Renaissance

Renaissance (pronounced ren-uh-sahns, ren-uh-zahns, ren-uh-zahns, or ri-ney-suhns)

(1) As “the Renaissance”, the description of great revival of classical art, literature, and learning in Europe, the conventionally dated between the fourteenth & seventeenth centuries, marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world.

(2) The period during which this revival occurred.

(3) Of or relating to this period.

(4) The forms and treatments in art, architecture, literature and philosophy during the period even if not including elements suggesting a revival of classical forms; extended widely (furniture, wallpaper etc).

(5) Used loosely, any sustained or dramatic revival in the world of art and learning, notably the so-called “Chinese Renaissance” (1917-1823) associated with the “New Culture movement”.

(6) A renewal of life, vigor, interest, etc; a rebirth or revival (used of people, institutions and ideas).

(7) Relating to furnishings or decorations in or imitating the style of the Renaissance, in which motifs of classical derivation frequently appear.

(8) Used sometimes ironically, a reference to any of the adaptations of the architectural styles associated with the Renaissance in foreign architecture (some playful, some ghastly), either as isolated detailing or entire buildings.

Late 1860s (as renascence since circa 1840): In the sense of “the great period of revival of classical-based art and learning in Europe that began in the fourteenth century”, the word was from the French renaissance des lettres (revival of the arts), from the Old French renaissance (literally “rebirth”, usually in a spiritual sense), from renastre (to grow anew (of plants)) (which exists in Modern French as renaître (be reborn), the construct being renaiss- (stem of renaistre (to be born again), from the Latin renāscī (be born again, rise again, reappear, be renewed) (the construct being re- (used in the sense of “again”)) + nāscī (be born again, rise again, reappear, be renewed) + -ance.  In the Old Latin, gnasci was from the primitive Indo-European root gene- (give birth, beget).  The suffix -ance was an alternative form of -ence, both added to an adjective or verb to form a noun indicating a state or condition, such as result or capacity, associated with the verb (many words ending in -ance were formed in French or by alteration of a noun or adjective ending in –ant).  The suffix -ance was from the Middle English -aunce & -ance, from the Anglo-Norman -aunce and the continental Old French -ance, from the Latin -antia & -entia.  The –ence suffix was a word-forming element attached to verbs to form abstract nouns of process or fact (convergence from converge), or of state or quality and was from the Middle English -ence, from the Old French -ence, from the Latin –entia & -antia (depending on the vowel in the stem word).  The Latin present-participle endings for verbs stems in -a- were distinguished from those in -i- and -e- and as the Old French evolved from Latin, these were leveled to -ance, but later French borrowings from Latin (some of them subsequently passed to English) used the appropriate Latin form of the ending, as did words borrowed by English directly from Latin, thus diligence, absence etc.  There was however little consistency, English gaining many words from French but from the sixteenth century the suffix –ence was selectively restored, such was the reverence for Latin.  The use in a historical context has a specific, limited definition but in a general sense the synonyms include rejuvenation, renewal, resurgence, revitalization & revival.  The related forms are the Italian rinascenza & rinascirnento.  Renaissance is a noun & adjective and renaissancey is an adjective; the noun plural is renaissances.

Although the use of the word Renaissance was a nineteenth century thing, the significance of what had happened in Europe centuries earlier had long been studied by historians and a term to describe the period (“the revival” or “revival of learning”) was in use by at least 1785.  Use extended (with a lower-case “r”) in the 1850s to the resurgence of just about anything long been in decay or disuse (especially of learning, literature, art).  The term “Renaissance man” was in use by 1885 and initially meant literally “a man alive during the Renaissance” but by the turn of the century it was being used to refer to the sort of “idealized man” imagined as an exemplar of the virtues and characteristics of those described by the historians who seems to see as much perfection in them as they did in the worthies of the Classical age.  The use to refer to those alive with such excellent qualities (humanism, scholarship, varied attainments, freedom of thought and personality) dates from the late 1940s and, perhaps surprisingly, “Renaissance man” didn’t wait for second-wave feminism (1960s-1980s) bur appeared almost simultaneously.  Technical terms (neo-Renaissance, Renaissance revival, Renaissance festival, Renaissance fair, anti-Renaissance, post-Renaissance, pre-Renaissance, pro-Renaissance etc were created as required.

Just about any sort of revival can be styled “a renaissance”.

The spelling renascence is slightly older, in texts since circa 1840 and purely French while the later renaissance emerged during the late 1860s and was Latinate, associated with historical scholarship.  The spelling renaissance has long been preferred but without the initial capital either can be used of anything suggesting a sense of revival or rebirth.  Some style guides suggest the use with the capital letter should be restricted to the flowering of European culture which began in Italy in the fourteenth century but others acknowledge such a use is appropriate also for certain other defined epochs such as the so-called “Chinese Renaissance” (1917-1823) associated with the “New Culture movement”.  The revival of interest in the texts of Classical authors resulted in many words from Greek & Latin being absorbed into English and this had the effect of many French loan-words acquired over the centuries being re-spelled on the models of the forms from Antiquity.  The relationship between renascence & renaissance is an example of that phenomenon, happening in the mid-nineteenth century.  However, the older form did retain its charms for some and the English poet (and what would now be called a “social commentator”) Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) preferred “renascence” and created something of a fashion (ie an affectation) for the word among those who fancied themselves “Renaissance men”.

The ideas of the Renaissance is understood as marking the end of the Middle Ages but unlike some dramatic act (such as the fall of the Western Roman Empire), there’s no exact date on which one era ended and the other began but nor does it make sense to speak of a period between the two, thus the long practice vaguely to refer to the Renaissance “beginning late in the fourteenth century an continuing even until the sixteenth” (by which time it had reached even barbaric lands like England).  As the scholarship of the period (especially of the visual art) grew, historians refined things by distinguishing between the early, middle, high and late Renaissance, again not exactly delineated but defined more by recognizable evolutions in architectural & artistic style.  From the beginning though, what was obvious was that the Renaissance was something admirable, an return to the imagined perfection of the Classical age and thus a contrast with the unlamented Middle Ages (the so-called “medieval period” and, more revealingly, known as also as the “Dark Ages”) which were regarded by historians as priest-ridden, backward, superstitious, uncultured, ignorant, narrow and inhibited by a dogmatic theology which crushed and punished thought.  The Renaissance was extolled as learned, civilized, broadminded, progressive, enlightened and free-thinking.

Scuola di Atene (School of Athens, 1509-1511), fresco by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, 1483–1520) on a commission from Julius II (1443–1513; pope 1503-1513) Stanza della Segnatura (Stanze di Raffaello), Palazzi Pontifici (Apostolic Palace), Vatican City.  Julius II was a Renaissance pope with all that implies and while they all did things in their own way, their general philosophy was best summed up in a phrase attributed to Leo X (1475–1521; pope 1513-1521), one of the four Medici popes and remembered (fondly by a few) for his observation “God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it” and although historians have their doubts he ever uttered the words, his conduct while on the throne of Saint Peter made clear if he didn't say it, he should have.  The “High Renaissance” was the period between the 1490s and 1520s and although the art historians usually don’t claim the period of necessity produced the finest works, it remains an orthodoxy that much of what was created best represents what might be called the “cultural zeitgeist”.  Raphael’s School of Athens depicted a gathering of philosophers, scholars and artists, with Aristotle (right) and Plato (left) in the centre, walking among a clutter of figures, most in animated discussion about obviously serious matters while the odd solitary figure sits quietly reflecting.  As an image, critics would now say the artist was laying the message on “with a trowel” but he certainly encapsulated the era’s idealized view of the Classical world.

Scholarship as early as the nineteenth theory (which would now be classed as “revisionist”) challenged the tradition views of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and the notion of several renaissances, each succeeding the other and gaining a kind of momentum from its predecessor(s) and some even suggested the beginning of the era could be regarded as somewhere in the twelfth century, something quite plausible of the architecture though perhaps not of the painting but vernacular literatures were developing, there was some interest in the Latin classics, Latin poetry and Roman law and Greek philosophy and scientific understandings were being translated.  Tellingly too, Arab scientific discoveries were becoming and the first European universities were being founded so which the influence of the Church remained strong, it was a time not devoid of intellectual and creative activity but then neither was the Middle Ages wholly barren of such things.  One charming irony about the extraordinary art and architecture which appeared in Italy during the Renaissance was that the loveliness stands starkly in contrast to the appalling moral character of the patrons who commissioned much of it, some of the popes and cardinals, the latter in the era having gained such squalid reputations that the word “cardinal” was long used as an insult in Rome.  Historians tell these tales with some relish.

Syllabus

Syllabus (pronounce sil-a-bis)

(1) In the Roman Catholic Church, a formally issued list.

(2) In education, a summary of topics which will be covered during an academic course, or a text or lecture.

(3) In law reports, the headnote of a reported case containing a summary of the the points of law determined, prefixed to a reported case.

1650s: From the Medieval Latin syllabus (list) which actually arose as a misprint, its accusative plural syllabos appearing in place of sittybas (or perhaps sittubas) in an edition of Cicero's Ad Atticum (Letters to Atticus), printed during the 1470s.  The corrupt form was influenced by the stem of the Ancient Greek συλλαμβάνω (sullambánō) (put together), source of σῠλλᾰβή (sullabḗ) (syllable); the true etymon is σιττύβα (sittúba) (parchment label; table of contents”) of unknown origin.  As was not unknown with medieval errors of transcription, the name stuck and it too came to mean "a label for a papyrus roll" before morphing into its current usual meaning (an outline or other brief statement of the main points of a discourse, the subjects of a course of lectures, the contents of a curriculum), a shift established by the mid seventeenth century.  Had it been a real word, the proper plural would be syllabi.  Syllabus is a noun; the noun plural is syllabi or syllabuses.

Mean Girls (2004): Now on the syllabus.

Since the 1980s, there has been criticism of some of the more novel courses which have appeared on University syllabuses.  While there has always been something of a hierarchy in the perception of the intellectual robustness demanded by various courses (physics, engineering and such higher on most pecking orders than social work, media studies, gender studies etc) such has been the emergence of what’s regarded as academic promiscuity (some say prefer prostitution) that the term “Mickey Mouse courses” was coined to describe some of the newest entries.  The use of “Mickey Mouse” as a pejorative is an example of dysphemism (an expression with connotations derogatory either about the subject matter or to the audience) and was from the French dysphémisme, modelled on euphémisme (euphemism), modified by the substitution of the prefix dys-, from the Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-) (expressing the idea of difficulty, or bad status).  Interestingly, in Australia, “Mickey Mouse” was also used as a slang form meaning “very good”, apparently as a form of rhyming slang (“Jack Lang in the local parlance”) based on “full house”, a most desirable hand in poker.  The use operated as late as the 1960s in parallel with “Mickey Mouse” meaning “poor quality” attributed to the cheap, unreliable (and fake) Mickey Mouse watches which were sold in great quantity during World War II (1939-1945).

In some cases, the criticism is probably unfair because university economics departments coining the term “Swiftonomics” to describe the micro-economic effect on regional economies of Taylor Swift’s (b 1989) tour seems something most suitable for students to study.  It would be the ideal template as a case study; not only does her tour have a beginning, a middle and an end but it would offer something onto which could be mapped most of the tools of social and economic analysis including the dreaded econometrics which most of us regard as having “a marginal propensity to confuse”.  Boston’s Northeastern University is taking Swiftonomics most seriously.  At least the reaction to the announcement of Swiftonomics wasn’t as cruel as a course in the sociological importance of football being dismissed as “David Beckham studies” and something designed to attract enrolments from paying students rather than a “real” course of study.

Mean Girls has appeared on a number of syllabuses and objectively, there’s no reason why the same tools of deconstruction and analysis used of any of the texts more traditionally part of university course shouldn’t be used and Mean Girls content has been noted in fields such as media studies, cultural studies, gender studies and film studies.  In 2015, Colorado College attracted attention for offered a Mean Girls themed class in which 13 students could gain credits for exploring the "motives behind why women seek authority and the actions they are willing to take in order to hold onto it."  Once can see why the department choose Mean Girls to dissect that sort of realpolitik and the course included structural comparisons with tales from Greek mythology.  Those who are snobby about the so-called “Mickey Mouse” courses on syllabuses and blame it on a decline in standards should recall astrology and alchemy once appeared on the degree rolls of many respectable institutions.

Pius IX, modernity and the Syllabus of Errors

Thou shalt not: Pope Pius IX

Most famous syllabus to emerge from the Vatican was that issued by Pope Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti, 1792–1878; pope 1846-1878) in 1864 as Syllabus Errorum (Syllabus of Errors), a usefully comprehensive list of the faults of modernity in which His Holiness listed eighty propositions he condemned erroneous.  Though controversial, even today, it is by the standards of the Holy See a pleasingly brief document and defines a coherent world-view in a few pages; some subsequent pronouncements from Rome have been more verbose and said less.  The pontificate of Pius IX remains the longest in history.  Since the election of Pope Francis (b 1936; pope since 2013), Pius IX has attracted a new audience of admirers, in the curia and beyond.  This is at least in part because of the certainty of his positions and the unambiguity in his words.  His most memorable quotes are succinct:

Liberal Catholics are the worst enemies of the Church.  If a future Pope teaches anything contrary to the Catholic Faith, do not follow him.

However, there can be consequences for those who decide not to follow a pope thought to be teaching things “contrary to the Catholic faith”.  In November 2023, it was announced Pope Francis had sacked (“removed from the pastoral care of the diocese” as the Holy See puts such things) US Bishop Joseph Strickland (b 1958; Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas 2012-2023) and appointed an interim apostolic administrator.  Whether related or not, the announcement was made only a couple of days after the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (the DDF, the latest name for the Inquisition) issued a statement confirming an adult who identifies as transgender can receive the sacrament of Baptism under the same conditions as any adult, as long as “there is no risk of causing scandal or confusion to other Catholics”.  To clarify the matter, the DDF added that children or adolescents experiencing transgender identity issues may also receive Baptism “if well prepared and willing”.  This remarkable statement was one of several answers to sacrament-based questions relating to those who identify as transgender or are in same-sex relationships which were generated in response to questions to the DDF posed in July 2023 by Bishop José Negri (b 1959; Bishop of Santo Amaro, Sao Paulo, Brazil since 2015).  All such statements from the Vatican (especially those which in any way touch on LGBTQQIAAOP issues) must be assessed as part of the pope’s response to the recent sessions of the Synod on Synodality and of great interest was the response about whether transgender-identifying people or those in homosexual relationships (1) can be godparents or (2) witness a marriage and (3) whether children adopted or born through assisted reproduction to same-sex couples can be baptised.  To that last matter the DDF quoted the relevant section of the Code of Canon law, saying “For the child to be baptised there must be a well-founded hope that he or she will be educated in the Catholic religion”.  Lambeth Palace would have been proud of a fudge like that but it anyway means transgender-identifying people can be baptized and witness marriages.

Bishop Strickland (appointed to his position in 2012 by Benedict XVI (1927–2022; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022)) is said to be one of the WWJD (what would Jesus do?) school and on 12 May 2023 had tweeted (ie to the whole world) “I believe Pope Francis is the pope, but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith.  Follow Jesus."  It would have been a nice touch had he’d added “Follow Pius IX” but he resisted that temptation.  The tweet was enough for the Vatican to launch an investigation, in response to which on more than one occasion Bishop Strickland asserted he would not voluntarily resign.  The investigation was remarkably quick by the standards of the Holy See and early in November a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston revealed the tribunal had advised His Holiness “the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible.”  The pope requested the bishop resign but he declined, thus the rare sacking.

In many ways, it’s not the sacking (though rare) which is remarkable but that it took so long to happen.  Strickland had long argued the Roman Catholic Church has become “weak” under Francis and openly challenged the pope to dismiss him, something which observers of the Vatican suspect might have happened some time ago had not Benedict lived as long as he did.  Just to make sure however, shortly after Benedict was entombed, Strickland re-tweeted a video which condemned Francis as a “diabolically disoriented clown” but despite that, he was quoted as blaming the dismissal on his refusal to implement one of Francis’ progressive reforms restricting the old Latin Mass.  An issue which quietly has been simmering since Second Vatican Council (Vatican II; 1962-1965 (which Strickland probably regards as heretical)) Strickland insisted the Latin rituals must remain “because I can’t starve out part of my flock", adding, “I feel very much at peace in the Lord and the truth that he died for.”

Nor is Strickland without support because early in his pontificate, some theologians and cardinals went dangerously close to accusing Francis of being a heretic and after the sacking, perhaps sniffing blood, the editor of The Remnant (a most traditional Catholic newspaper) took to X (formerly known as Twitter) called the firing “total war”, adding “Francis is a clear and present danger not only to Catholics the world over but also to the whole world itself."   No doubt he agreed with Strickland who tweeted: “Rejoice always that…no matter what the day brings Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, yesterday, today and forever. May the saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary always inspire us to return to Christ no matter how we may wander into darkness. Jesus is Light from Light."  That is a WWJD motif: “Where there is darkness, Jesus will make the light”.

Francis has certainly become more assertive since the death of Benedict, condemning the “backwardness” of some conservative Catholic leaders (notably in Germany and the US), saying what they believed in was “not faith but political ideology” and that Church doctrine on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage can change.  Changing something with two thousand-odd years of inertia and institutional memory won’t be easy but Francis has the priceless advantage enjoyed by probably no other head of government or state currently in office: he sits atop a theocracy as an absolute sovereign, whatever he says, goes; he has the last word.  Interestingly, whenever some matter is clearly contentious, he does increasingly mention the word “doctrine”, conscious no doubt that he and everybody else knows that if he chooses to speak ex cathedra, that invokes papal infallibility and means not only is his ruling final but that objections may no longer be even discussed.  Defined dogmatically under Pius IX at the First Vatican Council (Vatican I; 1869–1870 (although it was then claimed it had actually existed and been acknowledged for over a thousand years), no pope has spoken ex cathedra since Pius XII (1876-1958; pope 1939-1958) in 1950 but for Francis it remains his thermo-nuclear option.

The Syllaus of Errors, Pope Pius IX, 1864

I. PANTHEISM, NATURALISM AND ABSOLUTE RATIONALISM

1. There exists no Supreme, all-wise, all-provident Divine Being, distinct from the universe, and God is identical with the nature of things, and is, therefore, subject to changes. In effect, God is produced in man and in the world, and all things are God and have the very substance of God, and God is one and the same thing with the world, and, therefore, spirit with matter, necessity with liberty, good with evil, justice with injustice. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862.

2. All action of God upon man and the world is to be denied. -- Ibid.

3. Human reason, without any reference whatsoever to God, is the sole arbiter of truth and falsehood, and of good and evil; it is law to itself, and suffices, by its natural force, to secure the welfare of men and of nations. -- Ibid.

4. All the truths of religion proceed from the innate strength of human reason; hence reason is the ultimate standard by which man can and ought to arrive at the knowledge of all truths of every kind. -- Ibid. and Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846, etc.

5. Divine revelation is imperfect, and therefore subject to a continual and indefinite progress, corresponding with the advancement of human reason. -- Ibid.

6. The faith of Christ is in opposition to human reason and divine revelation not only is not useful, but is even hurtful to the perfection of man. -- Ibid.

7. The prophecies and miracles set forth and recorded in the Sacred Scriptures are the fiction of poets, and the mysteries of the Christian faith the result of philosophical investigations. In the books of the Old and the New Testament there are contained mythical inventions, and Jesus Christ is Himself a myth.

II. MODERATE RATIONALISM

8. As human reason is placed on a level with religion itself, so theological must be treated in the same manner as philosophical sciences. -- Allocution "Singulari quadam," Dec. 9, 1854.

9. All the dogmas of the Christian religion are indiscriminately the object of natural science or philosophy, and human reason, enlightened solely in an historical way, is able, by its own natural strength and principles, to attain to the true science of even the most abstruse dogmas; provided only that such dogmas be proposed to reason itself as its object. -- Letters to the Archbishop of Munich, "Gravissimas inter," Dec. 11, 1862, and "Tuas libenter," Dec. 21, 1863.

10. As the philosopher is one thing, and philosophy another, so it is the right and duty of the philosopher to subject himself to the authority which he shall have proved to be true; but philosophy neither can nor ought to submit to any such authority. -- Ibid., Dec. 11, 1862.

11. The Church not only ought never to pass judgment on philosophy, but ought to tolerate the errors of philosophy, leaving it to correct itself. -- Ibid., Dec. 21, 1863.

12. The decrees of the Apostolic See and of the Roman congregations impede the true progress of science. -- Ibid.

13. The method and principles by which the old scholastic doctors cultivated theology are no longer suitable to the demands of our times and to the progress of the sciences. -- Ibid.

14. Philosophy is to be treated without taking any account of supernatural revelation. -- Ibid.

III. INDIFFERENTISM, LATITUDINARIANISM

15. Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862; Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.

16. Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation. -- Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846.

17. Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ. -- Encyclical "Quanto conficiamur," Aug. 10, 1863, etc.

18. Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion, in which form it is given to please God equally as in the Catholic Church. -- Encyclical "Noscitis," Dec. 8, 1849.

IV. SOCIALISM, COMMUNISM, SECRET SOCIETIES, BIBLICAL SOCIETIES, CLERICO-LIBERAL SOCIETIES

Pests of this kind are frequently reprobated in the severest terms in the Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846, Allocution "Quibus quantisque," April 20, 1849, Encyclical "Noscitis et nobiscum," Dec. 8, 1849, Allocution "Singulari quadam," Dec. 9, 1854, Encyclical "Quanto conficiamur," Aug. 10, 1863.

V. ERRORS CONCERNING THE CHURCH AND HER RIGHTS

19. The Church is not a true and perfect society, entirely free- nor is she endowed with proper and perpetual rights of her own, conferred upon her by her Divine Founder; but it appertains to the civil power to define what are the rights of the Church, and the limits within which she may exercise those rights. -- Allocution "Singulari quadam,&quuot; Dec. 9, 1854, etc.

20. The ecclesiastical power ought not to exercise its authority without the permission and assent of the civil government. -- Allocution "Meminit unusquisque," Sept. 30, 1861.

21. The Church has not the power of defining dogmatically that the religion of the Catholic Church is the only true religion. -- Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.

22. The obligation by which Catholic teachers and authors are strictly bound is confined to those things only which are proposed to universal belief as dogmas of faith by the infallible judgment of the Church. -- Letter to the Archbishop of Munich, "Tuas libenter," Dec. 21, 1863.

23. Roman pontiffs and ecumenical councils have wandered outside the limits of their powers, have usurped the rights of princes, and have even erred in defining matters of faith and morals. -- Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.

24. The Church has not the power of using force, nor has she any temporal power, direct or indirect. -- Apostolic Letter "Ad Apostolicae," Aug. 22, 1851.

25. Besides the power inherent in the episcopate, other temporal power has been attributed to it by the civil authority granted either explicitly or tacitly, which on that account is revocable by the civil authority whenever it thinks fit. -- Ibid.

26. The Church has no innate and legitimate right of acquiring and possessing property. -- Allocution "Nunquam fore," Dec. 15, 1856; Encyclical "Incredibili," Sept. 7, 1863.

27. The sacred ministers of the Church and the Roman pontiff are to be absolutely excluded from every charge and dominion over temporal affairs. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862.

28. It is not lawful for bishops to publish even letters Apostolic without the permission of Government. -- Allocution "Nunquam fore," Dec. 15, 1856.

29. Favours granted by the Roman pontiff ought to be considered null, unless they have been sought for through the civil government. -- Ibid.

30. The immunity of the Church and of ecclesiastical persons derived its origin from civil law. -- Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.

31. The ecclesiastical forum or tribunal for the temporal causes, whether civil or criminal, of clerics, ought by all means to be abolished, even without consulting and against the protest of the Holy See. -- Allocution "Nunquam fore," Dec. 15, 1856; Allocution "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852.

32. The personal immunity by which clerics are exonerated from military conscription and service in the army may be abolished without violation either of natural right or equity. Its abolition is called for by civil progress, especially in a society framed on the model of a liberal government. -- Letter to the Bishop of Monreale "Singularis nobisque," Sept. 29, 1864.

33. It does not appertain exclusively to the power of ecclesiastical jurisdiction by right, proper and innate, to direct the teaching of theological questions. -- Letter to the Archbishop of Munich, "Tuas libenter," Dec. 21, 1863.

34. The teaching of those who compare the Sovereign Pontiff to a prince, free and acting in the universal Church, is a doctrine which prevailed in the Middle Ages. -- Apostolic Letter "Ad Apostolicae," Aug. 22, 1851.

35. There is nothing to prevent the decree of a general council, or the act of all peoples, from transferring the supreme pontificate from the bishop and city of Rome to another bishop and another city. -- Ibid.

36. The definition of a national council does not admit of any subsequent discussion, and the civil authority car assume this principle as the basis of its acts. -- Ibid.

37. National churches, withdrawn from the authority of the Roman pontiff and altogether separated, can be established. -- Allocution "Multis gravibusque," Dec. 17, 1860.

38. The Roman pontiffs have, by their too arbitrary conduct, contributed to the division of the Church into Eastern and Western. -- Apostolic Letter "Ad Apostolicae," Aug. 22, 1851.

VI. ERRORS ABOUT CIVIL SOCIETY, CONSIDERED BOTH IN ITSELF AND IN ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH

39. The State, as being the origin and source of all rights, is endowed with a certain right not circumscribed by any limits. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862.

40. The teaching of the Catholic Church is hostile to the well- being and interests of society. -- Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846; Allocution "Quibus quantisque," April 20, 1849.

41. The civil government, even when in the hands of an infidel sovereign, has a right to an indirect negative power over religious affairs. It therefore possesses not only the right called that of "exsequatur," but also that of appeal, called "appellatio ab abusu." -- Apostolic Letter "Ad Apostolicae," Aug. 22, 1851

42. In the case of conflicting laws enacted by the two powers, the civil law prevails. -- Ibid.

43. The secular Dower has authority to rescind, declare and render null, solemn conventions, commonly called concordats, entered into with the Apostolic See, regarding the use of rights appertaining to ecclesiastical immunity, without the consent of the Apostolic See, and even in spite of its protest. -- Allocution "Multis gravibusque," Dec. 17, 1860; Allocution "In consistoriali," Nov. 1, 1850.

44. The civil authority may interfere in matters relating to religion, morality and spiritual government: hence, it can pass judgment on the instructions issued for the guidance of consciences, conformably with their mission, by the pastors of the Church. Further, it has the right to make enactments regarding the administration of the divine sacraments, and the dispositions necessary for receiving them. -- Allocutions "In consistoriali," Nov. 1, 1850, and "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862.

45. The entire government of public schools in which the youth- of a Christian state is educated, except (to a certain extent) in the case of episcopal seminaries, may and ought to appertain to the civil power, and belong to it so far that no other authority whatsoever shall be recognized as having any right to interfere in the discipline of the schools, the arrangement of the studies, the conferring of degrees, in the choice or approval of the teachers. -- Allocutions "Quibus luctuosissimmis," Sept. 5, 1851, and "In consistoriali," Nov. 1, 1850.

46. Moreover, even in ecclesiastical seminaries, the method of studies to be adopted is subject to the civil authority. -- Allocution "Nunquam fore," Dec. 15, 1856.

47. The best theory of civil society requires that popular schools open to children of every class of the people, and, generally, all public institutes intended for instruction in letters and philosophical sciences and for carrying on the education of youth, should be freed from all ecclesiastical authority, control and interference, and should be fully subjected to the civil and political power at the pleasure of the rulers, and according to the standard of the prevalent opinions of the age. -- Epistle to the Archbishop of Freiburg, "Cum non sine," July 14, 1864.

48. Catholics may approve of the system of educating youth unconnected with Catholic faith and the power of the Church, and which regards the knowledge of merely natural things, and only, or at least primarily, the ends of earthly social life. -- Ibid.

49. The civil power may prevent the prelates of the Church and the faithful from communicating freely and mutually with the Roman pontiff. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862.

50. Lay authority possesses of itself the right of presenting bishops, and may require of them to undertake the administration of the diocese before they receive canonical institution, and the Letters Apostolic from the Holy See. -- Allocution "Nunquam fore," Dec. 15, 1856.

51. And, further, the lay government has the right of deposing bishops from their pastoral functions, and is not bound to obey the Roman pontiff in those things which relate to the institution of bishoprics and the appointment of bishops. -- Allocution "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852, Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.

52. Government can, by its own right, alter the age prescribed by the Church for the religious profession of women and men; and may require of all religious orders to admit no person to take solemn vows without its permission. -- Allocution "Nunquam fore," Dec. 15, 1856.

53. The laws enacted for the protection of religious orders and regarding their rights and duties ought to be abolished; nay, more, civil Government may lend its assistance to all who desire to renounce the obligation which they have undertaken of a religious life, and to break their vows. Government may also suppress the said religious orders, as likewise collegiate churches and simple benefices, even those of advowson and subject their property and revenues to the administration and pleasure of the civil power. -- Allocutions "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852; "Probe memineritis," Jan. 22, 1855; "Cum saepe," July 26, 1855.

54. Kings and princes are not only exempt from the jurisdiction of the Church, but are superior to the Church in deciding questions of jurisdiction. -- Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.

55. The Church ought to be separated from the .State, and the State from the Church. -- Allocution "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852.

VII. ERRORS CONCERNING NATURAL AND CHRISTIAN ETHICS

56. Moral laws do not stand in need of the divine sanction, and it is not at all necessary that human laws should be made conformable to the laws of nature and receive their power of binding from God. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862.

57. The science of philosophical things and morals and also civil laws may and ought to keep aloof from divine and ecclesiastical authority. -- Ibid.

58. No other forces are to be recognized except those which reside in matter, and all the rectitude and excellence of morality ought to be placed in the accumulation and increase of riches by every possible means, and the gratification of pleasure. -- Ibid.; Encyclical "Quanto conficiamur," Aug. 10, 1863.

59. Right consists in the material fact. All human duties are an empty word, and all human facts have the force of right. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862.

60. Authority is nothing else but numbers and the sum total of material forces. -- Ibid.

61. The injustice of an act when successful inflicts no injury on the sanctity of right. -- Allocution "Jamdudum cernimus," March 18, 1861.

62. The principle of non-intervention, as it is called, ought to be proclaimed and observed. -- Allocution "Novos et ante," Sept. 28, 1860.

63. It is lawful to refuse obedience to legitimate princes, and even to rebel against them. -- Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1864; Allocution "Quibusque vestrum," Oct. 4, 1847; "Noscitis et Nobiscum," Dec. 8, 1849; Apostolic Letter "Cum Catholica."

64. The violation of any solemn oath, as well as any wicked and flagitious action repugnant to the eternal law, is not only not blamable but is altogether lawful and worthy of the highest praise when done through love of country. -- Allocution "Quibus quantisque," April 20, 1849.

VIII. ERRORS CONCERNING CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE

65. The doctrine that Christ has raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament cannot be at all tolerated. -- Apostolic Letter "Ad Apostolicae," Aug. 22, 1851.

66. The Sacrament of Marriage is only a something accessory to the contract and separate from it, and the sacrament itself consists in the nuptial benediction alone. -- Ibid.

67. By the law of nature, the marriage tie is not indissoluble, and in many cases divorce properly so called may be decreed by the civil authority. -- Ibid.; Allocution "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852.

68. The Church has not the power of establishing diriment impediments of marriage, but such a power belongs to the civil authority by which existing impediments are to be removed. -- Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.

69. In the dark ages the Church began to establish diriment impediments, not by her own right, but by using a power borrowed from the State. -- Apostolic Letter "Ad Apostolicae," Aug. 22, 1851.

70. The canons of the Council of Trent, which anathematize those who dare to deny to the Church the right of establishing diriment impediments, either are not dogmatic or must be understood as referring to such borrowed power. -- Ibid.

71. The form of solemnizing marriage prescribed by the Council of Trent, under pain of nullity, does not bind in cases where the civil law lays down another form, and declares that when this new form is used the marriage shall be valid.

72. Boniface VIII was the first who declared that the vow of chastity taken at ordination renders marriage void. -- Ibid.

73. In force of a merely civil contract there may exist between Christians a real marriage, and it is false to say either that the marriage contract between Christians is always a sacrament, or that there is no contract if the sacrament be excluded. -- Ibid.; Letter to the King of Sardinia, Sept. 9, 1852; Allocutions "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852, "Multis gravibusque," Dec. 17, 1860.

74. Matrimonial causes and espousals belong by their nature to civil tribunals. -- Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9 1846; Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851, "Ad Apostolicae," Aug. 22, 1851; Allocution "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852.

IX. ERRORS REGARDING THE CIVIL POWER OF THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFF

75. The children of the Christian and Catholic Church are divided amongst themselves about the compatibility of the temporal with the spiritual power. -- "Ad Apostolicae," Aug. 22, 1851.

76. The abolition of the temporal power of which the Apostolic See is possessed would contribute in the greatest degree to the liberty and prosperity of the Church. -- Allocutions "Quibus quantisque," April 20, 1849, "Si semper antea," May 20, 1850.

X. ERRORS HAVING REFERENCE TO MODERN LIBERALISM

77. In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship. -- Allocution "Nemo vestrum," July 26, 1855.

78. Hence it has been wisely decided by law, in some Catholic countries, that persons coming to reside therein shall enjoy the public exercise of their own peculiar worship. -- Allocution "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852.

79. Moreover, it is false that the civil liberty of every form of worship, and the full power, given to all, of overtly and publicly manifesting any opinions whatsoever and thoughts, conduce more easily to corrupt the morals and minds of the people, and to propagate the pest of indifferentism. -- Allocution "Nunquam fore," Dec. 15, 1856.

80. The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization.- -Allocution "Jamdudum cernimus," March 18, 1861.

The faith teaches us and human reason demonstrates that a double order of things exists, and that we must therefore distinguish between the two earthly powers, the one of natural origin which provides for secular affairs and the tranquillity of human society, the other of supernatural origin, which presides over the City of God, that is to say the Church of Christ, which has been divinely instituted for the sake of souls and of eternal salvation.... The duties of this twofold power are most wisely ordered in such a way that to God is given what is God's (Matt. 22:21), and because of God to Caesar what is Caesar's, who is great because he is smaller than heaven. Certainly the Church has never disobeyed this divine command, the Church which always and everywhere instructs the faithful to show the respect which they should inviolably have for the supreme authority and its secular rights....

. . . Venerable Brethren, you see clearly enough how sad and full of perils is the condition of Catholics in the regions of Europe which We have mentioned. Nor are things any better or circumstances calmer in America, where some regions are so hostile to Catholics that their governments seem to deny by their actions the Catholic faith they claim to profess. In fact, there, for the last few years, a ferocious war on the Church, its institutions and the rights of the Apostolic See has been raging.... Venerable Brothers, it is surprising that in our time such a great war is being waged against the Catholic Church. But anyone who knows the nature, desires and intentions of the sects, whether they be called masonic or bear another name, and compares them with the nature the systems and the vastness of the obstacles by which the Church has been assailed almost everywhere, cannot doubt that the present misfortune must mainly be imputed to the frauds and machinations of these sects. It is from them that the synagogue of Satan, which gathers its troops against the Church of Christ, takes its strength. In the past Our predecessors, vigilant even from the beginning in Israel, had already denounced them to the kings and the nations, and had condemned them time and time again, and even We have not failed in this duty. If those who would have been able to avert such a deadly scourge had only had more faith in the supreme Pastors of the Church! But this scourge, winding through sinuous caverns, . . . deceiving many with astute frauds, finally has arrived at the point where it comes forth impetuously from its hiding places and triumphs as a powerful master. Since the throng of its propagandists has grown enormously, these wicked groups think that they have already become masters of the world and that they have almost reached their pre-established goal. Having sometimes obtained what they desired, and that is power, in several countries, they boldly turn the help of powers and authorities which they have secured to trying to submit the Church of God to the most cruel servitude, to undermine the foundations on which it rests, to contaminate its splendid qualities; and, moreover, to strike it with frequent blows, to shake it, to overthrow it, and, if possible, to make it disappear completely from the earth. Things being thus, Venerable Brothers, make every effort to defend the faithful which are entrusted to you against the insidious contagion of these sects and to save from perdition those who unfortunately have inscribed themselves in such sects. Make known and attack those who, whether suffering from, or planning, deception, are not afraid to affirm that these shady congregations aim only at the profit of society, at progress and mutual benefit. Explain to them often and impress deeply on their souls the Papal constitutions on this subject and teach, them that the masonic associations are anathematized by them not only in Europe but also in America and wherever they may be in the whole world.

To the Archbishops and Bishops of Prussia concerning the situation of the Catholic Church faced with persecution by that Government....

But although they (the bishops resisting persecution) should be praised rather than pitied, the scorn of episcopal dignity, the violation of the liberty and the rights of the Church, the ill treatment which does not only oppress those dioceses, but also the others of the Kingdom of Prussia, demand that We, owing to the Apostolic office with which God has entrusted us in spite of Our insufficient merit, protest against laws which have produced such great evils and make one fear even greater ones; and as far as we are able to do so with the sacred authority of divine law, We vindicate for the Church the freedom which has been trodden underfoot with sacrilegious violence. That is why by this letter we intend to do Our duty by announcing openly to all those whom this matter concerns and to the whole Catholic world, that these laws are null and void because they are absolutely contrary to the divine constitution of the Church. In fact, with respect to matters which concern the holy ministry, Our Lord did not put the mighty of this century in charge, but Saint Peter, whom he entrusted not only with feeding his sheep, but also the goats; therefore no power in the world, however great it may be, can deprive of the pastoral office those whom the Holy Ghost has made Bishops in order to feed the Church of God.

Tremulous

Tremulous (pronounced trem-yuh-luhs)

(1) Of persons, the body etc, characterized by trembling, as from fear, nervousness, or weakness.

(2) Timid; timorous; fearful.

(3) Of things, vibratory, shaking, or quivering.

(4) Of writing, done with a trembling hand.

(5) Faltering, hesitant, wavering

1605–1615: From the Latin tremulus (shaking, quivering), from tremere (to shake, quake, quiver, tremble), from tremō (I shake).  It was cognate with the Ancient Greek τρέμω (trémō) (tremble).  In Latin, the construct was trem(ere ) + -ulus (the Latin adjectival suffix).  In music, the tremulous effect is the tremolo, an 1801 coining from the Italian tremolo, from the Latin tremulus.  The quaver is from the early fifteenth century quaveren (to vibrate, tremble, have a tremulous motion), probably a frequentative of the early thirteenth century cwavien (to tremble, shake, be afraid) which is perhaps related to the Low German quabbeln (tremble), and possibly of imitative origin.  The meaning "sing in trills or quavers, sing with a tremulous tone" is noted from the 1530s; the related forms are quavered & quavering.  In optics, a tremulous light is a shimmer (1821) and in physiology, a shiver (1727), from shiver, "the shivers" in reference to fever chills dating from 1861.  Tremulous is an adjective, tremulously is an adverb and tremulousness is a noun; the noun plural is also tremulousness.

Becoming tremulous: Hitler’s signature: 1933-1945.

Between 1943-1945, Adolf Hitler's (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) handwriting suffered and, towards the end, it took some effort even to etch his name, a process which happened in conjunction with a physical decline noted in many contemporary accounts.  The reason for this deterioration has been discussed by doctors, historians and popular authors, most recently in 2015 by Norman Ohler (b 1970) in Der totale Rausch: Drogen im Dritten Reich (The Total Rush: Drugs in the Third Reich), published in English in 2017 as Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany (Penguin, ISBN: 9780141983165).  Blitzed is a study of the use of methamphetamine stimulants in German society, the military and Hitler himself during the Nazi years with a focus especially on the relationship between the Führer and his personal physician, Dr Theodor Morell (1886–1948) who prescribed and administered a variety of drugs and vitamins between 1936-1945.  It’s the use of opioids and psychoactive drugs that is of most interest.

A best seller, Ohler wrote a lively work in a jaunty style which made his book readable but did attract criticism from the academic and professional historians never happy with journalistic trespassing on their carefully trimmed turf.  While there’s always sensitivity to authors injecting elements of humour and pop-culture references into anything about Hitler and the Third Reich, these essentially stylistic objections matter less than the substantive concerns about presenting as proven fact inferences drawn from incomplete or inconclusive sources.  That critique of scholarship should be noted but Blitzed needs to be read as just another text interpreting the documents of the era and in that, if read in conjunction with other accounts of the time, Ohler’s thesis is in places compelling while sometimes contradicted by multiple other sources.  The argument that the drugs had no effect Hitler’s decline and increasingly erratic behavior were due to stress and the onset of Parkinson’s disease is as dogmatic a position as many accuse Ohler of taking.  There are interesting aspects in the accounts from 1943-1945: the unexpected way Hitler’s physical tremors briefly vanished in the aftermath of the explosion during the assassination attempt in July 1944 and the various clandestine analysis of Morell’s preparations, some of which revealed a strong opioid and some harmless concoctions with barely a pharmacological effect.  While clearly not a conventional work of history, Blitzed seems a valuable contribution.

Hitler and Dr Morell.

The fault in Blitzed is probably that habitual journalistic tendency to exaggeration.  That stimulants were widely available and demonstratively popular in Germany doesn’t mean the entire workforce, every hausfrau and all servicemen in the Wehrmacht were habitual or even occasional users of amphetamines although, given the documentary evidence and the observational accounts of behavior, the case for Hitler’s addictions (or at least dependence) is stronger.  Critics felt also compelled to run the usual objection to anything which could be constructed as some sort of exculpatory argument; the idea that being stupefied by psychoactive drugs could somehow absolve individual or collective guilt.  Among those who lived the Nazi experience, long has been established the guilt to one degree or another of the many and the innocence of a few.  That said, there seems little doubt the rapidity of the Wehrmacht's advances in 1939-1941 were at least partially attributable to the soldiers being supplied amphetamines which enabled a heightened level of alertness and performance for sometimes thirty hours without need for sleep.  It was a most effective force multiplier.  Other factors, notably (1) the revolutionary approach to deploying tanks as armored spearheads, (2) the used of dive-bombers, (3) the ineptness of the Allied response and (4) luck were more significance but the speed did make a contribution.

Not tremulous: Lindsay Lohan and block capitals, Los Angeles, 2010.

Graphology (the analysis of handwriting to determine personality traits) did once enjoy quite wide acceptance in many places including being admissible as evidence in some courts but has in recent years come to be regarded as at least scientifically dubious while other condemn the whole thing as a pseudoscience deserving about the same status as astrology.  However, there are aspects of it which seem helpful in comparing the differences in the handwriting of individuals at various times and anyway, it's often fun to read, even if only to confirm our prejudices.  During Lindsay Lohan’s court appearances, she was known to take notes so, when the opportunity presented itself, a photographer snapped an image and it was provided to graphologist Bart Baggett (b 1969; founder of the Handwriting University, a distance learning school) who wrote an analysis.  He’d actually assessed her handwriting when younger and the style adopted then was different from the all block printing exhibited in 2010.  While he cautioned he wasn’t convinced the sample could provide any insight “…into her psyche” the change between the two was interesting:

”Despite her youth and tendency to find trouble I did see a high level of intelligence in her handwriting.  But, intelligence does not always translate into good behavior or emotional stability.  I will say this: the handwriting shown on this page is not that of an erratic, scattered drug addict.  It is the handwriting of a focused individual; with a high degree of perfectionism.  The straight baseline reveals an overall anxiety at things not going right; someone who loves order and structure.

In graphology, anytime somebody consistently blocked prints it’s seen as a huge (but common) defense mechanism.  Often this is a positive defense mechanism such as extreme masculinity.  I would say most individuals would find it difficult to distinguish between this handwriting and that of a military strategist or perhaps even an engineer who clock prints everything.  The one thing graphologists do agree on is that when someone only block prints, they don’t want people to know their most innermost thoughts and feelings, they are putting up a shield and protecting their intimacy.  Therefore you can bet she now has some major trust and privacy issues and has a guard up.  Who would blame her for having guard up, considering everything that you write is published and everywhere you go someone is snapping a picture of you? I think I would become a block printer too.”