1. Chaos and Order in the Renaissance Worldview
The Chain of Being
Chaos and Order in the Renaissance Worldview
The Chain of Being: Chaos and Order in the Renaissance Worldview
Adapted from a presentation by Dr. L. K. Wheeler

2. In the Beginning...
The Bible explained the importance of everything in the universe
The universe was designed by a benevolent deity
Originally, there was perfection and lack of change
The Bible shows a perfect order of everything down to the smallest particle on earth
In the Beginning
Cosmology – the stars they saw at night

3. The Design? A Chain from Highest . . . .
The Creator is the highest link in chain, but also outside it
Purely spiritual beings (angels, etc.) below the creator
Beings of both spirit and physical body (humans) below angelic beings.
Then animate creatures with only physical bodies and five senses, but lacking reason (non- human mammals, fowl, fish, insects)
Chain from highest to lowest.

4. Then animals with fewer than five senses or inanimate bodies (oysters, barnacles, mollusks)
Then plant life, which is both inanimate and lacking in sensory organs (trees, shrubs, bushes, vegetables)
Finally, minerals and inanimate objects
Everything had a place in the hierarchy, and all was well as long as each creature behaved according to its station, or link in the Chain
Chain from highest to lowest.
. . .Down to the Lowest

5. Four Bodily Humors From Latin Humoris: “liquid”
Choler (or Yellow Bile) liquid in the body that caused irritability and anger
Tears (or Black Bile) liquid in the body that caused melancholy, sadness, and depression)
Blood (corresponded to excitement, energy, sexual arousal, happiness, desire for activity)
Phlegm (corresponded to lethargy, boredom, inaction, fatigue, sleepiness)
In the Beginning

6. So what went wrong? Where does sin come into play?
For medieval and Renaissance Christians, the universe was created by a benevolent deity
So how did one explain the existence of unpleasant evil within a world that was thought to have been created as an ordered paradise?
In the Beginning

7. Remember, all of creation was bound together
Whatever affected one thing affected other things in the Chain of Being
This was called a “Correspondence”
When the humors are balanced proportionately in the human body, mankind is healthy, and experiences no negative or inappropriate emotions
When unbalanced, it was another story
In the Beginning

8. Unbalance Leads to Disease
...And to Civil Disorder

9. ...And to Disorder in Nature
Animals attacking people, eating their own young, stealing grain or crops, all these were signs of the fallen nature of the earth, and corresponded to breaks in the Chain of Being and disorder within the microcosm.

10. ...And to disorder in the heavenly constellations
Meteors, falling stars, eclipses, violent storms, etc.

11. Enter Sin and Disorder
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?” (Gen 3:1)
In the Beginning
Demonic trickery leads humanity to rebel against its place in nature as paragon in divine creation.

12. Mutability Old Age Death Erosion Disease Rain, Wind, and Weather
“God commanded us that we should not eat the fruit; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.” (Gen 3:3)
Old Age
Death
Erosion
Disease
Rain, Wind, and Weather
Rust and Decay
In the Beginning

13. So how did the Great Chain Work?
The Chain had a few pieces missing due to human rebellion
But enough pieces remain for it to function
The trick is for each creature to know its duty and its place in the Chain, and act accordingly
In the Beginning

14. God Hierarchy The Supreme Primate King of Angels (Rex Angelorum)
In the Beginning

15. Angelic Beings
Organized in strict hierarchy of seven choires (or nine, depending upon source).
“There are nine orders of angels, to wit, angels, archangels, virtues, powers, principalities, dominations, Ophanim, Cherubim, and Seraphim.”
--St. Gregory, Summa Theologica
In the Beginning

16. The King and Nobility
Right to rule given by God, and could only be removed by Him.
Believed superior in his virtue, wisdom, grace, and strength.
In the Beginning

17. Humanity of Various Ranks
Ancient medieval model of Three Estates:
Knights and royalty, those who fight and rule, protecting the physical health of God’s flock
The Clergy, the priests who pray and tend to the spiritual needs of God’s flock.
Those who work, the farmers and serfs who feed God’s flock.
In the Beginning

18. If those who protect the kingdom do their job, the people will be safe
If those who work the fields do their job, all will be fed
If those who tend to the soul do their job, all will have their spiritual needs met
Refusing to keep one’s place damages the Body Politic (society as a whole)
Even the lowest serf slaving away in a field had some dignity and authority over other creatures....
In the Beginning

19. Noble Beasts The animals had a ranking, too
The highest animals were knows as the primates
Among the beasts, the primate was either the lion or the elephant
In the Beginning

20. Next: Fish, Flesh, and Fowl
Then: Plants
The oak was primate among plants, with trees ranking above shrubs, which ranked above bushes, which ranked above grains, which ranked above grasses, and so on.
Finally: Mineral World
In the Beginning
Even rocks had rankings. Diamonds were the mineral primate, with other gems below them
Everything, even stones and dirt, had an important place, even if just supporting those who walked upon them.

21. This ideology was evident even in early medieval society in Western Europe
The least educated person knew about this Chain of Being
You were reminded constantly of your “place,” and the responsibilities you had
Everyone was in their place in the Chain because God ordained it…you didn’t move up or down in the Chain
In the Beginning

22. Ethical, Political and Literary Ramifications?
You must know your place and not wish to be higher than you were born
You were also to be responsible for the place you were born into; it was a sin not to do what you were assigned by your rank
You were to be a balanced being – physical and spiritual needs were equal
Any writer or educated person of the day knew all of the symbolism involved in this Chain of Being
In the Beginning

23. Pride Becomes the Worst Sin
Pride is always an act of disobedience to legitimate authority, hence an act against the will of God, and also against the very structure of the universe – Lucifer’s pride caused the fall of man
It is cosmological vandalism
In the Beginning

24. Regicide: The Worst Act of Pride
“ Regicide = Killing the King
The King is God’s deputy on earth, and is himself parallel in authority to God. Just as God is king of Angels and all creation, the king is ruler of his countrymen, and deserves similar awe. The unlawful death of kings always causes disruption in the heavens (stars fall from the sky, freakish storms blow across the country) and disruption in the world of nature (famines, plagues, unnatural activity among the animals, etc.)
In the Beginning

25. Killing the King is attacking an emblem of Godhead
Killing the King is attacking an emblem of Godhead. It is worse than even killing a priest. He has two bodies, and injuring the head of the state is a blow to the entire people.
In the Beginning