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               History 104A, November 30: Three for the Price of One!

 

               I have decided to give us a little James Burke again, so we have

 

          a multimedia session, two days if you will in a row or at least two

 

          meetings in a row.  I hadn't really anticipated doing the one on the

 

          centers, but I just bought it and I really did like it.  It obviously

 

          gets us into Martin Luther and the reformation.  What I wanted to

 

          identify again for you -- and it did come out in the film -- of the

 

          areas that I identified that make renaissance, how was Martin Luther a

 

          renaissance man?  A typical renaissance man?  Tough one, huh?  The

 

          answer really lies in the sense of individuality, the sense that the

 

          individual can achieve what they will.  And what's the ultimate

 

          achievement the individual can make?  Salivation, I guess, for some.

 

          So remember, starting with the Wycliffe and Hus or however he

 

          pronounced it -- I'm used to Hus.  And then of course being pushed by

 

          Martin Luther, the whole point being what we have then is the belief

 

          that individuals can achieve salivation without the need of

 

          intermediaries, that by reading the Bible you can find Christ.  And by

 

          finding Christ, you will do good works and good deeds and you don't

 

          need to talk to statutes of saints nor do you need to buy indulgences

 

          or an intermediary in the sense of a priest.  Men can do all things if

 

          they will.  Martin Luther had the personality as well as in the sense

 

          of braggadocio in promoting himself.  He did an excellent job of

 

          using, as it was indicated, the printing press.  The vernacular

 

          becomes important.  Vernacular means the native languages.  Throughout

 

          the middle ages, the language used in mass and everywhere else was

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          Latin.  Now, with the reformation, the native language becomes used.

 

          Translation, Martin Luther translates the Bible to German and later

 

          on, of course, the Bible is translated into English and the definitive

 

          quote/unquote version in 1603 or somewhere in that time is translated

 

          into English.  So again, that whole sense of worldliness, this world

 

          tied to individual salivation becomes very important to the

 

          renaissance era.

 

               And we'll also identify how Christopher Columbus or Colon,

 

          meaning Christ the colonizer.  Now, that's the height of braggadocio,

 

          take the name Christ the colonizer, not bad if you're going to brag

 

          about yourself.  And of course men can do all things if they will, go

 

          out there and see the world, search the world.  Forget about the flat

 

          Earth and the sea monsters, which most scholars knew at least the flat

 

          Earth didn't exist.  We'll get into that a little later as well.

 

               I just wanted to sort of tie that together in that sense of the

 

          meaning, even though they're different periods often in history,

 

          renaissance reformation, age of exploration, they really do tie

 

          together.  And they're, of course, within the same date period that

 

          we're discussing.

 

               The exam is coming close.  I think we have only three more BS

 

          lessons left by me to go.  Next week, Wednesday, you are terminated

 

          here.  And then you will terminate on, is it Monday, from 9:30 to

 

          11:30, that your exam is scheduled, if you will, correctly.  And it

 

          will be in this room.  That means that sometime next week I should

 

          give you a take-home question that I will have to work out.  Any

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          questions before I proceed to today's video?  All right.

 

                                     (showing video)

 

               Always tough in the morning to watch a film, but I always enjoy

 

          it because we never had any technology, technological learning in

 

          history and it really gives you a little of that background.  Okay.

 

          So explore for the rest of the day and we'll see you Friday.

 

                                        ---oOo---