Thomas MoresUtopia, And Renaissance Humanism - 1337 Words

During the Medieval Ages, religious, political and social ideas transformed and shifted due to the crisis of the fourteenth century. Renaissance humanism deeply encouraged the developments of Medieval humanism, they both mingled and clashed during this period. Thomas More explores historical influences such as the Plague, Hundred Year’s War and the concept of leveling though the â€Å"humanist† society within his novel Utopia by creating a unity of clothing, mobility of careers and agricultural production. The practice wearing the same clothing throughout the island encourages a sense of leveling and humanism, which reflects upon the historical influences of the Plague and Hundred Years’ War. Mobility of careers in Utopia nurtures the states†¦show more content†¦A historical influence that could have contributed to the medieval humanist idea of leveling through clothing in the novel is the Plague and Hundred Years’ War. People began looking at hu mans as individual human beings independently from external things such as social status and where one might be from. There was less reading happening from people with scholarly backgrounds and people began reading more literally. There was a fixation on the creation of humans, Adam and Eva, for there were no nobles or social rankings within this story. The scholars would have taken this metaphorically however, it was taken quite literally. This resulted in the creation of a sense of leveling, the idea everyone is equally human and that one should be able to tap into their own human resources. The Plague and Hundred Year’s War encouraged these ideas of social and economic leveling because of the devastating drop in the work force pushing people to rely on themselves to read their scripture, even without scholarly backgrounds. As well as the ability to change their social status through participation in the Hundred Year’s War; people in England were gaining recognition from their King and the chance to â€Å"tap into their human resources.† There is a great amount of mobility towards a career in Utopia. There is recognition from the state that their citizens have