i have to write a 1200-1500 worded essay on a phase of Greek or Renaissance culture, or the influence of some phase of Greek or Renaissance culture to modern times. I want to pull religion into this essay somehow, and i have a few ideas, but some others would be very helpful. any help at all would be appreciated!

Please tell me your ideas, so I know how you are thinking.

(Yes, I have ideas.)

Well, I want to write about something small that happened, you know, something not many people know about, but I can't find much I could use. So I was thinking about using the protestant reformation. It seems easy, and I know I can find a lot of info on it. My teacher was telling me about... king henry, I think? King henry the eighth? About how he rebelled against the catholic church. I also thought about that. I'm still looking for something that is less heard of, so my essay can be a little different. Suggestions?

1. John Hus -- from Wikipedia: Jan Hus (listen (help·info)) (IPA: [ˈjan ˈɦus], alternative spellings John Hus, Jan Huss, John Huss) (c. 1369 Husinec (Prachatice District), Bohemia – July 6, 1415 Konstanz, Germany) was a Czech religious thinker, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague. His followers became known as Hussites. The Roman Catholic Church considered his teachings heretical, and Hus was excommunicated in 1411, condemned by the Council of Constance, and burned at the stake in 1415. Nearly six centuries later in 1999, Pope John Paul II expressed "deep regret for the cruel death inflicted" on Hus. The pope then went on to suggest an inquiry as to whether Hus might be cleared of heresy.

2. Suleiman (or Suleyman) The Magnificent (1494-1566) -- from crystalinks: Suleyman ruled from 1520-60. In his time was regarded as the most significant ruler in the world, by both Muslims and Europeans. His military empire expanded greatly both to the east and west, and he threatened to overrun the heart of Europe itself. In Constantinople, he embarked on vast cultural and architectural projects. Istanbul in the middle of the sixteenth century was architecturally the most energetic and innovative city in the world. While he was a brilliant military strategist and canny politician, he was also a cultivator of the arts. Suleyman's poetry is among the best poetry in Islam, and he sponsored an army of artists, religious thinkers, and philosophers that outshone the most educated courts of Europe.

In Islamic history, Suleyman is regarded as the perfect Islamic ruler in history. He is asserted as embodying all the necessary characteristics of an Islamic ruler, the most important of which is justice ('adale ).

The Qur'an itself points to King Solomon as embodying the perfect monarch because he so perfectly embodied 'adale ; Suleyman, named after Solomon, is regarded in Islamic history as the second Solomon. The reign of Suleyman in Ottoman and Islamic history is generally regarded as the period of greatest justice and harmony in any Islamic state.

The Europeans called him "The Magnificent," but the Ottomans called him Kanuni, or "The Lawgiver."

3. Sistine Chapel first used for papal conclave, 1492. Why was it chosen? Where did earlier conclaves meet?

Also, Michelangelo Buonarroti was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508 to repaint the ceiling, originally representing golden stars on a blue sky; the work was completed between 1508 and 1 November 1512. He painted the Last Judgment over the altar, between 1535 and 1541, being commissioned by Pope Paul III Farnese. Michelangelo felt that he was a more developed sculptor than a painter, but he accepted the offer.

Discuss how M thought out the work ahead of him and how he decided on the Biblical figures and how he actually did the work.. i.e. the backstory of how the Sistine Chapel ceiling came to be.

Thank you! Those are really good ideas. I like the first one on john hus and the last one on michelangelo and how he went about painting the S.C.
Thanks so much!