope of accusations was beyond belief

legal changes' role in the witch trials

- a change from an accusatorial legal procedure to an inquisitorial procedure. In the the former, a suspect knew the accusers and the charges they had brought, and an accuser could in turn be liable for trial is the charges were not proven. In the latter, legal authorities themselves brought the case. This change made people much mre willing to accuse other, for they never had to face the accused person's relatives. - inquisition involved intense questioning of the subject, often with torture

where were witch panics most common?

- common in the part of Europe that saw the most witch accusations, including the Holy Roman Empire, Switzerland, and parts of France - most of this area consisted of very small governmental units that were jealous of each other and, after the Reformation, were divided by religion - the rulers of these regions often felt more threatened than did the monarchs of western Europe, and they saw persecuting witches as a way to demonstrate their piety and concern for order - witch panics often occurred after some type of climatic disaster, such as an unusually cold and wet summer, and they came in waves

skepticism due to new worlds emerging

- decades of religious fanaticism, bringing civil anarchy and war, led some Catholics and Protestants to doubt that ant one faith contained absolute truth (added doubts with the addition of new faiths from the natives in the New World). These shocks helped produce ideas of skepticism and cultural relativism. - both notions found expression in the work of Michel de Montaigne

what question remain unknown about the witch trials?

- did people really practice witchcraft and think they were witches? They certainly confessed to evil deeds and demonic practices, sometimes without torture, but where would we draw the line between reality and fantasy?

what did Shakespeare study/support? Why were his books so special?

- his genius lay in the originality of his characterizations, the diversity of his plots, his understanding of human psychology, and his unsurpassed gift for language - a Renaissance man, he developed a deep appreciation of classical culture, individualism, and humanism

where did the baroque style take off the most?

- in Catholic countries, such as Spain, Latin america, Austria, southern Germany, and Poland

Montaigne's essay, "Of Cannibals"

- reveals the impact of overseas discoveries on one thoughtful European - in contrast to the prevailing views of his day, he rejected the notion that one culture is superior (wrote about how he did not think the Brazilians were savage or barbarous, and that people should instead call the people who are deceitful and who have "diverged from the common order" wild)

cultural relativism

- suggests that one culture is not necessarily superior to another, just different

what form of writing did Montaigne develop?

- the essay - published in 1580, Michel's *essays* consisted of short reflections drawing on his extensive reading in ancient texts, his experience as a government official, and his own moral judgement - wrote in French rather than Latin to be more understandable to the ordinary person

role of the Reformation era in the witchhunts

- the heightened sense of God;s power and divine wrath in the Reformation era was an important factor in the witch-hunts, but so was a change in the idea of what a witch-hunt was

when did inquisitorial procedure not lead to witchcraft accusation previously?

- the most famous inquisitions in early modern Europe, those in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, were in facy very lenient in their treatment of people accused of witchcraft - only a handful were executed, but hundreds of cases were brought in - inquisitors believed in the power of the Devil and were no less misogynistic than other judges, but they doubted very much whether the people accused of witchcraft had actually made pacts with the Devil that gave them special powers

what sort of ended the witch hunts?

- the new age of science in the 17th century

how were Shakespeare's writings similar to Montaigne's essays? (specific examples in Othello)

- they both reveal the impact of the new discoveries and contacts of his day - the title character of Othello is described as a "Moor of Venice" (in Shakespeare's day, the term "Moor" referred to Muslims of North African origin, including those who had migrated to the Iberian Peninsula, but could also be applied to Natives of the Iberian Peninsula who converted to Islam or to non-Muslim Berbers in North Africa) - Othello is referenced as "black" in skin color, leading many to believe that Shakespeare intended him to be a sub-Saharan African - the confusion in this play aptly reflects the uncertainty in Shakespeare's own time about racial and religious classifications. In contrast to the prevailing view of Moors as inferior, Shakespeare presents Othello as a complex human figure, whose only crime is to have "loved his wife not wisely, but too well"

how did most witch trials begin?

- with a single accusation in a village or a twon - individuals accused someone they knew of using magic to spoil food, make children sick, kill animals, raise a hailstorm, or do other similar things - tensions between families and neighbors often played a role in this - once a charge was made, the suspect was brought in for questioning. Confession (usually due to torture) was usually followed by execution.

baroque

An artistic style of the seventeenth century characterized by complex forms, bold ornamentation, and contrasting elements