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"Has the Renaissance warped our view of the Middle Ages?" Topic


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04 May 2023 8:31 p.m. PST
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04 May 2023 10:23 p.m. PST
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Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP04 May 2023 8:29 p.m. PST

"If you think the Middle Ages were dirty, backward, and generally unpleasant, you've been misled—by proponents of the Renaissance.


So says medievalist David Wallace, the Judith Rodin Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He is this year's Ferrari Humanities Symposia visiting scholar and has just completed his presidency of the Medieval Academy of America.


"The Renaissance is a great ‘brand'—it's about rebirth, repackaging, and newness. And everything that's wonderful and marvelous about it, you emphasize by contrasting it with the awful, smelly, stinky, dangerous Middle Ages," he says…"

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Armand

42flanker05 May 2023 3:03 a.m. PST

Did the "Renaissance" people know they were living in "The Renaissance" any more than "mediaeval" folk knew thy were living in "The Middle Ages"?

Obviously, we Modern folk have an entirely different perspective….

Personal logo Parzival Supporting Member of TMP05 May 2023 5:26 a.m. PST

Has there ever not been a generation convinced it was "better" than the generations before it? Isn't that what kids do? Roll their eyes at their parents, and snicker when grandpa talks about how great things used to be?

Alakamassa05 May 2023 5:54 a.m. PST

"Has there ever not been a generation convinced it was "better" than the generations before it? "

Boomers refer to their immediate predecessors as "The Greatest Generation." When you grow up enjoying to the comfort of the 1950-70s provided by parents who weathered the Great Depression and won a world war, it's difficult to feel superior. However to an eighteen year old, one's particular parents inevitably seem to be the exception.

Garand05 May 2023 6:11 a.m. PST

<quote> Did the "Renaissance" people know they were living in "The Renaissance" any more than "mediaeval" folk knew thy were living in "The Middle Ages"? </quote>

The answer, at least for the former, is YES. The term Renaissance was coined by scholars living in the time, as a way to differentiate their period from the other. I suspect, though that the common people didn't really care…

Damon.

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP05 May 2023 3:24 p.m. PST

Thanks!

Armand

42flanker05 May 2023 3:25 p.m. PST

"Renaissance" as a term doesn't appear till 1837, according to Merriam webster. Gosh darn, that's well into Early Modern.

The Last Conformist06 May 2023 3:45 a.m. PST

I submit that by modern first world standards, the Middle Ages and Renaissance were both pretty dirty, backward and unpleasant.

Tango01 Supporting Member of TMP06 May 2023 3:38 p.m. PST

Glup!


Armand

jeeves13 May 2023 11:27 p.m. PST

Everything warps our view of the Middle Ages and any other period of history. Historical truth is impossible to access.

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