The "Renaissance" And The Urbino Bible

     "Renaissance" literally means "rebirth." It refers especially to the rebirth of learning that began in Italy in the fourteenth century, spreading to the north, including England by the sixteenth century, and ended in the far north in the mid-seventeenth century. During this period, there was a deep yearning to learn that had been so long denied through Rome’s authority. An enormous renewal of interest in and study of classical antiquity now stood on the throne of human desire. Simply put, it was the restoration of Greek culture in education, medicine and science that prompted this movement. Rome had so long strangled true education that when travelers and merchants came from the East sharing vignettes of the vast knowledge that was available, a spark ignited the human thirst for knowledge and to understand the laws of the Earth in which we live.

     Yet the Renaissance was more than a "rebirth." It was also an age of renewed discoveries: exploring geographical, intellectual, and spiritual knowledge. All kinds of discoveries resulted in tremendous reforms for Western civilization: an impetus that would pave the way to the knowledge and freedom we enjoy in our day. In science, for example, Copernicus (1473-1543) attempted to prove that the sun rather than the earth was at the center of the planetary system, thus radically altering the cosmic world-view that had dominated both antiquity and the Middle Ages. In religion, Martin Luther (1483-1546) challenged and ultimately caused the split from the major institution that had dominated Europe with an “iron” fist throughout the Dark and Middle Ages—the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, Renaissance thinkers often thought of themselves as ushering in the modern age, as distinct from the ancient and medieval eras dominated with religious threats and all the associated crippling superstitions.

     Our brief study of the Renaissance centers on five interrelated issues. First, although Renaissance thinkers often tried to associate themselves with classical antiquity and to dissociate themselves from the Middle Ages, valuable unchanging principles were still influencing men’s thinking such as the belief in the ‘Great Chain of Being’ (Its premise being that every existing thing in the universe had its "place" in a divinely planned hierarchical order, which was pictured as a chain vertically extended). Second, during this period, significant religious/political changes were taking place: Rome was progressively proven fraudulent as Christ’s servants. Third, the movement known as Humanism best expressed some of the noblest ideals of the period. Fourth, and connected to Humanist ideals, was the literary doctrine of "imitation," important for its ideas about technology and how literary works should be created. Finally, what later became the most far-reaching influence, both on literary creation and on modern life in general was the religious movement known as the Reformation.

     Renaissance thinkers strongly associated themselves with the values of classical antiquity, particularly as expressed in the newly rediscovered classics of literature, history, and moral philosophy as the knowledge of the East increasingly flowed to the West. Also, they tended to dissociate themselves from works written in the Middle Ages, (a historical period they looked upon with increasing disfavor and even disdain). According to them, the Middle Ages were set in the "middle" of two much more valuable historical periods, antiquity and their own. Nevertheless, as modern scholars have noted, long held traditions from the Middle Ages still pressed their authority in the thinking.

     During this exquisite time of enlightenment came the Duke of Urbino: a man named Federico da Montefeltro. He lived in an age of betrayal, cut throat religion, self-serving politics and price gouging businesses (quite similar to what we see today). The age in which he lived called for his participation to these common and inhumane tactics, even for his own survival. But the Duke of Urbino would not give in to this deplorable method of governance.

     Federico da Montefeltro (1422-1482) was born to a noble family that ruled over an insignificant square of “the chessboard” that was then central Italy. Yet within sixty years he had become “the light of Italy” and the paradigm of Renaissance man, as skilled in letters as in arms. He made his money as one of the most successful condottiere (or hired generals) of his time. Always fighting on short-term contracts and strictly for “cash on the nail,” he displayed the ability to maintain his integrity to conscience, the discernment of right and wrong. Once he fought for Florence against the Pope. But at another time took up the Papal banner against the Florentines.

     His fortune made, he turned to the arts as enthusiastically as he had to war and settled down to create his shining court. In the age when those who ruled the lives of men were constantly threatened, the Duke of Urbino was so loved by his people that he moved about without any guard protection. His taxing of the people was minimal and he established standards for their welfare and not for their poverty. In the morning he would judge the crimes and complaints of his people in his garden, and give his decision in the afternoon. In fact, he set a standard of courteous behavior whose reputation spread so quickly that it became the norm throughout Europe, and thus, contributing to his legacy as “the light of Italy.” Nearly all the great names of the age passed through his palace, and his library, which was reckoned among the largest in Europe. The “Quattrocento” (The cultural and artistic events of 15th century Italy) was the springboard for much of the reformation in Europe.

     In addition to his contribution as a “peacemaker” his legacy includes one of the most visually beautiful Bibles ever scribed. Adorned with miniature art scenes accompanying each story throughout its pages the Urbino Bible (1476-1478) was scribed from the Latin Vulgate of Jerome. And although the text used is inferior to the "Received Text" of the King James Bible, the honor that the Duke of Urbino placed on the printing of the Word of GOD has never been surpassed, before or since.