Church, Reformation, Counter-reformation and Renaissance in Ireland

Abbeys and Monasticism
Originates in 4th century AD, although there some Christian Orders of widows and virgins are mentioned in the New Testament.
Many of the early communities were Eremitic – i.e. the retreated from society to live as hermits and devote their time to prayer.
Western monasticism really follows Benedict writing what became the Rules of St. Benedict (although he doesn’t seem to have consciously intended to establish a monastic order).

Benedict
Written at his monastery in Cassino (the image is the first page of a manuscript copy).
Benedict promoted prayer and work.
He suggested the day and its activities should be properly and routinely organised.

Crusading, Orders, Church
From the 11th century, religious orders took on a more significant role.
With the onset of crusading as a political, economic and social force, the influence of the church increased dramatically.
Secular power, national identities and religion became intertwined.
Religious orders (like the Dominicans and Franciscans) preached crusade doctrine.
By the 1270s (when the crusades effectively ended) all of the ‘West’ was divided into collecting zones for regular clerical taxes, redemptions, donations, alms and legacies.
Crusading and indulgences…
Aug 1198: Pope Innocent III called the Fourth Crusade
1199: Political Crusade against Markward of Anweiler
Nov 1202: Venetians and Crusaders sacked Zara, a Christian port on the Dalmatian Coast
Apr, 1204: Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople
1208: Pope Innocent III called the Albigensian Crusade
Jul 1212: King Alfonso VIII of Castile expanded the Reconquista; King Sancho VII of Navarre won the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa
Crusading and indulgences…
Dec 1215: Pope Innocent III issued Ad liberandam calling the Fifth Crusade during the Fourth Lateran Council
Dec 1217: Fifth Crusaders attacked Mount Tabor
May 1218: Fifth Crusaders began the siege of Damietta
Aug 1221: Fifth Crusade, in the Nile Delta, surrendered
Jun 1228: Emperor Frederick II, King of Jerusalem through marriage to Isabell (Yolanda), sailed East on the Sixth Crusade
Feb 1229: Al-Kamil surrendered Jerusalem to Emperor Frederick II
1240s: Popes Gregory IX and Innocent IV called Political Crusades against Emperor Frederick II
1248: King Louis IX departed for the Holy Land on the Seventh Crusade
Jun, 1249: Louis reached Damietta
Apr, 1254: Louis departed the Holy Land
Crusading and indulgences…
1268: The Fall of Antioch
Jul, 1270: Louis IX's Last Crusade (Eighth Crusade); Louis died in Tunis
1271-2: Edward I on Ninth Crusade.
1289: The Fall of Tripoli
1291: The Fall of Acre
1302: Siege of Ruad
End of Outremer

Crusading and indulgences…
1147 – 15th century: German crusades
Oct 1307: King Philip IV supressed the Templars in France
1330-1523: Hospitallers continued crusade action from Rhodes
1334: Crusader navy defeated Turkish pirates in the Gulf of Edremit
1334-1402: Crusaders held the port of Smyrna
1365: Crusaders under Peter I of Cyprus sacked Alexandria
1396: Crusade of Nicopolis
1426: Egyptians gained control over Cyprus
Indulging…
Crusading continued to be a central feature of medieval society
Courtly gossip concerned possible crusade ventures
So did some academic and theological writing
Crusade taxes and sales of indulgences continued (even with actual crusades)
In England, 1444-1502, there 12 indulgence sales campaigns for crusades
One of the first printed documents – an indulgence form issues to Henry and Katherine Langley in 1476.
Orders set-up during the Crusades…
Cistercians (Cistercians of the Ancient Observance)- O.Cist./S.O.Cist (1098)
Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta (Order of Malta) - S.M.O.M. (1099)
Canons Regular Canons Regular of St. Augustine CRSA (1100)
Canons Regular of Premontre (Norbertines) (1121)
Teutonic Order (1190)
Trinitarians (Order of the Most Holy Trinity) - O.SS.T. (1194)
Camaldolese (Camaldolese Benedictines) - O.S.B. Cam. (1200s)
Hospital Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus (1200s)
Carmelites (Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel) - O.Carm., O.C.D., O.C.D.S. (1209)
Franciscan Friars (Order of Friars Minor) - O.F.M. (1209)
Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross (Crosiers) (1210)
Poor Clares (Nuns of the Order of St. Clare/(Order of Poor Ladies) - O.S.C. (1212)
Dominicans (Order of Friars Preachers) - O.P. (1216)
English Benedictine Congregation - O.S.B. (1216)
Mercedarians (Order of Our Lady of Mercy) - O. de M. (1218)
Adrian Dominican Sisters (1233)
Servites (Order of Friars, Servants of Mary) - O.S.M. (1233)
Celestines (defunct) (1244)
Pauline Fathers (Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit) - O.S.P.P.E. (1250)
Augustinians (Order of Saint Augustine) - O.S.A. (1256)
Later Orders…
Canons Regular of the Holy Cross OSC (1311)
Olivetans (Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet) (1313)
Bridgettines (Order of Our Savior) - O.Ss.S. (1350)
Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular - T.O.R. (1447)
Alexians - C.F.A. (1469)
Oratorians (Oratory of St. Philip Neri) - C.O., Cong. Orat. (1500s)
Capuchins (Order of Friars Minor Capuchin) - O.F.M. Cap. (1520)
Theatines (Congregation of Clerics Regular) - C.R. (1524)
Barnabites (Clerics Regular of Saint Paul) - B., C.R.S.P. (1530)
Society of Jesus - S.J.or S.I. (1534)
Ursulines (Ursuline Nuns of the Roman Union) - O.S.U. (1535)
Angelic Sisters of St. Paul - A.S.S.P. (1535)
Capuchin Poor Clares (1538)
Adornos (Clerics Regular Minor) - C.R.M. (1563)
Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God (Order of Hospitallers) - O.H. (1572)
Discalced Augustinians - O.A.D. (1592)
Discalced Carmelites - O.C.D. (1593)
Jesuits (Society of Jesus) - S.J. (1540)


Religious Order: Cistercian example
Cistercians, Tintern, 1131.
Cistercians
The Order of Cistercian is sometimes called the White Monks (from the colour of the habit, over which a black scapular or apron is sometimes worn).
The first abbey founded by Robert of Molesme in 1098, at Cîteaux Abbey. Two others, Saint Alberic of Citeaux and Saint Stephen Harding, are considered co-founders, and Bernard of Clairvaux is associated with the fast spread of the order during the 12th century.

Santa Maria de Alcobaça
Founded 1178
Cistercians
Developed an organised system to selling their farm produce which contributed to the commercial progress of the countries of western Europe.
To the wool and cloth trade was especially fostered by them – led to Englands commercial prosperity.
Farming operations could not be carried out by the monks alone - lay brothers were introduced from the peasantry and were simple uneducated men, separate from the monks, but having their own fixed round of prayer and religious exercises.
It was by this system that the Cistercians disseminated their agricultural developments, playing their part in the progress of European civilisation.
Cistercians
According to Jean Gimpel, their high level of industrial technology facilitated the diffusion of new techniques: "Every monastery had a model factory, often as large as the church and only several feet away, and waterpower drove the machinery of the various industries located on its floor.“
Waterpower was used for crushing wheat, sieving flour, fulling cloth and tanning – a "level of technological achievement [that] could have been observed in practically all" of the Cistercian monasteries.
Nuestra Senora de Rueda(Our Lady of the Waterwheel
In Spain, one of the earliest surviving Cistercian houses – the Real Monasterio de Nuestra Senora de Rueda in the Aragon region – is a good example of early hydrologic engineering, using a large waterwheel for power and an elaborate hydrological circulation system for central heating.
Cistercians
Known to have been skilled metallurgists.
Their technological advances were transmitted by the order.
Became the leading iron producers in Champagne, from the mid-13th century to the 17th century, also using the phosphate-rich slag from their furnaces as an agricultural fertiliser.
Alain Erlande-Brandenburg claims that the quality of Cistercian architecture from the 1120s onwards is related directly to the Order's technological inventiveness. They placed importance on metal, both the extraction of the ore and its subsequent processing. At the abbey of Fontenay the forge is not outside, as one might expect, but inside the monastic enclosure: metalworking was thus part of the activity of the monks and not of the lay brothers. This spirit accounted for the progress that appeared in spheres other than building, and particularly in agriculture.
Fontenay
Founded by Bernard in 1118.
Included forge (see 19 and 20 on the plan).
Very wealthy in 12th and 13th century.
Medieval Dublin and Religious Orders
By the middle of the 11th century, the classical religious orders of Europe begin to appear in Ireland, such as the likely Benedictine foundation at Christchurch.
By this time, almost all of the orders favour urban locations.
In Ireland before this time, abbeys may even have had many of the functions of urban centres.
Dublin Abbeys and Priories
Benedictine house established by 1084, at an unknown site
St. Marys founded as a Savigniac house in 1139, became Cistercian in 1147
St. Mary de Hogges – Arroasian nuns, founded 1146
All Saints Priory founded 1162
Holy Trinity (Augustinians at Christchurch) – 1163
Kilmainham (Knights Hospitaller) – 1174
St. Thomas (Augustinians) – 1177
St. Saviours – Dominicans – 1218
Franciscans at Francis Street by 1233.



St. Marys Abbey (Chapterhouse)
Savigniac house in 1139, became Cistercian in 1147

St. Marys Abbey
In the early 1880s, seven feet beneath street level, the Chapter House of St Mary's Abbey was rediscovered under a bakery.
St Mary's was a large Cistercian Abbey founded by the Benedictines in 1139.
It was dissolved in the 1530s and then fell into disrepair.
After that the stones from the building were plundered for use elsewhere with stones being used in the construction of Essex Bridge.
St. Marys Abbey
The Chapter House is the sole remaining part of the complex and dates from 1190.
It used to be possible to lease it for meetings and it was here at a meeting of the Privy Council in 1534 that Silken Thomas Fitzgerald started his rebellion against the king. After hearing of his fathers execution, he flung down his sword of state and marched out to raise an army. Subsequently it transpired that his father had not been executed.
St. Marys Abbey
St. Marys Abbey
The Chapter House consists of a simple vaulted chamber with single light gothic windows in the west façade, now obscured by large clumsy light fittings mimicing windows.
In 1976, the stones of a section of cloister was excavated on a building site on Cook Street.
It is believed that they were removed there are the dissolution.
The section has been reassembled and can be seen above.
St. Marys Abbey
St. Marys Abbey

Reformation
1517 Johann Tetzel sold “indulgences” in Juterbog near Wittenberg
Martin Luther nailed “the 95 Thesis” on indulgences to the door of the castle-church in Wittenberg.
Symbolized the beginning of Reformation as a kind of “protest”
Reformation
Rise of Christian mystics and a parallel in the Christian humanists
The “inquisitions” against doctrinal heresy worsened the confrontation
Add in the issues of the church and money (e.g. indulgences) and attendant corruption
Dissatisfaction with the Church
And widespread discontent over political, economic and social charge

Reformation
Martin Luther educated at the University of Erfurt (his legal career was encouraged by his proud father)
Suddenly gave up and entered the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt
Obtained a Bachelor of Theology, Master of the Sentences, & licentiate in theology


Reformation
Martin Luther was summoned to Rome for a hearing, but his prince, Elector Frederick the Wise (Saxony), arranged for a hearing before a papal legate at Augsburg in 1518
Martin Luther tried to clarify his doctrines concerning indulgences


Reformation
1519 Dr. Johann Eck a Prof. of theology, debated the issues with Luther at Leipzig
He got him to state that the Bible was the sole authority in religious matter & that the papacy, the entire Church hierarchy, & even Church Councils were human & therefore, not infallible


Reformation
Published “Address to be Christian Nobility” (in German) widely read.
Argued a heretic should be overcome by arguments not fire. Reduced sacraments from 7 to 2 (the Lords’ supper & baptism)
Denied the doctrine of transubstantiation
April 18, 1521 Diet at Worms: “I cannot and will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me, Amen.


Reformation in England
Henry VIII (b. 1491, r. 1509-47), in 1523, “Defender of Faith” claimed by the Pope but wished to ensure the continuation of the Tudor dynasty started by his father Henry VIII after the 30 year wars of the Roses.
1st wife was his deceased brother Arthurs’ wife, Catherine of Aragon
Anne Boleyn (mother of Elizabeth I), Jane Seymour (mother of Edward VI), Anne of Cleeves, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr
Act of Supremacy 1534 declared King as "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England“
Treasons Act 1534 made it punishable by death, to refuse to acknowledge the King as such.
After excommunication, the Peter's Pence Act reiterated that England had "no superior under God, but only your Grace" and that Henry's "imperial crown" had been diminished by "the unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and exactions" of the Pope.

Printing
Block printing method for printing on cloth, common by 1300.
Paper relatively easily available, around 1400
Small woodcut religious images and playing cards printed on paper, in very large numbers from about 1425 onwards.
Around the mid-century, block-books, woodcut books with both text and images, usually carved in the same block, emerged as a cheaper alternative to manuscripts and books printed with movable type. These were all short heavily illustrated works, the bestsellers of the day, repeated in many different block-book versions (Bibles).
Printing
Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg introduced movable type to Europe, along with innovations in casting the type based on a matrix and hand mould.
Printing
Communal knowledge possible
Scientists could form distant communities
Page numbering and indexes invented and used
Standardization in form and spelling
Reading moves from communal to private activity

Printing
Authorship becomes more important and profitable.
Who wrote it becomes important
Early copyright and intellectual property laws established
Decline of Latin and move towards vernacular language use
Contributed to growing nationalism


Counter-Reformation
Ignatius of Loyola (1491? – 1556)
Army officer and Christian mystic
Spiritual soldier fighting for Mother Mary & Christ
1521, he was badly wounded & crippled for life
Jesuits – demanded strict education
+ complete suppression of all self-will,
+ absolute obedience to the General of the Order, & through him, to the Pope
1534 founded the Society of Jesus in Paris
1540 Pope Paul III constituted the Society of Jesus
Emphasis on education.

Council of Trent
From December 13, 1545, to December 4, 1563
Condemnations on what it defined as Protestant heresies
Defined Church teachings in the areas of Scripture and Tradition, Original Sin, Justification, Sacraments, the Eucharist in Holy Mass and the veneration of saints
Council of Trent: outcomes
Delegates addressed abuses
Reforms addressed corruption of clergy
Training of priests regulated
Financial abuses curbed
Sale of indulgences abolished
Rejected Protestants’ emphasis on self-discipline, individual faith
Argued church help believers achieve salvation using mystery, magnificent ceremonies to inspire faith
Practical Impact?
Council of Trent: outcomes
Flaithrí Ó Maolchonaire – wrote catechism based on Trent, including the pamphlet “De statu parvulorum sine baptismo decedentium ex hac vita juxta sensum beati Augustini”
Cillin
Renaissance: Why in Italy at this Time?
Revival of Commerce and Town Building was more intense in Italy
Feudalism had less of a grip on Italy
Two competing lords for control of Italy were losing influence
Presence of antiquity was stronger in Italy than elsewhere in Europe
European Economic Recovery
Dramatic recovery of European commerce
Important industries flourish in Northern Italy
The significance of printing and mining as new industries
The fifteenth-century banking empire of the Medici family in Florence
Renaissance Economics
Profit-making became more important than Church doctrine
To overcome guilt, profit-makers indulge in philanthropy
Influence of guilds declining
High profits led to economic diversification
Renaissance Economics
“Cottage Industry”
Art became the way to advertise economic success
Intensified commercial competition created the need to be efficient
Renaissance Society
Renaissance is an elitist historical phenomenon
Northern Italy was urban and commercial while Southern Italy mostly was not
Very family-oriented society
Marriages were frequently arranged to strengthen business ties
Renaissance Society
Father’s authority over his family
Some wealthy women played an important role in Italian city-states
--Isabella d’Este of Mantua
Concentration of wealth among great families
-- “populo grosso”
Renaissance Society
Extreme social stratification divided into factions around the wealthiest families
Poor increasingly attempting to improve their social status
--The Ciompi Revolt (1378)
-- “populo minuto”
“The Cult of the Individual”
Renaissance Society
Number of portraits painted during this era illustrates focus on the individual
A true nobleman
Growing humanism and secularism in a Christian context
Focus on man’s free will
Rewards for living excellently came in this life
Renaissance Politics
Same pattern and problems as those of the Greek city-states
Inter-city warfare led to new advances in diplomacy
-- “balance of power”
Northern Italian “communes”
The Peace of Lodi (1454)
Renaissance Politics
Rome, Venice, Milan, Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples
Renaissance Venice
Renaissance Florence
--Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492)
1300’s republicanism became 1400’s despotism—with the exception of Venice
Renaissance Politics
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
-- “The Prince”
The goal of the prince must be power
Cynical view of human nature
Fear is a better motivator than affection
Politics as the art of deception
Renaissance Politics (cont)
Ancient and contemporary examples of effective political leaders
--Cesare Borgia
A new realism in political thought
1400’s “Civic” humanism
Leonardo Bruni’s The New Cicero
Henry VIII as a Renaissance prince
Renaissance Art and Architecture
The proliferation of portraiture and its significance
The depiction of nudes
Nudity in medieval art
Imitation of nature was a primary goal
Pagan scenes and themes such as classical mythology were popular subjects with no apologies to the Church
Renaissance Art and Architecture
Boticelli’s “Birth of Venus”
Giotto’s admiration for Saint Francis
Status of artist is elevated to cultural hero
Renaissance art stressed proportion, balance and harmony—and was not otherworldly
Artistic problems of perspective and composition addressed
Renaissance Art and Architecture
These problems were solved by emphasizing the mathematical side of painting
--Brunelleschi’s “linear perspective”
Innovations in Renaissance painting
- “chiaroscuro” (bold contrasts affecting a whole composition)
- “sfumato” (overlaying translucent layers of colour to create perceptions of depth, volume and form)
Renaissance Art and Architecture
Differences between Italian and Northern European painting
--Italian frescoes vs. Northern European altar pieces
Jan Van Eyck’s oil paintings
Rome became the center of the High Renaissance (1480-1520)
Renaissance Art and Architecture
Raphael (1483-1520)
Man of great sensitivity and kindness
Died at the age of 37
“The School of Athens”
Famous for frescoes in the Vatican Palace
Renaissance Art and Architecture
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)
True Renaissance Man
Scientist, inventor, engineer and naturalist
Dissected Corpses
Short attention span





Renaissance Art and Architecture
Michelangelo
Neo-Platonist
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Conflict with Pope Julius II
Incredible energy and endurance
“Mannerism”


Renaissance Education and Philosophy
Humanistic age
Various types of humanism
Great fervor displayed in finding and collecting old documents
Leads to critical examination of documents
--Lorenzo Valla
Education produces moral uplift
Renaissance Education and Philosophy
A true liberal education
Humanist education for women
Love for the study of history most of all
A Greek language fad after 1454
Petrarch (1304-1374): the Father of Italian Renaissance humanism
Focus on the individual and his dignity
Spread of Humanism to the Rest of Europe
Popular publications in the early days of the printing press
Thomas More
--Utopia
--Executed by Henry VIII in 1535
Erasmus—Dutch Christian Humanist
Allowed a pan-European movement to begin
Ireland in the Renaissance? Rus et Urbes
Ireland is generally represented as a blank spot on the map for the Renaissance.
Broadly speaking this period, from the 14th century to the 16th century is characterised as barbarous.
Is this to misunderstand some of the broader patterns in Irish society, best exemplified by the presence of the rural and urban residences known as Tower Houses.
Urban houses
Newcastle Lyons
Urban houses: Dalkey
Tradition has it that there were seven castles in Dalkey (recorded in 1770).
It was the unofficial port for Dublin from the late 14th century when the mouth of the Liffey silted up.
Urban houses: Dalkey
Dalkey had begun to prosper in the early 14th century, although it had been in existence on lands owned by the archbishop since at least the mid-13th century.
It was never given a charter.
Dalkey
There were already 39 burgesses in Dalkey in 1326.
A 1385 petition by the Dublin merchants stated that: For want of deep water in the harbour there never has been anchorage for large ships laden with wine, iron or other commodities. All such anchor at Dalkey within six leagues of Dublin.
Dalkey
Dalkey was an expensive stopover – carriage to Dublin by horse and cart was some 10% of the cost of the goods.
Some ships were merely lightened on their way to Dublin.
Dalkey
In 1482 the archbishop was granted a market and the it was claimed Dalkey could muster 200 men-at-arms.
There were gates at the ends of the main street.

Dalkey
There was also a town ditch.
Some traces of a 2 m high bank and a defensive ditch survived around the town.
Dalkey
The full circuit is not clear today.
Dalkey
Of the seven castles, only two are visible today while the location of up to four others are also known (in 1770, one was inhabited, two were pubs, one had a roof, one was a stable, one part of an old cabin and one was demolished).
Of the two surviving castles, one is now the town hall.
Goat Castle, Dalkey
Name derives from the crest of the Cheevers family which was a demi-goat, although the name itself comes from Norman French ‘chevre’ which means goat.
Goat Castle, Dalkey
Garderobe in north wall (opposite corner from door).
Storage area below arch of vault.
Wall walk at roof level where there are two turrets and battlements.
Two machicolations projecting slightly beyond the battlements.
Possibly 15th century in date.
Archbolds Castle, Dalkey
Archbolds Castle is on the opposite side of the street to Goat Castle.
May have been the subject of a grant to a John Dongan in 1585 but probably never owned by the Archbolds.
Archbolds Castle, Dalkey
Vaulted at ground floor level with a storage area like Goat Castle.
Access to upstairs via an inter-mural staircase.
There is a large fireplace in the third storey.
Archbolds Castle, Dalkey
Wall-walk at roof level.
There is a single surviving turret.
Machicolations from the battlements protect the door.
Dublin walls (1904 reconstruction map)

John Speeds map of Dublin 1610
Dublin walls
Mural towers appear to have been built for the Viking town defences as the re-built gatehouse at the west of the town became known as the Newgate in 1177.
Certainly by 1190 there were payments for the building of the city walls.
By 1225 there were murage grants for fortifying the city.
Genevel’s Tower
On Ross Road to the west of the castle.
Measures 11.60 m by 6.40 m wide. Survived to first floor level.
Mural tower from early to mid-13th century.
Genevels Tower
Isolde’s Tower
Part of late 13th century extension to the walls.
Up to 4.70 m internal diameter, with 3.90 m thick walls.

Isolde’s Tower
Isolde’s Tower
Perrots 1585 survey of the walls and tower provides us the names assigned to them at that date.

Isolde’s Tower
Stanihurst relates that it was a ‘castle of pleasure of the king to recreat themselves therein…’
Tristan came from Dublin to bring his lover Isolde back to Cornwall. She was already engaged and Tristan was injured in a duel with her betrothed. She nursed him back to health.
Isolde’s Tower
Rural houses
In 1429, a statute of Henry VI decreed that a grant of £10 would be available to every man in the Pale who built a castle of stone by 1439
This should measure 20 ft by 16 ft and 40 ft high
This appears to be the origin of tower houses
Tower houses
True tower houses continued to be built into the 16th century and 17th century in various forms
They may have a surrounding bawn or defended enclosure
They incorporate features such as helical (spiral) staircases and intra-mural passages
Bagenal’s Castle,Newry
Built by Nicholas Bagenal in 1570s
Plans survive in Crown Records Office in Kew London
Ground Floor
First Floor
Second Floor
Top Floor
Excavation showed the 1570s ground plan to have a number of inaccuracies.
The real ground plan (below) suggests a tower house like Ballug, Roodstown or Termonfeckin in Louth (right)