English Renaissance

Background on the English Renaissance

2. The Renaissance 1485-1625
a flowering of literary, artistic and
intellectual development that began in Italy
in the 14th century.
inspired by arts and scholarship of ancient
Greece and Rome, which were
rediscovered during the Crusades
means “rebirth” – rebirth of civilization

3. Key Characteristics of the
Renaissance
Religious devotion of the Middle Ages gave way
to interest in the human being’s place on this
earth (humanism) to harmonize Bible and
classics to teach how to live and rule
 Universities introduced a new curriculum, the
humanities, including history, geography, poetry,
and languages
Invention of printing made books more available
More writers began using the vernacular
(common language) – English, Italian, French

4. Humanism:
This new concept man had of himself encouraged these
various art styles: painting, literature, dance
Leonardo DaVinci and Michaelangelo were the most notable,
for their accuracy in representing the human anatomy and
applying the laws of perspective to make their works more
realistic.

5. Figures of the Renaissance
Mostly Italians
Petrarch wrote lyric poetry in the form of sonnets
Leonardo Da Vinci, a painter, sculptor, architect,
and scientist
Da Vinci typifies a Renaissance man—a person
of broad education and interests whose curiosity
knew no bounds.

6. The Age of Exploration
Renaissance thirst for knowledge lead to a great
burst of exploration.
Crusades opened routes to Asia soon
monopolized by Italian merchants.
Explorers from other nations searched for all-sea
routes aided by compass and advances in
astronomy.
Culminated in Columbus’s discovery of the New
World in 1492--colonization

7. England in the Age of
Exploration
1497—Italian-born John Cabot reached
Newfoundland (an island off the coast of
Canada) and perhaps the mainland
Cabot laid the basis for future English
claims in North America.

8. The Protestant Reformation:
Questioning the Catholic Church
A growing sense of nationalism led many to
question the authority of the church (in Italy).
Complaints:
–the sale of indulgences
–payment to the church (tithing, taxes)
–church leaders favored Mediterranean powers over
northerly countries
–the educated questioned the Church teachings and
hierarchy

9. Erasmus
Dutch thinker whose edition
of the New Testament raised
questions about standard
interpretations of the Bible.
Focused attention on issues of morality and
religion
Morality and religion became the central
concerns of the English Renaissance

10. Martin Luther
Erasmus paved the way for the
split in the Roman Catholic Church
in 1517.
German monk Martin Luther nailed a list of
dissenting beliefs (“ninety-five theses”) to the door
of a German church.
Luther - salvation not earned by good deeds but
free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus.
Challenged authority of Pope of Roman Catholic
Church by teaching that Bible is only source of
divinely revealed knowledge from God.
Intent was to reform Catholic Church, but actually
divided church and introduced Protestantism.

11. Results of the Protestant Reformation
Swept through Europe with aid of Luther’s
translation of the Bible and pamphlets printed
with new printing press
Veneration of some saints, certain pilgrimages
and pilgrim shrines (like Thomas a Beckett’s in
Canterbury) were attacked and destroyed. Huge
amounts of church land and property passed into
hands of Crown - ultimately into nobility and
gentry.
Persecution of Catholics and Protestants
Division of Protestants—Lutherans and
Calvinists (Puritans and Presbyterian sects)

12. Tudor England
Tudor dynasty ruled from 1485-1603.
Time of stability and economic expansion
London a metropolis of 180,000 people
Many saw the changes as a threat to the
old familiar ways
Feared new outbreaks of civil strife (like
War of the Roses)

13. Henry VII
First Tudor monarch; defeated
Richard III in 1485
Inherited an England depleted by civil war
Before his death in 1509, he rebuilt the
treasury and established law and order.
Henry VII restored the prestige of the
monarchy and set the stage for his
successors.

14. Henry VIII
Catholic (even wrote a book
against Luther)
Relationship with the Pope
did not last
Marriage to Catherine of Aragon produced no
male heir
Henry tried to obtain an annulment to marry
Anne Boleyn
The Pope refused, but Henry married anyway
“Renaissance man” – wrote poetry, athlete and
hunter, created Royal Navy

15. Henry’s Break with the Church
Henry’s defiance led to an open break with the
Roman Catholic Church.
The Act of Supremacy (1534) gave Henry full
control of the Church in England and severed all
ties with Rome.
Henry became the head of the Anglican Church
(the new Church of England).
He seized Church property and dissolved the
monasteries.

16. The Aftermath
Henry used ruthless measures to suppress
opposition.
He even had his former friend and advisor,
Thomas More, executed, because More refused
to renounce his faith.
Henry married six times.
His first two marriages (Catherine and Anne)
produced two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.
His third wife, Jane Seymour, bore him a son,
Edward, who was still a frail child when Henry
died in 1547.

17. Catherine of
Aragon
m. 1509 - 1533
Divorced
Anne Boleyn
m. 1533 - 1536
Executed
Jane Seymour
m. 1536 - 1537
Died
Anne of Cleves
m. 1540 Jan.-July
Divorced
Kathryn Howard
m. 1540 - 1542
Executed
Katherine Parr
m. 1543 - 1547
Widowed

18. Edward VI
Became king at 9; died at 15 (1553)
Parliamentary acts during his
reign changed England’s religious
practices and sent England on its way to becoming
a Protestant nation.
English replaced Latin in church.
The Anglican prayer book, Book of Common
Prayer, became required in public worship.

19. Bloody Mary
Mary I, Edward’s half sister;
a Catholic
Mary restored Catholic practices and papal
authority to the Church of England.
Mary married her Spanish cousin, Phillip II,
making England a part of the powerful Spanish
state. (During this period of nationalism, many
found her acts unpatriotic)
Mary also persecuted Protestants: she ordered the
execution of some 300 Protestants during her
reign, strengthening anti-Catholic sentiment in
England

20. Elizabeth I
After Mary’s five year
reign, her half-sister,
Elizabeth came to the
throne.
Elizabeth was the last of the Tudors, dying
unmarried and childless.
Elizabeth received a Renaissance education,
became a patron of the arts, and Elizabethan
came to describe the English Renaissance at its
height.
Virginia named after her (the virgin queen)

21. Elizabeth and the Church
Ended religious turmoil
Reestablished the monarch’s supremacy in
the Church of England
Restored the Book of Common Prayer
Instituted a policy of religious moderation

22. Foreign Affairs
France and Spain, England’s two greatest
rivals, often worked with Catholic factions in
England.
Both nations fought to dominate England.
Elizabeth and her counselors played one side
against the other, using offers of marriage as
bait.
This cleverness allowed England a period of
peace and allowed commercial and maritime
interests to prosper.

23. Mary, Queen of Scots
Elizabeth’s Catholic cousin, Mary Stuart;
queen of Scotland by birth and next in
line to the British throne (granddaughter
of Henry VII)
Catholics did not recognize Henry VIII’s marriage to
Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother, and considered
Mary Stuart the queen.
Mary was a prisoner of England for 19 years and the
center of numerous plots on Elizabeth’s life.
Eventually Mary was convicted of plotting to murder
Elizabeth and went to the block in 1587, a Catholic
martyr.
“In my end is my beginning”—Mary’s death led
Catholic Spain to declare war on England.

24. England vs. Spain
Spain rejected English claims in America,
resented that English privateers had been
attacking and plundering Spanish ships.
Privateers like John Hawkins and Francis Drake
“on their own,” but were really under authority of
Queen Elizabeth.
After Mary’s execution, King Phillip II prepared
Spanish armada of 130 warships to attack
England.
In 1588, English sailors defeated the Armada in
the English Channel; marked decline of Spain
and the rise of England as great sea power

25. From Tudors to Stuarts
Elizabeth’s death marked the end of the
Tudor dynasty.
To avoid civil strife, Elizabeth named King
James VI of Scotland her successor (son of
Mary Stuart).
James was a Protestant
James VI of Scotland = James I of England
The reign of James I (1603-1625) is now
known as the Jacobean Era

26. King James I
Strong supporter of the arts;
furthered England’s position as a
world power
Sponsored the establishment of the first English
colony in America—Jamestown
Believed in “divine right” monarchy and had
contempt for Parliament (power struggle)
Persecuted Puritans (House of Commons)—
James’s persecution prompted a group of Puritans
to establish Plymouth colony in 1621
Believed in witchcraft and ghosts

27. The English Renaissance
Architects designed beautiful mansions
Composers wrote new hymns for Anglican
service and popularized the English
madrigal
Renaissance painters and sculptors moved
to England (Hans Holbein the Younger
was court painter to Henry VIII)
Opened public schools (like private
secondary schools today)
Improvements at Oxford and Cambridge

28. Elizabethan Poetry
Perfected the sonnet and experimented
with other poetic forms
Philip Sidney wrote the first Elizabethan
sonnet cycle (a series of sonnets that fit
together as a story)—Astrophel and Stella
Edmund Spenser wrote a long epic, The
Faerie Queen, in complex nine-line units
now called Spenserian stanzas
Christopher Marlowe popularized pastoral
verse (idealizes the rural life)

29. The Sonnet
English Spenserian Italian
(Petrarchean)
3 quatrains, 1
couplet; couplet is
solution or
comment
3 quatrains, 1
couplet
8 lines (octave) and
6 lines (sestet);
octave presents
problem, sestet
presents solution or
comment
abab cdcd efef ggabab bcbc cdcd
ee OR abba abba
cddc ee
abba abba cdecde
- 14 line poem, written in iambic pentameter

30. Elizabethan Drama
Reintroduced tragedies—plays in which disaster
befalls a hero or heroine
Reintroduced comedies—plays in which a
humorous situation leads to a happy resolution.
Began using blank verse
Christopher Marlowe was the first major
Elizabethan dramatist.
Marlowe may have rivaled Shakespeare as
England’s greatest playwright had he lived past
thirty.

31. William Shakespeare
Shakespeare began his involvement with
the theater as an actor.
By 1592, he was a popular playwright
whose works had been performed at
Elizabeth’s court.
After the Globe Theater was built in 1599,
many of his plays were performed there.
Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays: nine
tragedies, several comedies, ten histories,
and a number of play classified as tragic
comedies.

32. “He was not of an age but for all time.”

33. William Shakespeare’s The Globe
3 stories high with balconies
Polygonal “O-shaped”
Tiring house –backstage area with flag flying from its
peak announced whether there was a performance that
day
Trap doors on main stage
Women’s parts played by young boys
Elaborate, expensive costumes but few sets
Plays performed in afternoon - no night shows
Poorer patrons “groundlings” paid a penny to stand at
stage
Sold hazelnuts and beer as concessions
Stunk – no bathrooms just buckets

36. Elizabethan and Jacobean Prose
Walter Raleigh wrote his History of the World
during his confinement in the Tower of London
(was beheaded for allegedly plotting against
James I)
The leading prose writer of the time was Francis
Bacon.
The King James Bible –
–most monumental prose achievement of the
English Renaissance
–Commissioned by King James on the advice
of Protestant clergymen
–Took fifty-four scholars seven years to
complete

37. Famous Renaissance Writers
More – Utopia
Thomas More is
considered one of the
greatest of all English
humanists, mainly for
the book Utopia, written
in Latin, about an
imaginary island where
everything is perfect.

38. Sidney – Astrophel and Stella
Spenser – Faerie Queen
Marlowe – Dr. Faustus
Shakespeare – sonnets
and plays
Bacon – Essays
Donne – sonnets and sermons
Milton – Paradise Lost

39. Assorted Renaissance bits
Crime and punishment
–Death- punishment for treason, rebellion,
murder and most kinds of stealing
–Other common punishments: gallows, the
rack, stocks, whipping, branding
Education
–Men only, Latin most important subject

40. Food
–Honey – only way to sweeten food
–1 day a week, had to eat fish (it was the law)
–All meals washed down with wine or beer
–Most people ate with fingers; forks uncommon
–Few vitamins in diet
–Bad teeth- not enough milk, too many sweets
Inventions
•1570 toothbrush
•Rockets, hand grenades
•+, -, = signs
•Tobacco, potatoes discovered in America
•Pencil, pocket watch

41. Concepts that figure into
Shakespeare’s plays
Great Chain of Being4 Humours
God
9 orders of angelscholeric sanguine
King (yellow bile)(blood)
Man melancholic phlegmatic
Beasts (black bile)(phlegm)
Plants
Stones, etc.

42. Wheel of Fortune
–Common symbol during the Middle Ages
–Its lesson seemed to be that even kings could
not escape the hazards of the human condition.