Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité!

 

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity! This was the rallying cry of the French Revolution. The Revolution ushered in an era in France where the family was no longer looked at as the center of religious formation, but as a breeding ground to create good citizens of the state. Secularism was prized as religious institutions lost money and power within the government. Breastfeeding your children became a mother’s patriotic duty and adultery was emphasized as a wrongdoing not because it was a sin, but because it was viewed as an aristocratic indulgence.  

The secularism that was prominent in France during the Revolutionary era is still very much a part of French society today. Walk around France with any sort of religious memorabilia and you are asking to be given weird looks. France even has a ban on Muslim women wearing burqas. But what about America?

I am almost never without my silver “Mustard Seed Communities” bracelet that I got from a mission trip I took to Nicaragua 3 years ago. I have necklaces and earrings with crosses. I have t-shirts and hoodies from retreats and from school. I would wear these anywhere and I’ve never felt uncomfortable. In America, politicians with some sort of religious connection are much more likely to be trusted by voters than a candidate that would proclaim themselves as agnostic, atheist, or secular. In America religion is ingrained into our society. People attend Church often to fit in with others in their community and keep up appearances. Our coins say “In God We Trust” and our pledge to our flag mentions God. We assume that most people we come in contact with have some sort of religious background. Religious schools just like the elementary school, high school, and college that I have attended are found throughout the country.

France’s secular nature came out of their internal Revolution and continues today. America’s religious nature comes from the religious beliefs of those first colonists that founded towns in the “new world” to escape religious persecution and has continued in society today.       

Who’s That Tramping Over My Bridge?

 

 

    

Storytelling and folklore are an important part of human history. These stories, which began as oral traditions, pass on the beliefs, morals, and ideals of the culture in which they are from. As important as the words to the story is the way in which the story is told.

I may be biased, but I believe that my mom has THE BEST storytelling voice. I remember all the stories she would read to my brothers and I when we were little. One of my favorites was The Three Billy Goats Gruff (If you never had the privilege of hearing this story when you were young the Wikipedia entry has a plot summary). She had different voices for each of the three goats, from the littlest with a high pitched voice, to the biggest with a deep voice. My favorite was the voice she gave to the mean troll living under the bridge. I’m 21 years old, but I could pick up the book right now and still imitate that rough, angry troll voice. Even when my brothers and I got older my mom still read to us at night. I remember the first chapter book that she read to me, The Wind in the Willows. I also remember that after she would tuck me in at night I would get out of bed and try to listen through my bedroom walls to the story she was reading to my brother. 

So what’s the point of this (besides to tell you about my mom and her storytelling)? Well, the reason I still remember these stories and their lessons is because of the way in which my mom told the story. I have to think that this is also why centuries old stories are still being told. Because they have been told in such a way to make them memorable to each generation that has encountered them.

“WHO’S. THAT. TRAMPING. OVER. MY. BRIDGE.?” It’s the generations before us that have preserved stories in oral tradition by passing them down in a special way to their children.                                

 

Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number

How often do we see those birthday cards in the grocery store that have some sort of joke about getting older? At the same time, how often do we think of wise people and always think of someone older, perhaps a grandparent? Is the way we treat the elderly different now from the Renaissance and Early Modern period of Europe?

Answering this question isn’t as easy as you would think. A major division in how the elderly were treated depended on religious beliefs and culture. In Christian families of the time period the elderly were often viewed as a hindrance. Children were waiting for their parents to die so that they could inherit money and possibly the family business. Children would take care of their aging parents only by providing them with a little money to live on.

In Jewish families during the same period elderly parents were treated differently. Sons as well as son-in-laws would not only give elderly parents money, they would also often let a widowed elderly parent (especially a widowed mother/mother-in-law) live with them. They would provide them with food, clothing, and a place to live until their death. Jewish families acknowledged the great wisdom and mental strength of their elders. They respected them for enduring the many hardships that challenged Jews of the time such as prejudice and unstable living environments (Jews were often looked at as scapegoats for all sorts of common problems of the day and could be chased out of villages, cities, and towns by the Christian population).

I don’t know many people that would want to live with their elderly in-laws like the Jewish families did. In America I think we do take care of elderly in our family, but we draw a certain line as to what we will do. We will help them mow their lawn, organize their medications, fix things around their house, call them and talk about current events, shovel their driveway if it snows, make sure they are eating healthy, help them try to understand modern technology, and other small things. But once they cannot live independently, we don’t tend to have them move into our homes. We help them move to an assisted living facility or a nursing home. We visit them, but we no longer really take care of them.

I don’t think we just wait for the elderly to die so we can inherit their money and possessions. We care for and respect our elderly much more than Early Modern Christian families. We just don’t want to live with them once they can no longer live independently.

I’m A Daddy’s Girl

I’ll admit it. I’m a daddy’s girl and always have been. I’m not only the youngest child in my family, I’m also the only girl. My dad and I have always had a special relationship. I’m my dad’s “little princess” and “little blonde mop” (when I was younger my hair was really blonde and my dad would flip me upside down and pretend to mop the floor with my hair). For my 12th birthday my dad brought home a dozen pink roses and told me he wanted to be the first man to buy me flowers (I always wonder if he remembers this story). I’ve been incredibly blessed to have the father that I have.

You want to know who didn’t feel the same way about their father? Anna, the Bürgermeister’s daughter. Anna was part of a wealthy middle class family in sixteenth century Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. Feeling that her father, Hermann Büschler, had not lived up to the parental duties of the era, which included arranging a suitable marriage for Anna, she rebelled. And I don’t mean the harmless rebelling that some kids do today like dying their hair blue or getting their nose pierced. She rebelled pretty hard. Rumor has it (and is probably accurate) that Anna often stole from her father. She stole money, grain, towels, linens, and pawned jewelry to get money to “pretty herself up.”  On top of stealing, Anna also dressed immodestly for the time period. Dressing immodestly may not seem like such a problem now, but in the sixteenth century it was a HUGE deal. So much so that one Sunday Anna wore a gaudy hat to church and the next Sunday the minister focused on her inappropriate dress in his sermon.  

However, Anna’s father could somewhat handle the stealing and immodest dress. What brought him over the edge and caused him ultimately to throw Anna out of his house was her sexual behavior. Hermann found Anna’s stash of love letters in a barrel of his goods that she planned to steal and sell. These letters informed Hermann that his daughter had two lovers and that she was sleeping with both of these lovers at the same time. Anna’s father believed this was practically prostitution. Thus Anna was kicked out of her father’s home.

Anna’s relationship with her father was a mess. She justified her rebellious behavior by blaming her father for not finding her a suitable husband and wanting to keep her dowry to himself. He justified throwing her out of the house because of the terrible behavior she exhibited. 

As much as I tried harnessing my girl power spirit to identify with Anna while reading her story I just couldn’t find a justifiable reason for her to act the way she did. Her father’s actions did not justify her stealing from her father to get money or acting in an immodest way that could destroy her family’s honor and reputation. I don’t necessarily think her father should have kicked her out, but for the time period I could completely understand why he did. I’m probably biased because I have a good relationship with my dad, but I really think that Anna was more at fault in this situation.  

The Rules You Applied To Me, You Don’t Apply To You

Double standards. They have been a part of society for millennia. Part of the divide between men and women are these double standards that set different rules for the different genders. In Renaissance era Florence the double standard for men and women was quite obvious. The story of Giovanni and Lusanna illustrates this.

Giovanni was an aristocratic gentleman. Men like Giovanni often did not get married until their mid-thirties. Before they got married, it was common for these aristocratic men to have sex partners that were from an inferior class (i.e. servants, peasant girls).

Lusanna was a widowed daughter of an artisan. As a woman, her chastity was highly valued for family honor to be maintained.If a woman in Florentine society was not chaste, it would also taint her family’s name and affect their social standing.

In sleeping with Lusanna, Giovanni was conforming to the standards of men in Florentine society. Lusanna however, was not conforming to the chastity standards of women. Unlike Giovanni, Lusanna had to be careful to protect her chastity in order to preserve her family’s honor. In the story of Giovanni and Lusanna, Lusanna would be judged harshly for her actions, while Giovanni would be seen as acting within the standards of society.

Does this story of double standards in sexual behavior remind you of anything? Perhaps our own society where men and women continue to be judged by different codes of sexual conduct?

 *post title from lyrics of “Double Standard” by Sheena Easton

Sharing Pictures On Your Wall…Literally

To go along with my last post about different ways to share photos. This commercial shows us how to share photos on our wall, and I don’t mean on Facebook.

Royal Renaissance Instagramming

How many different ways do we share pictures? We use email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and numerous other social media and internet sources. For certain events and holidays we even use snail mail to send photos. In my house you know it’s December when my mom begins hanging up all of the Christmas cards around the doorway leading from our front foyer into the kitchen. Many of the Christmas cards today consist of a family photo with a simple message next to it like “Happy Holidays -The Jones Family”. When people have children or want others to know how their family has changed and grown they send photos.

So what does any of this have to do with the Renaissance? They obviously didn’t have photography then. Well, how did wealthy Renaissance families let others know what their family/children looked like? We send photos in envelopes, but in the Renaissance they would send painted portraits to family and friends. Yes, hand painted portraits. Imagine if we still did this. My mom would need a lot more space than just a doorway to hang up all those Christmas pictures.

We may not send painted portraits to friends and family any more but, it is interesting to think that even in the Renaissance people wanted to show others what their family or children looked like and they did this the only way they knew how, by shipping painted portraits.

The Faith of Our Fathers

In the time of the Protestant Reformation children were supposed to respect their parents, most importantly their father. Though Protestantism, for the most part, prized the patriarchal family structure, it also required people to leave the faith of their fathers to convert to this new religion. Protestant reformers often used Ezekiel 21:18, “Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols”, as somewhat of a rallying cry to convince people that it was okay to turn away from their father’s faith and the faith they had grown up in to join a new Christian religion. In a time where parental authority was highly prized, it was not easy to turn away from the faith of one’s father.

I would like to argue that to a certain extent it may be easier today to leave the faith of our fathers, depending on what religion you are converting to. So for the purpose of this blog post let’s say you are converting to a mainline Protestant faith (i.e. Lutheranism, Episcopalian) or leaving religion (i.e. non-practicing, agnostic, atheist). How faithfully your parents practice their religion also matters. In today’s society, many people do not practice their religion as faithfully as in centuries past. If your parents practice a religion casually, then it could be easier for you to leave that religion behind because you would view that religion as not being important.

However, if your parents are like mine (faithfully attending Church each Sunday and making sure to raise my siblings and me in the faith by sending us to Catholic schools and incorporating religion at home through statues, religious memorabilia, and prayer) then it would be much more difficult to leave the faith. I believe that the importance my parents placed on religion has impacted me and made me realize the importance of faith in my life. Though my parents’ dedication to the Catholic faith has inspired me, it would make it difficult and cause tension if I ever decided to leave Catholicism for another religion or leave religion all-together.  

I think that those during the Protestant Reformation that left their parents’ faith would find it immensely more difficult than people today. During the Protestant Reformation religion was taken much more seriously by a larger segment of the population whereas today less and less people are practicing the faith of their fathers, or religion in general. While some in today’s society, like myself, would find it difficult to turn their back on the faith of their parents, I believe many would have a much easier time doing so in today’s more secular world than in centuries past.    

It’s All About The Benjamins

That’s right. It’s all about the Benjamins. Well, technically during the Italian Renaissance I guess it was all about the Florins. In the Diary of Gregorio Dati, a man living in Italy during the late 14th and early 15th century, it was all about the money. His diary entries were filled with financial recordings and business deals. But what stuck out to me the most was the connection between Dati’s marriages and money.  

Dati was married four times. Each time a new wife is introduced in his diary one of the first things we learn is the dowry that came along with his marriage to her. Often times these dowries helped Dati get out of tough economic problems that he had encountered in his business. It made me wonder, why would Dati get married so many times? Did he only marry these women for the dowry that they brought to the table and the economic benefits of the union? 

This then made me consider modern marriages. Do people consider economic benefits of marriages in today’s society? I decided to Google search “economic benefits of marriage in America” and found an overwhelming number of articles about this topic. The best one came from Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/cost-of-living/financial-benefits-marriage-162452516.html). This article discusses financial benefits of marriage such as being added to a spouse’s healthcare plan if you lose your job, up to 25% lower rates on home and auto insurance, and easier ways to save money for retirement. 

I’m not sure how many couples think about the economic benefits of marriage. I would hope that most marriages are not “all about the Benjamins”, or Florins,  but for those that are thinking about marriage the benefits should be considered. 

 

 

 

 

 

How Would You Live If The World Was Ending?

Have you ever thought about how you would live your life if you knew the world was about to end? Would you live without regard for the rules and norms of society? Would you spend all your time with family and friends? Would you hide yourself away in an attempt to stop the inevitable? 

Those living in Europe during the Middle Ages needed to decide how they would live their lives in the final days of the world. This is because when the Black Plague hit Europe in 1347 (and then again several times over in waves that occurred about every 10 years) people took it as a sign of the apocalypse. 

Some people decided that the best thing to do was to flee their homes (and their families) and lock themselves away to avoid the disease and try to survive. Others decided that if the world was ending they wanted to live each moment to its fullest. They decided that heavy drinking and other forms of medieval merrymaking were the best ways to spend the last few days on Earth. 

So what would I do if the world was ending? I would use my time left and spend it with my family. Even with the threat of a terrible illness, I would want to be with my family when the end comes.

What would you do if you knew the world was ending?