Societal Success: From Renaissance to Reformation

            “Movable type helped disband the world’s armies,” said Jenna. Then she expounded, informing us that the quote from Hugh Latimer during the Northern Renaissance. Our small group pondered her point while we sat, analyzing its relevancy to a seemingly simple prompt: what best captures, or signifies, the period in Europe’s history from Early Renaissance to Reformation (roughly 1350 C.E. to 1700 C.E.)? While I loved the imagery that her quote summoned—that the power in words can be “mightier than the sword,” as Edward Bulwer-Lytton later coined it—my inner realist began to whisper doubts.

            But, did the world’s armies really ‘disband,’ I thought, perplexed. Should we, knowing history’s subsequent death tolls of numerous civil and world wars, embrace Movable type as the greatest indicator of social success during the Renaissance and Reformation? If not, what could possibly capture the successful social transformation that did occur during that period? Was it a name, or a text? Was it an event, or a place?

            A quote from Cicero came to mind, “as the scale gives way to weight, so the mind gives way to demonstration.” So, what demonstrates the culmination of social successes within this transformational period? Maybe finding the proper demonstration rests in knowing what the tensions and changes were, before we try to pin one down. The Early Renaissance might be best seen through the eyes of Humanists—whose philosophies boil down to this: identifying the divine potential inside of every human being. The High Renaissance might be best seen through a political lens of early Reformers, courtier culture, the loss of the feudal system, and the dawn of a shift in power from an aristocratic few to a more general public. The Northern Renaissance might be best seen through the eyes of contesting Protestants and Humanists like Luther and Erasmus.

            What can we observe in the tensions of each movement? Political change as the general public embraced Humanist ideology—which pushed against ecclesiastical and political primacy in the Catholic Church. Tremendous social change occurred as religious texts, concepts, and translations were developed by Erasmus and Luther (and many others), were printed through Gutenberg’s printing press, and finally were placed in the hands of the general public.

            Each of these movements could be depicted by something simple. The Early Renaissance had its artistic renderings (Da Vinci’s Venturian Man). The High Renaissance had its political debate and literature on courtliness. The Northern Renaissance and Reformation had its creeds: “only faith,” and “only scripture.” With these eras in mind—and what they each stood for—wouldn't it be more than appropriate to say that a freshly printed bible in the hands of a poverty-stricken  plough boy could be the perfect demonstration of successful social changes during this period in history?