The Mission

1.- PLOT OF THE MOVIE

The movie takes place during the XVIII century, in Latin America. Next to the Iguanzú waterfalls, there is a guaraní village, in the middle of the jungle. The Jesuit father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) manages to arrive to the small village in order to continue the job that once started another crucified Jesuit; he is going to try to evangelize the guaranies.

Finally, he manages to be accepted by the indigenous only thanks to his faith and a flute. Once he has learned the language and set up a good relationship with the people in the village, he founded the San Carlos’ mission. One of the main followers of this mission is Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro) an ex-slave trafficker that has also killed his own brother, who was searching the forgiveness of God and manages it by becoming Jesuit and leaving together with the guaranies, his victims of the past.

After years of fighting together, both Jesuits confront the cause of the Independence of the indigenous: Gabriel believes on the power of faith and praising whereas Rodrigo thinks fighting with weapons like swords is the solution.

 2.- JESUIT MISSIONS IN PARAGUAY

The fights between the Portuguese and the Spanish, none of which respected the Tordesillas treaty (for the division of territories between those two countries), made the Spanish monarch, Felipe II, to send the Jesuits to that area of Paraguay. The mission, which was ordered in 1585, consisted in defending the Spanish frontiers from the Portuguese attacks as well as to Christianize and teach the guaraní indigenous in the Spanish traditions, avoiding at the same time they to be captured as slaves.

 

3. - THE TREATY OF MADRID

The Spanish–Portuguese treaty of 1750 or Treaty of Madrid was a document signed in Madrid by the Spanish monarch, Ferdinand VI of Spain, and the Portuguese monarch, John V of Portugal. It was signed on the 13 January of 1750 in order to end the armed conflict over a border dispute between the empires of both countries in South America. The treaty established borders between the Spanish and Portuguese empires, ceding much of what is today's country of Brazil to the Portuguese.

The relationship between this treaty and the movie is that, because of the treaty of Madrid,  the Jesuits had to fight in order to conserve their territories for Spain. The main reason is that if this villages became Portuguese slavery of the guaraní indigenous would increase as in Portugal this practice was allowed. 

 4. - JESUIT REDUCTIONS

A Jesuit reduction was a type of settlement for indigenous people in South America created by the Spanish Jesuit Order during the 17th and 18th centuries. The strategy of the Spanish Empire was to gather native populations into centers called "Indian reductions”, in order to Christianize them and also to govern them more efficiently. These settlements were used firstly in an area that would correspond to modern-day Paraguay and then they spread to parts of actual Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia.

This reductions made by Jesuits were very different from other reductions of other regions because the indigenous people were expected to convert to Christianity but not necessarily adopt European values and lifestyles.

 5. – THE MOVIE AND ZAMORA

This movie is related to Zamora thanks to its main character, Father Gabriel, who in real life was called Diego de Torres Bollo. He was born in Villalpando, Zamora, in the year 1551.

His defense of the indigenous, against the abuses of the colonists, is pioneer in the human rights. He has become one of the great figures of the American evangelization thanks to his labor of thinking up and realizing that marvelous utopia of Reductions.  Moreover, Quintín Aldea, an academic of history, points that Diego de Torres Bollo consolidated the Juli’s experiment, which would soon become the apostolic model of working with the indigenous; he also promoted the formation of a native clergy through the Seminary-School (as the one of Quito); furthermore, he begun the proselytism with the black people of Cartagena of Indies and, finally, his probably most important and memorable action (and also the one which is most related with the movie), he created and organized the Paraguay reductions.   

 

Colonial Scars

COLONIAL SCARS:

I think one of the most interesting consequences of the colonization of African countries by European colonial empires, is the presence of European languages in Africa. French, for example, which is the most common European language in that continent, is spoken by more than twenty African countries. However, there are a lot other European languages there which are a little less popular. One example is Portuguese. This language is spoken in countries such as Cape Verde, Angola or Mozambique (in this one more than 27% of population knows it as second language). In Mozambique, the 5^th of May they celebrate the Day of Portuguese Language and Culture, as well as in many other Portuguese-speaking African countries. However, the influence of this language in this country has increased during time as a way to improve communication between Mozambicans during the independence. Henrique Terreiro Galha, revolutionary leader, posted some blog entries about this independence in which he affirmed the following: “Portuguese was the only vehicle of communication among the different ethnicities… Joaquim Chissano ‘the need to transform the Portuguese language, from an instrument of depersonalization and oppression, to a vehicle of communication of the People’”. Definitely, Portuguese has become an important part of Mozambique since, thanks to colonization, this language was brought there. However, Mozambique is also very important for Portuguese people as a way of escaping from the crisis of the democracy, as well as other colonies of the past such as Angola. The main reason, some people affirm, is that there, with only some formation, you can help the country grow a lot. And that is happening thanks to all this immigration; only in 2011 Mozambique’s economy grew a 7, 4%.

Finally, it is important to say, that this is only one of the lots of European languages that are actually spoken at Africa thanks to colonization of the early XX c. and that have lasted until today. Moreover, as well as this one, there are other scars of colonialism which can be observed nowadays, such as the Commonwealth, Multiculturalism in France's Presidential Debate, etc.

WORKS CITED:

Global voices page, Translation posted 19 May 2011 16:46 GMT (Not mentioned author).                                                                                       https://globalvoices.org/2011/05/19/mozambique-portuguese-the-language-of-mozambicanness/

Nations online page (Not mentioned author).

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/african_languages.htm

Eldiario.es, Mozambique, la huída de la emigración, Susana Irles, 17/10/2012, 09:00 a.m.

http://www.eldiario.es/internacional/portugal-crisis-emigracion_0_58794511.html

Iron architecture and Chicago's school of architecture

Modernisme

Here you can see an image explaining the main facts of Modernisme. 

The name of the Rose

THE CHARACTERS

1. What are the names of the two main characters of the movie?

The two main characters of the movie are William of Baskerville, a Franciscan monk, and Adso of Melk, his apprentice.

2. What religious order do they belong to? Who founded the order and what were the order’s key principles?

They belong to the Franciscan order, which was founded by Francisco of Asís in the year 1209. The most important principle of this order is the principle of poverty as they don’t have anything that belongs to them, they live from alms.

3. What other famous pair in the crime novel could you compare them with?

I would compare these characters with Sherlock Holmes, one of the most famous detectives of the crime novel in the world (who would be the equivalent to William of Baskerville in the movie), and his assistant Watson (who would be represented by Adso of Melk in this movie). Both pairs of people solve mysteries by the use of reason and logic.

4. Why do these two characters go to this Abbey in northern Italy?

They came to the abbey in order to take part in a debate in which it would be argued weather to live in poverty, like Christ is supposed to have done, or not.

5. What are the secret instruments that Brother William carries? Why did he cover them when he received the Abbot's visit in his cell?

The objects are his lens and some other instruments used for observing, studying and interpreting the stars. The reason why he hid them from the Abbot is because Astronomy in those years was considered heresy and the consequences could result very bad for William of Baskerville.

6. Which of the two theological currents, Patristics or Scholasticism, would you identify Bro. William with? Why?

I would identify Bro. William with Scholasticism. The main reason is because this movement is based in the Greco-Latin philosophy and one of the main philosophers of this current was Aristotle. From the movie we know that William of Baskerville defended this thinker and his ideas from which we can stand out the importance of laugh.

7. Which character in the film would oppose, from the theological-philosophical point of view to Bro. William?

The antagonist, the Venerable George, who is clearly opposed to laugh and this ideology pushes him to kill everyone who reads a book about this theme which was written by Aristotle.

8. The character of Bro. William is inspired in William of Ockham. Find some information about this character and his philosophy.

William of Ockham was an English Franciscan philosopher, theologian, and political writer of the 14^th century.  He has also been categorized as one of the main fathers of nominalism, which is a philosophy that defends that universals are merely mental concepts and abstractions which do not really exist, except in the mind.

Talking about his more remarkable works, in addition to formulating his famous methodological principle commonly known as Occam's Razor, he produced significant works on Logic, physics and theology.

9. What does the peasant girl symbolize? What vision existed for women and love in the Middle Ages according to the film?

This girl symbolizes in the movie sin and lust, as we can appreciate for the comments that are made by the different monks about that peasants, who is known in the entire Abbey. For this reason, in the Middle Ages women were like “forbidden” for men, as they made them fall into sin.

10. Who were the "Dulcinians" or “Dulcinites”? Which characters in the film practiced this heresy?

It was a religious sect that was opposed to the clergy. One of the main point they criticized from its members was that they lived with luxury, so as a consequence they started stealing their riches in order to give them to poor people. We can see Dulcinians in the movie in the characters of Remigio di Vragine and Salvatore, who were finally condemned to death for commuting heresy.

THE ABBEY

1. What monastic order does the abbey belong to?

The abbey belongs to the Benedictine order.

2. Who founded this order and what was their motto?

The person who founded this order is Benito of Nurse. This monk wrote “The Benedictine Rule”, which can be resumed in the following motto: pax ("peace") and the traditional ora et labora ("pray and work"). In this sentences it is expressed the Benedictine main principle: the value of work and self-sufficiency.

3. What activities take place in the monastery?

In the movie we can observe how some activities take place in order to facilitate the subsistence of the monks. Some of those activities are agriculture, livestock rising and the most important, writing and illustration of books. These last two activities made that the abbey became famous because of its library.

4. Why do the peasants go to the abbey? What were the social groups in the Middle Ages and what was their role in society?

Peasants went to the abbey in order to pay the tithe. This was the tenth part of agricultural produce or personal income set apart as an offering to God.

Talking about the society during the Middle Ages, it was divided into the estates of the realm. This means that it was divided into three main groups: two of them were wealthy (nobility and clergy) and the last was poor (peasants). The class in which you were born would be your class for all you live (however there were ways for peasants to improve they position: getting married with a member of the nobility or entering the clergy). The nobility was in charge of politics, the clergy of religion and literary works, and finally, peasants, had to grow crops in order to give a part to the clergy: the tithes I have already mentioned.

5. What architectural style appears in the movie? And what are its main

characteristics?

The Abbey we can see in the movie, where the entire story takes place, is without doubts a Romanesque construction.

Among the characteristics of this architectural style we can stand out the austerity of the Abbey; its thick walls of stone and small windows that make the interior part very dark; a lot of rooms, some of them fundamental in a monastery, as the library; and, finally, its round arches. All of these things were used in order to produce fear to people and this way increase respect to the church and the clergy.

6. Does the Abbey that inspired the novel still exist? Where is it?

The Abbey of the movie actually exists, it is called San Michele Della Chiusa, and it is situated in the province of Turin, Italy.

THE STORY

1. After the first deaths, what book of the Bible seems to be the answer to

those unexplainable murders? Why?

The book that seemed to be the answer to the deaths that were taking place in the abbey was the apocalypse. The main reason is because all of them were very similar to what this book predicts that would happen; moreover, attributing the deaths to the evil would put an end to the mystery without the necessity of searching for a responsible. Finally, the timeline (near year 1000) that was mentioned in the apocalypse’s book was very near from the date when the story was taking place.

2. What’s the debate that occurs in the Abbey about?

The debate is about the lifestyle that should be carried out by monks. There are only two options: total poverty (which was defended mainly by the Franciscans because it was supposed to be how Christ lived) or not.

3. Why do Pontifical Delegates were sent to participate in this debate?

They were sent to participate in the debate that took place in the abbey because they represented the point of view which opposed to the Franciscan’s one; Pontifical Delegates believed that the church should keep its wealth. It is important to take into account that this took place in a period in which the church’s riches were very criticized.

4. What are the two opposing arguments that mark the debate?

On the one hand, we have the point of view of Franciscans: as Christ lived in total poverty, I mean, with no material or individual possessions, the clergy should live that way as well. On the other hand, the point of view defended by papal delegates, iss that the church’s wealth should be kept in order to be able to continue the fight against unfaithful or hose against the church.

5. What does Bernardo Gui symbolize? Did he really exist?

Bernardo Gui symbolizes the Holy Inquisition. This character actually existed, he was a Dominican religious. Bernardo was Inquisitor of Toulouse between 1307 and 1323. Moreover, as a reward, he was given Tuy’s (Galicia, Spain) bishopric and later Lodève’s (Hérault, France) one.  

6. What was the Holy Inquisition?

The Holy Inquisition was a catholic institution which started in France and then spread along all Europe. It safewarded orthodoxy and punished everybody who went against the “official dogma”, as we can see in the movie with the three people who are condemned to death.

7. What tricks are used by the Director to keep the plot’s intrigue and the

viewers’ attention?

First of all, a series of false clues which make the viewer think that the murderer is who he really isn’t (as the abbot or Remigio). However, when the spectator already thinks that he has solved the mystery, it happens something that makes that character seem innocent, so the viewer needs to continue searching.

8. What does ugliness symbolize in the movie?

Ugliness symbolizes fear and meanness, as the ugly characters are suspects of being the murderer, as Malachia; or maybe they are guilty of committing heresy, as Salvatore; or they are real murderers, as Jorge of Burgos; in this last case ugliness is symbolized by a physical deformation, in the eyes.

THE BOOKS

1. What classical authors is Bro. William ‘in love’ with?

William of Baskerville, as a person who loved and studied classical literature,  admired some classical authors as Virgilio or Ovidio, but the most important for him was Aristotle, with whom he shared ideology.

2. What do these authors have in common?

All of them are classical writers from the ancient times, either from Greece or Rome.

3. What opposing arguments about laughter appear in the movie?

On the one hand, the Benediction point of view, which is mainly represented by the Venerable George, which stands that laugh is a symbol of ignorance that deforms face features, moreover he claims that it is never said in the Bible that Jesus laughed.  On the other hand, we have the Franciscan point of view, mainly defended by William of Baskerville, which says that laughing is not a bad action; on the contrary, it is a symbol of happiness. In addition, he answers back that it is also never said in the Bible that Christ didn’t laugh.

4. What forbidden book used humor and comedy as an instrument of truth?

That book is the second poetics book of Aristotle. It is what marks the entire story, triggering the fury of the venerable George and being used as well for killing those who try to read it.

5. Why did Venerable Jorge poison the tips of that book’s pages?

Because that way everyone who read that book wouldn’t survive. But why that book? The reason is because it was a book of humor and comedy and this were the arms of the Evil against fear, which was necessary to maintain faith.

6. Why did Umberto Eco title his novel as The Name of the Rose?

There can be different reasons of why the author called the book The name of the Rose. It is important to take into account that this wasn’t the first name given to the novel, as Umberto Eco once said in an interview. He first called the book “Adso”, however, this title wasn’t accepted by the editorial, so he changed it.

But I haven’t answered the question yet, why The Name of the Rose? Well, first of all, we can observe some features in the novel that can remind us roses, for example the labyrinth, whose all ways can be similar to the petals of a rose.  

Moreover, we have the figure of the Virgin Mary, interpreting the Rose in a religious way, as the Virgin is sometimes called “The Mystic Rose”.  She is mentioned in the book as a symbol of purity an opposed to the luxury and lust of the monks.

Finally, and the most important reason, we have to observe the last sentence of the novel: "Stat rosa prístina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus", which traduced to English would mean. “from the Rose it is left only the name”. This sentence means that from all the religious and cultural patrimony that was kept in the burned library, now it only endures its memory.

CONCLUDE YOUR ASSIGNMENT WRITING A SHORT PARAGRAPH WITH

YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT THE MOVIE

Apart from being a movie that belongs to my favorite novel genre, mystery and crime, which manages to keep the viewer attention at all time trying to solve the murderers, I can stand out as its main strong point that it makes a very good and faithful representation of the Middle Ages. Moreover, I like very much the way it uses, through the different characters, to criticize the luxury and lust of the clergy and the bad conditions of peasants, apart from the injustices that committed the Holy Inquisition, which had too much power.

In general, I find it a very interesting movie which makes people have a good time a the same time as they learn a lot of things of that period of time, as I hope to have shown in this questionnaire. 

Glossary French Revolution

Timeline of important thinkers

Make your own mind maps with Mindomo.

Declaration of Independence

In my opinion, the Declaration of Independence was written because of selfish causes or, in other words, with economic purposes. This ones may have been inspired by the bourgeoisie and members of the upper-class, who needed the support of the lower-class. But, what evidences do we have to get to this statement?
First of all, it is no difficult to imagine a bourgeoisie desirous of power, moreover, they had many reasons to promote a rebellion against England as we can see in their grievances, such as the cut off of trade with the rest of the world.
Furthermore, we can observe evidences of the trying of the upper-class to persuade lower-class in that grievances as well and in the Declaration of Independence. For example, it is important to standout that they were written by white and privilaged men, using an inspiring language to call all classes to rebellion and to wake up patriotic feelings.
However, this determination of the bourgeoisie to persuade lower-class might have been only the result of their desire of gaining power over the govermen, for what they needed support.
As a conclusion, I can afirm that the reason of the writing of the Declaration of Independence is that priviladge classes needed the support of the lower-class to rebolt and this way gain control over goverments.

Here are links to the Declaration of Independence in which there can be observed the aspects I previously mentioned.

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript