Day 5: Spanish Inquisition

            My final stop in my European tour is Spain, where there currently is a Spanish Inquisition taking place.  They have put in place a Censorship policy that is impressive on paper, but pathetic in practice.  I was reading their proposals, and it seemed very notable to me.  However, those thoughts immediately changed when I physically saw the Inquisition in real practice.  The Censorship policy is only operational in Castile and Leon which leaves all other parts of Spain free from the inquisition’s grasps.  In addition, Censorship is more applicable in large cities rather than the country side because it was more effective in the cities with the bureaucratic infrastructure.  In the country side however, it was not uncommon for inquisition supports to go into mountain villages to convert heretics.  The inquisition is received violent punishment for their actions, however, they also gave punishment to others.
            The general reality of the inquisition was the disconnect between the reality and the myths of the inquisition. The main purpose of the Inquisition was to intimidate heretics from their heresies.  The general reality also is the inquisition was rather lenient than the myths of the severe treatments of heretics.
            As I finish my tour around Europe, after witnessing events from Italian Renaissance and Humanism, to Northern Renaissance and Christian Humanism, to Reformation and a Counter-Reformation, as well as an inquisition, I have gained an extensive amount of knowledge and experience; I am so privileged to have been a part of such historical events!

I am George W. Bush, and I approve this blog!

Day 4: Counter-Reformation and Inquisition

            Martin Luther and John Calvin have had acts of reformation for the Church, including both their developments in Lutheranism and Calvinism.  However, there is a counter-reformation going on by the Church in order to keep followers.  Pope Paul III was slow to react to the decreased number of Catholic followers, however he did react.  He called a Council meeting – Council of Trent. Pope, Bishops and Clerks took part in this series of council meetings.  When the Council was called, there was excitement and hope in Christians because the Council could potentially amalgamate and reconcile all the Christian ideas into one Doctrine.  This could put an end to the turmoil in Christian strife.  However, Pope Paul III was determined to not make any compromises with the Protestants, he wanted to keep Roman Catholicism the same.  He wanted to destroy the movement of the reformation brought by Martin Luther and John Calvin.  I was able to attend a speech in Rome where they announced what they had accomplished in the Council of Trent.  At the end of the 3 meetings, the Council of Trent reinforced the idea of transubstantiation which is the Body and Blood of Christ.  They also tried to reinforce the Catholic Free Will.  The downfall of these accomplishments was all the decisions were what the Pope wanted, so it did not benefit any Protestants what so ever.  This frustrated me because I knew the importance of the Protestant movement and how they wanted to have their own voice that Luther and Calvin developed for their people. 
            The repercussions of the Council of Trent were that the Pope became extremely angry and frustrated with the Protestant movement.  Military crackdowns began taking place on Protestants from Hapsburgs.  These military crackdowns lead to an unexpected inquisition.
            As I sit in my room, I read and hear about the Inquisition that is currently taking place.  My Secret Service is taking me into hiding for my protection because of the increased violence around Europe.  The inquisition arose from the desire to maintain orthodoxy.  Protestants were generally assumed guilty which perverted justice.  This main inquisition was lead by Torquemada; who has Royal support from the Pope.  Torquemada succeeded in expelling 200,000 Jews from Spain in response to Catholic anti-Semitism movements.  These vicious movements are violent, and uncalled for.  I truly fear for the Protestants of Europe! But because I come from the future, I know that Protestants remain alive and strong because it is such a huge part of the United States’ Christianity; this gives me a little peace of mind.

Day 3: Reformation

            As I travel through time and throughout Europe, I have seen lots of progress and developments made in many countries over the years; humanism, the Renaissance era, and now it’s into the Reformation time period.  I do have sad news though, Thomas More was executed by King Henry VIII on Tower Hill a few months ago, I was so saddened by the news.  I wasn’t too fond of the unrest between the two influential men.
            Anyways, through this reformation time period, I have learned about two very significant “Reformers.”  One who I thought was related to our Martin Luther King, however, I learned that his name was just inspired by this 1500s Martin Luther.  Martin Luther is referred to as the Father of Protestant Reformation.  Luther is a very devoted Roman Catholic Monk and a Professor of theology.  Luther is currently visiting Rome where he is appalled by the conditions of living; he saw poverty, prostitution and corruption in and out of the Church.  This is not how he expected or wanted to see Rome, home of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.  In addition, the Pope was implementing a corrupt practice of ‘Sales of Indulgences.’  Essentially, the ‘Sales of Indulgences’ was a way for the Church to regain followers that it had lost from Renaissance thinkers and artists.  A person would purchase a Sales of Indulgences certificate to save you from going to hell; so no matter what you did you “would” go to Heaven.  Now I know that this is just a huge scam, but unfortunately, Italy is so corrupt from the Renaissance, that people will believe anything the Pope tells them.  Luther was so disgusted with the Pope’s actions and now manipulative he has been to his people.  Luther went back to his home town and publicly condemned the Pope.  He would preach the Bible to show how corrupt the Pope is.  Also, he claims that the Bible is a higher authority than the Church, which began the Protestant Reformation.  Luther is the movement of the Reformation, he is the movement of tomorrow.  In addition, I have been informed that Luther has developed the first ever colloquial language Bible, written in German.  This represents a huge revolution in Christianity.  This is such a huge revolution for two reasons.  One, because it takes away a lot of the power from the Pope.  And two, the German people can now read the Bible in their own language so they can begin to learn Christianity for themselves and question information that has been presented by the Pope.  Martin Luther is truly the Father of Protestant Reformers!
            Another significant man I have had the opportunity to get to know in Europe is John Calvin.  Calvin is extremely similar to Martin Luther in values and beliefs.  They both believe in the corruption of the Catholic Church and how the Church needs a reformation.  However, Calvin had more of an expansive view than Luther on Protestantism.  Luther believes in pre-destination, pre-destined to be saved not damned.  However, Calvin believes that you can be pre-destined to be damned.  He argues that your life is an indication of your ultimate fate.  Calvin developed a much harsher and stricter code of Lutheranism; he expanded Lutheranism to create a new sector of Christianity called Calvinism.  Calvin is determined to make people live a very simple life.  Also, he is very much in favour of uniting his Calvinist state and the Church, therefore he is a supporter in theocracy of uniting the Church and the State.  Despite Luther and Calvin’s differences, both men are huge contributions to the Protestant Reformation! 
            These men are very influential to me as a Christian believer!

Day 2: Northern Renaissance and Christian Humanism

              My secret service has been explaining to me the current situation across Europe about their political and ideological movements.  Unlike the Italian Renaissance, the Church is at the heart of the Northern Renaissance.  (Which I’m a personal fan of) Europe (with the exclusion of Italy) wants to reform the church, they want to renew Christian life instead of abandoning it.  In this day in age, Clerics, Bishops, and Cardinals were heavily criticized for being wealthy.  They were criticized because God representatives are not supposed to be wealthy because Jesus and Joseph were poor carpenters.  They were also criticized for being ignorant and ill-informed about religion.  The reason why they were being ill-informed was because they were taught a very small segment of Christianity theology, and they focus on only a small part of the text.  And because of these complains, they decided to work on rebuilding institutions.  They have put in place ‘Cathedral Schools’ designed to teach people, both the Priests and any person, about the Bible and Religious texts.  I had the fortunate opportunity to visit one of the Cathedral Schools during my visit of Europe.  I had the chance to learn various excerpts of the Bible; it was very intriguing!  Intriguing indeed.  I also had the opportunity to learn about the Church Fathers; St. Jerome (Vulgate), St. Augustine (Pelagius), St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Ambrose.  All of the Church Fathers had a direct impact on Church and Bible Interpretations.  During my visit to the Cathedral Schools, someone introduced me into three very significant figure heads; Francois Rabelais, Erasmus and Thomas More.  I have the opportunity to meet them at the Rectory to enjoy some tea this afternoon to get to know these influential men. 
            I am sitting in the Rectory with these 3 men; how great it feels to be sitting amongst such significant  people.   If only I could be sitting here with Deng Xiaoping!
            The first man I had the pleasure of meeting was Francois Rabelais, a church critic.  Rabelais explained to me that he is an advocate of rational reform.  As well as a frequent Satirist of religion, eschatology; because of this he was deemed a heretic.  The second man I met was Erasmus, who is another humanist as well as a Satirist of the church.  Erasmus told me that he works to restore “true” theology.  Erasmus seems to be a very significant and influential man of his time.  He desires gentle reform but ridiculed hypocrisy.  From what I have noticed, Erasmus avoids any public authority as he disagrees with public service.  He also explained to me that he views Humanism as preparing your soul for afterlife.  He argues that we the people should live for today and Christianity can be used to facilitate that.  These teachings of Erasmus – trying to get Christians to think for themselves and using the Bible as a practical guide in everyday life, lead to Vernacular translations of the Bible in reformation which is the common language.  I was truly impressed by Erasmus’s ideologies and values, I felt that I could truly relate to his moral values and beliefs.  The third and final man I met was Thomas More.  More is devoted to the Catholic Church and he will defend it in any situation.  From what I have heard through people across Europe as well as More himself, there is some current unrest between More and King Henry VIII.  More is a Roman Catholic, and King Henry wants a divorce from his wife, so he is creating a new Church which is a branch of the Catholic Church.  More truly disagrees with this movement, and King Henry does not like that he disagrees...we will see where this dispute leads us in coming weeks.
            It was a pleasure getting to know these gentlemen, I feel like I am truly gaining so much knowledge with my journey to the past!

Day 1: Italian Renaissance and Humanism

My name is George W. Bush.  And I approve this blog!

                I have travelled back in time from my 21^st Century Presidency to the 1300s to Italy to experience their ideologies of the Renaissance.  From my research (that my secret service did for me because I don’t give a hoot about all this Renaissance stuff), I have learned that this Italian Renaissance secular movement is a push for separation between the Church and the State.  (This is somewhat ridiculous if you ask me)  Renaissance thinkers believe that all things are tainted by the Church.  However, Pope Gregory VII, feels that scholasticism is the way to live; a philosophy of using religious dogma to solve philosophical problems – Faith, God and Will.  These two different ideologies during this era are causing quite a dispute and division in Italy. 
In addition, the Renaissance supporters believe that individual success is based on personal brilliance instead of your religion and what type of person you truly are.  From my perspective, Renaissance thinkers are well-intentioned but they often misinterpret classical texts.
                Wow, I think that I’m actually growing a slight interest for this Renaissance stuff...how interesting.  As I am filled with more information, I learn more!  Italy’s culture and traditions differ from the rest of Europe.  Developing in today’s day in age, humanism is a prominent ideology that is a branch of Renaissance philosophy.   Italy’s secular humanism is live for today, live in the now.  They look at the whole world as being a real world where success is attained.  In order for the Italian Humanists to persuade citizens, they are focusing on rhetoric, which is a type of persuasion through effective speech in politics.  They use classical allusions to give authority to their speeches.  I have even felt it while I’m here in Italy, I have been approached by Italian Humanists to push me to join their group.  Don’t they know who I am? I don’t support no Italian Humanism...that’s European stuff, I’m American.  Well anyways, I have had some interesting encounters in Italian streets, but they have all been important factors in my learning process about the Italian Renaissance and their Humanism ideologies.   I have really noticed how Humanism has many limitations.  And a majority of the limits pertain to women; limits to the progress in society for women, limited opportunities and limited jobs.  (Oh Laura wouldn’t like that...)  Although, on the whole, the Renaissance was a very progressive and modernizing movement which brought increased rights for an individual male, however not women. 
                I had a dinner party this evening with several of men of this century; Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Petrarch, Lorenzo de Medici, Boccaccio and Machiavelli.  I have heard about these men back in the 21^st Century, and I finally had the chance to meet them in person over dinner this evening.  I had the chance to speak with each one of them personally.  The first man I spoke with was Leonardo da Vinci, a humanist scholar.  He is a famous painter, architect and engineer.  His work is still famous in my day!  He displayed the Renaissance movement through his work – his paintings, and his architecture.  Next, I spoke with Michelangelo.  To me, he was famous for the painting on some chapel ceiling.  It was fascinating to actually meet this famous man and to hear what he is truly all about.  Michelangelo worked alongside of da Vinci in many of his architectural projects.  Michelangelo is an amazing sculptor and is perhaps most famous for his beautiful painting on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling.  He mainly did religious works because the Church is where all the money is.  (He is my kind of guy! Money, money, money) It is great getting to know these gentlemen through conversations that I never dreamed of having.  Following Michelangelo, I spoke with Petrarch.  Petrarch is the first modern writer.  He writes in Italian, so unfortunately, I can’t read his work.  Petrarch is the Father of Humanism, this huge movement and ideology I am experiencing while I am here in Italy.  Petrarch argues that it is more moral to get involved in politics and civil life than study religious studies,  so Petrarch does support the Church and State separation, that I don’t agree with but it is his opinion.  Next, I spoke with Lorenzo de Medici.  Medici is a Renaissance patron of the arts who supports creativity.  From what I understand, Medici has a very centralized power structure, and he is very popular in Florence, Italy.  Following Medici, I met with Boccaccio.  Boccaccio is influence by Petrarch and his ideologies; mainly in advocating introducing Greek literature into Italian education.  Boccaccio popularized vernacular writing which is the key for spreading Renaissance ideas.  Finally, I had the chance to meet with Niccolo Machiavelli.  Machiavelli supports the idea of history because the more you know about the past, the more you can learn from it and use it in the future. Throughout this evening’s dinner, I have noticed some tension between Medici and Machiavelli, but I could not understand why until I personally met Machiavelli.  He was a former employer of the Medici family, who holds immense political power in and out of Florence.  Machiavelli wrote the book “The Prince,” which is about political endeavours to be successful.  “Better to be feared than loved as a political leader,” he said.  I could use those tactics back in the 21^st Century for my presidency!  Machiavelli is very practical, rational and fair in his decisions.  However, Medici feared that someone could actually use the book ideas and take over the Medici family dominance.  Hopefully things can be sorted out between the two.
                It was a pleasure getting to know these gentlemen tonight and hearing about their ideologies and views on the Renaissance and Humanism in Italy.  Now I am leaving Italy and travelling around Europe!