By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
An excessive ‘mellowing’ of customs led to a lack of appetite for war; this, along with a growing influence of sentimentality and the action of the ‘troubadours’ put an end to the crusading spirit.
Now, while this explains the crusading spirit, it does not explain very well the decadence of the crusading spirit. Because the Church ‘sweetened’ very much people’s customs and with that the propensity of people to join the fray was much diminished. The instinct of self-preservation, which powerfully dominates men, began to play a much greater role than at the time of the barbarian invasions. And admiration of cultural things in civil life brought about a lack of appetite for war even as it diverted men from excellent things that intellectual life can produce in times of peace.
And then came about the influence of sentimentality, troubadours, and everything else that presaged the Renaissance.
Vision of a Knight by Raphael is an example of Proto-Renaissance art, which was during the decline of the Middle Ages and the start of the Renaissance.
(Excerpt from an Almoço Tuesday, Jan. 30, 1990 – Nobility.org)
