Problem
1) Late Medieval Italy, Historical Context.
a) Briefly define feudalism in medieval Europe
b) Explain the two important events in the city of Florence in 1289 and 1292. Define and refer to the Guild Democracy?
c) Explain how the change in urban architecture reflects the shift in late medieval / early modern Italy?
d) Describe the tensions between nobles and merchants in Leonardo Bruni's History.
2) Dante's Inferno
a) I am not Aeneas; I am not Paul
b) Explain the meaning of "the battle of the journey and the pity" (Inferno II, vv.
c) Explain the meaning of Contrapasso and give at least three examples.
d) Explain Dante's "Moment of Triumph" in Limbo. Explain how the transition to Canto V revises that triumph.
e) Explain the lesson Dante the pilgrim must learn in the encounter with Francesca.
f) Explain the song she sings (the triple anaphora) and the approach to love.
g) Pier della Vigna / Inferno 13. What does the setting and imagery reveal about the nature of suicide? Where did Pier go wrong?
h) Explain Dante's innovative mode of reader engagement and how he uses the double apostrophe in Inferno 8 and 9 to do this.
i) Inferno 19. Explain what Simony is. Whom does Dante meet in this canto and what is his bold criticism of these figures? Explain the contrapasso.
j) How does Dante re-imagine the sin of Ulysses/Odysseus? How is Ulysses the heroic anti-type to Dante?
k) Ugolino and Ruggieri - explain why Fraud (and complex Fraud) are the worst sins according to Dante. Explain the sin of Ugolino and the theme of cannibalism as inversion.
3) Humanism
a) What is humanism? Explain how this is an urban movement of the guild republic.
b) Describe the new view of mankind in Giovanni Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man.
c) What is the major distinction between a medieval world view and an early modern /renaissance one? [answer: medieval view is other-world focused / this-world focus]
d) What are the "modern things" and the "ancient things" that Machiavelli offers the Medici prince?
e) Describe how Machiavelli rejects humanism.
f) Describe Cesare Borgia and what function he serves in the Prince.
g) In the Prince, what innovations or new perspectives might possibly be considered positive? What innovations or new perspectives might be considered negative?
4) Virtue Ethics
a) Describe the development of a system of virtue ethics, from the ancient world through Machiavelli.
5) Reformation
a) Explain the Indulgence Controversy, including the year, the people involved, and the religious practices debated.
b) Explain the events of the year 1517. Explain their significance at the time versus the chain of events that are kicked off.
c) Explain the political and geographical factors that transformed a theological debate into a revolution.