THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD
1485-1660
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Renaissance – is a French word that means
“rebirth” or renewal
 The Renaissance began in Italy
 Marked the link into the modern world from the
Middle Ages
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HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Accession of Henry VII inaugurates the Tudor
dynasty and also marks the beginning of the
Renaissance period
 The family name derives from Owen Tudor.
Although he had no direct claim to the throne
he married Catherine of Valois (widow of King
Henry V)
 His grandson was Henry VII

WHAT MADE THE RENAISSANCE?
Interest in humans
 Introduction of Universities
 The movable print
 Age of exploration
 Reformation

THE CITY
Markets expanded significantly
 International trade flourished
 The population expanded – from 60,000 in
1520 to 120,000 in 1550

LITERACY
The art of printing from moveable metal type, a
German invention, had been introduced to
England by William Caxton
 Printing made books cheaper and more
plentiful, providing more opportunity to read
and more incentive to learn

THE CHURCH
Officially, in the early 16th century England had
one religion – Catholicism
 The head of the church was the pope in Rome
 A vast system of confessions, pardons,
penance, absolution, indulgences, sacred
relics, and ceremonies gave church great power

CULTURE
The court was the center of culture
 Fashions in dress, speech, painting, music,
poetry shaped the taste and imagination of the
country as a whole
 In the Tudor era the route to power lay in
proximity to the royal body. (groom of the stool)

CLOTHING
THE TUDOR
DYNASTY
HENRY VII
Married Catherine of
Aragon
 Died unexpectedly
 Catherine of Aragon
married his younger
brother Henry VIII

HENRY VIII

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
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Married six times
It is easiest to remember
using this device: divorced,
beheaded, died, divorced,
beheaded, survived
Declared himself the head
of the English church in
1534
He produced three children
all together – Mary,
Elizabeth, and Edward VI
Edward died when he was
only 15
EDWARD VI
Became king in 1547 at
the age of 10
 Died in 1553 – only six
years after his accession
 Both the ten year-old
Edward and his staunch
successive Protectors
were Protestants

MARY TUDOR
Mary was devout
Catholic
 Persecution of
protestants led her to
receive the name
“Bloody Mary”
 When Mary died of
what modern
researches would have
called an ovarian cyst
Elizabeth took the
throne

ELIZABETH I – THE LAST OF THE TUDORS
Reigned for 45 years
 Considered the
“Golden Years”
 She never married
 Was very well
educated – she spoke
six languages
