At 12:12 28-01-2004 -0600, Herbert Ward wrote: > >My history book paints the Church as the major civilizing force after the >fall of Rome. It maintained learning, cared for orphans, helped to hold >political units together, and did much other useful work which no one else >did. > >But, alongside this, the Church was often corrupted, with selling of >offices, and more notably, its dreaded Inquisition and the burning of >heretics. > >These latter items, barbaric and authoritarian in the extreme, persisted >into the Renaissance. Their alienness to the modern idea of religion and >liberality makes me wonder whether it might not be useful to players of >historical music to understand better the mindset which supported them. > >My history book talks much of politics, social structures, dates, and >wars, but there is little that satifies a musician's longing to enter that >world emotionally. > >So, how does one solve the problem? Are there relevant James Michener >novels? Is there a book "A Day in the Life of an Inquistion Court Clerk"? >Do famous 16th century lutenists mention "that cursed Church spy" in their >letters?
Good one, Herbert. There is "Pepy's Diary", written by a lute-playing 17th c. gentleman, witnessing a Royal beheading, and once asking God's forgiveness for not taking his lute out of its case for several months. Chordially, Arne.
