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Since most people could not read, heraldry was invented.

design and short saying

They put their coat of arms, showing their heraldry, on banners, shields, tapestries and anything else they could think of.

coat of arms has a specific meaning

brave as a lion

place where travelers could stay during

helped to feed the poor, take care of the sick, and provided education to boys in the local community.

day in the Middle Ages was spent praying, worshiping in church, reading the Bible, and meditating.

different jobs depending on their talents and interests.

Abbot - The Abbot was the head of the monastery or abbey.

A part of this vow was that they were dedicating their life to the monastery and the order of monks they were entering.

They were to give up worldly goods and devote their lives to God and discipline. They also took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Monks and nuns were generally the most educated people during the Middle Ages. They spent much of their day in silence.

A scribe may spend over a year copying a long book like the Bible.

vernacular literatures.

The atmosphere of these bustling, trafficking cities called into existence a practical commercial spirit, a many-sided, independent, secular life which in many respects was directly opposed to medieval teachings and ideals.

So far-reaching and transforming was the influence of the old world of culture upon the nations of Western Europe that the Renaissance, viewed as the transition from the mediaeval to the modern age, may properly be regarded as beginning with its discovery, or rediscovery, and the appropriation of its riches by the Italian scholars.

It was a political, intellectual, and artistic life like that of the cities of ancient Greece.

Florence, for example, became a second Athens

Italy the birthplace of the Renaissance was the fact that in Italy the break between the old and the new civilization was not so complete as it was in the other countries of Western Europe.

Italians were closer in language and in blood to the old Romans than were the other new-forming nations

direct descendants and heirs of the old conquerors of the world

first task of the Italian scholars the recovery and appropriation of the culture of antiquity.

existence in the peninsula of so many monuments of the civilization and the grandeur of ancient Rome

-a recovery and appropriation by the Italians of the long-neglected heritage of Graeco-Roman civilization.

The movement here consisted of two distinct yet closely related phases, namely, the revival of classical literature and learning, and the revival of classical art

intellectual and literary phase of the movement

"Humanism,

study of the classics, the literae humaniores, or the "more human letters," in opposition to the diviner letters, that is, theology, which made up the old education.

Petrarch, the First of the Humanists.-- [Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374

He was the first scholar of the mediaeval time who fully realized and appreciated the supreme excellence and beauty of the classical literature and its value as a means of culture.

He could not read Greek, yet he gathered Greek as well as Latin manuscripts

During all the mediaeval centuries, until the dawn of the intellectual revival, the ruins of Rome were merely a quarry. The monuments of the Caesars were torn down for building material, the sculptured marbles were burned into lime for mortar.

union of Christian people with Christ, for water signifies 'people,' and... 'in the wine is manifested the blood of Christ'

The two most famous clauses of the charter, numbers 39 and 40, still resonate across the centuries. Clause 39 says that no free man shall be arrested, imprisoned or dispossessed of his lands without judgment of his peers or against the law of the land. Clause 40 says that to no free man will right or justice be delayed or denied.  

due process of law

unjust ruler and affirming principles of universal validity that still hold true today.

It is also an inspiration in that it encourages us to champion those same principles, to be vigilant in our defence of due process, and to assist those in less favoured lands who are fighting for the kind of freedoms that we, as a result of Magna Carta, take for granted.

The question then arises of what we think is the best way of preserving the rights of the individual against the state in future. Do we perhaps need a new Magna Carta, a bill of rights, to protect us from growing executive power and the flood of legislation pouring in from Europe?

Girls were virtually ignored when it came to education.

Many Christians of the late Middle Ages had a great fear of demons and devils, and were terrified of ending up in hell. Mortality rates were high and life was very uncertain due to disease, accidents, childbirth and wars. Luther shared those fears and his first years in the monastery he was tormented with the idea that all men were hopeless sinners in the sight of God and unworthy of salvation.

reason, he was sent to teach theology at the University of Erfurt, and in 1511, at the University of Wittenberg, where he received his Doctorate in Theology. In Wittenberg he was also the parish priest assigned to minister to the citizens of the town.

A major source of church funding during this period was the sale of indulgences. An indulgence was a "get out of purgatory card" that could be obtained for oneself or others by paying a certain sum to the church.

The Pope was selling offices and indulgences to get money for an ambitious building program which included the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. The Pope's representative, the Dominican Father Tetzel, encouraged people to buy the indulgences with the jingle, "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings The soul from Purgatory springs"

telling them their loved ones were crying out to be released from suffering.

He was shocked by the lack of morality and piety of the local clergy and by the luxurious lifestyle of the Pope Leo X, a member of the Medici family. Pope Leo was known for his expensive tastes and was fond of hunting, gambling and carnivals. The papacy was at a low point in its history and others had been calling out for reform prior to Luther.

He came to the conclusion there was no evidence in the Bible for believing the Pope had power to release souls from Purgatory.

He wrote out a list of his objections to the practice; he named 95 issues he wished to dispute.

On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his ninety-five theses, or points of discussion, on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The document was in Latin and invited other scholars to debate the statements set out.

The 95 Theses were translated into German and widely distributed throughout Germany, courtesy of the printing press.

There is no question, however, that Luther wrote the list and sent a copy of it to Prince Albert of Mainz.

The reaction of the Church initially was to try and suppress the attack on indulgences by suppressing Martin Luther.

The protest against the indulgences set off a conflagration which, step by step, resulted in most of Northern Europe breaking away from the authority of the Catholic Church.

It was clear by this time that there could be no coming together on these issues, since the very authority of the Pope was called into question.

The Church did act to curb the worst abuses of indulgences, but it was too late.

Luther was given safe conduct to attend the meeting and defend his positions. At the Diet of Worms, Luther was shown a table with a pile of his books and other writings. He was offered the opportunity to recant, but refused. Luther's reply was written down as he spoke it: "Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason -- I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other -- my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen." The printed document released after the Diet of Worms also contained the famous words, "Here I stand, I can do no other."

but he was now considered an outlaw.

declaring Luther a heretic and ordering his death.

He spent nearly a year there, writing furiously and fighting depression and numerous physical ailments. It was in a small study in the castle in 1522 that he translated the New Testament from Greek into German and profoundly influenced the form and standardization of the German language.

in Luther's absence numerous leaders had sprung up, each with his own interpretation of doctrine, and most having far more radical views than Luther.

Priests wore ordinary clothing and grew their hair, services were performed in German, monks and nuns were leaving the cloisters and getting married. Some groups were smashing images and statues in the churches and dragging priests away from the altars.

He convinced a couple of the more radical preachers to stop preaching or leave town.

twelve who had been smuggled out in herring barrels.

However, he impulsively announced he was marrying Katharina von Bora, to the great surprise of his friends.

Many were inspired by Martin Luther's challenge to the authority of the Church to challenge the secular powers as well.

Martin Luther wrote an appeal to the aristocrats to restore order by force.

Both sides were angry with Luther: the nobles blamed him for stirring up the people and the peasants blamed him for encouraging the nobles to use violence against them.

Luther wrote to and met with other leaders of the Reformation, such as Zwingli, to try and produce a unified statement of belief for the reformed church, but nothing came out of it because they were not able to agree on many of the doctrinal issues.