Editorial note: Project Gutenberg has an earlier version of this work, which is titled Beacon Lights of History, Volume III, part 2: Renaissance and Reformation. See E-Book#1499, https://www.gutenberg.org/etext98/32blh10.txt or https://www.gutenberg.org/etext98/32blh10.zip The numbering of volumes in the earlier set reflected the order in which the lectures were given. In the current (later) version, volumes were numbered to put the subjects in historical sequence. LORD'S LECTURES BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME VI RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION. BY JOHN LORD, LL.D., AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE," ETC., ETC. CONTENTS. DANTE. RISE OF MODERN POETRY. The antiquity of Poetry The greatness of Poets Their influence on Civilization The true poet one of the rarest of men The pre-eminence of Homer, Dante, Shakspeare, and Goethe Characteristics of Dante His precocity His moral wisdom and great attainments His terrible scorn and his isolation State of society when Dante was born His banishment Guelphs and Ghibellines Dante stimulated to his great task by an absorbing sentiment Beatrice Dante's passion for Beatrice analyzed The worship of ideal qualities the foundation of lofty love. The mystery of love Its exalted realism Dedication of Dante's life-labors to the departed Beatrice The Divine Comedy; a study The Inferno; its graphic pictures Its connection with the ideas of the Middle Ages The physical hell of Dante in its connection with the Mediaeval doctrine of Retribution The Purgatorio; its moral wisdom Origin of the doctrine of Purgatory Its consolation amid the speculations of despair The Paradiso Its discussion of grand themes The Divina Commedia makes an epoch in civilization Dante's life an epic His exalted character His posthumous influence GEOFFREY CHAUCER. ENGLISH LIFE IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The characteristics of the fourteenth century Its great events and characters State of society in England when Chaucer arose His early life His intimacy with John of Gaunt, the great Duke of Lancaster His prosperity His poetry The Canterbury Tales Their fidelity to Nature and to English life Connection of his poetry with the formation of the English Language The Pilgrims of the Canterbury Tales Chaucer's views of women and of love His description of popular sports and amusements The preponderance of country life in the fourteenth century Chaucer's description of popular superstitions Of ecclesiastical abuses His emancipation from the ideas of the Middle Ages Peculiarities of his poetry Chaucer's private life The respect in which he was held Influence of his poetry CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. MARITIME DISCOVERIES.