The Renassiance

We are coming to the close of the Renaissance and I still constantly misspell the word as a blog- which I think is fitting for the age. It is a movement and era in history which is hard to define and grasp in a simple singular dimension. Of all the eras we have studied in HUST ( and at this point due to my unusual HUST journey I have studied them all!) I find the Renaissance the most enigmatic. Enigmatic in the same sense its most famous portrait the Mona Lisa is- it appears simple enough at first but then we realize we are just skimming the surface and there is something mysterious hidden in the portrait that has never been achieved before

This is perhaps due to the fact that more than any other era in history it was extremely transitional. Perhaps it is because the Northern and Southern Renaissance are very different but share a common thread at their core. It was an which marked a decided shift into the modern era with the explosion of new ways of thinking and a reformation which would change the political and religious face of Europe permanently.

In the end I think we must judge a tree by its fruit. And the fruit of the Renaissance was magnificent art, clever dialogues, and books and books and books!

Who Doesn't Love Fairies and Knights?

The way I see it there is no way this The Fairy Queen can fail. It has all the classic ingredients for a timeless tale- knights, fairies, and every other mythical creature the western world has to offer ( well he did miss the vampire boat). There are so many levels to this work political, religious, and historical but it is also an enjoyable story filled with the same kinds of stories people have enjoyed for thousands of years. The poem has great depth but that shouldn't distract from the fact that the story is fun and worthy of enjoyment without all the intellectual analysis. Spencer goes to great depth to make the poem sound exciting and easy to stay interested. It is no summa theologica and to ignore the lighter and more fun side of the poem would be to miss something.

A New St. Thomas!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE St. Thomas Moore! As a Catholic Humanist he is one of my ultimate models. Combining an exemplary faith life with astounding intellectual acheivment. True there have been other famously intellectual saints ( I think one of them is named St. Thomas Aquinas, he is famous or something like that?) and there have been a long score of matyrs (Perpetua and Felicity remember them?) and even a few married ones...ok I can really only think of one at the moment( St. Monica- the mama of Augustine) BUT Thomas More is all of these things and as a result becomes a very rare kind of historical and religious figure. In a truly Renassiance fashion he is able to perfect mutltiple areas of life- spiritual, personal, political, intellectual- and blend them together seamlessly. He is also truly captures the spirit of the HUST program as he integrates his love of truth and knowledge into everything he does and approach everything problem with an integrated view of the world at large.

O- and he was a huge advocate of woman's education :)