The Renaissance
1485-1660
Historical Introduction
The Renaissance in Europe
• Dates- Italy 14th century to England- mid 17th
century
• Renaissance means “rebirth”
• traditionally designates the centuries
following the Middle Ages in Europe.
• Rebirth of classical literature and intellectual
fervor like ancient Rome and Greece
Renaissance in Europe
Differences from Middle Ages
• Revitalized interest in Greek and Roman
civilization
• Their own times were a return to glorious
achievements of classical times
• Purer literature
• Strong religious influence
Origins in Italy
• 14th century Italy
• Authors
– Petrach (Petrachian sonnets)
– Boccacio
• Artists
– Giotto
– Donatello
14th century Italian Artists
DONATELLO
GIOTTO
Humanists
• Who? Scholars and educators
• What did they believe?
– Human beings are very capable beings
– emphasized creation of art for all levels of society
– People are worthy and dignified beings
– Outward beauty can represent inward beauty
• Contrasted with Medieval emphasis on God
and contempt for the things of this world
(humanists wanted to appreciate this life)
Italian Artists 15th and 16th centuries
daVinci
Michelangelo
Leonardo
Spread of Renaissance
• From Italy to France, Germany, England
• During this time there was also territorial
expansion and discovery
– 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue
• European colonial and commercial
domination w/ Asia and Americas
• Beginning of modern world
The Renaissance in England
• Slow to participate b/c of internal turmoil
– War of the Roses
– Yorks and Lancasters battling for throne (14551485)
– Country was not in a place to respond to or
participate in new artistic and intellectual
movements
– War of Roses brought to an end when Henry
Tudor defeated Yorkist King in 1485
– Henry Tudor becomes Henry VII
Tudor Dynasty
from
http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/specialcollec
tions/Elizabeth/images/family_tree.jpg
Tudor Dynasty
• Rule for more than a century
• Bring stability
– Henry VII (1485-1509)
– Henry VIII son of Henry VII
• Powerful political leader
• Also afraid of what renaissance thinking would
do to the population
Literary Figures
• Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)
– Humanist
– Wrote Utopia
• Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542)
• Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517?-1547)
• Poets who based their writing off of their
exploration of Italian models
Religious Tension in 16th century
• Catholics vs. Protestants
• Protests against authority and corruption of
the Roman Catholic Church
– Protestant Reformation
• Martin Luther who was famous for stating his
grievances against the church - nailed to the
door of a church in Germany in 1517
Religious Tension in 16th century
• Henry VIII- always loyal to Roman Catholic
• No religious motivation for England to align
itself with Protestant revolt
• Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had
not produced a male heir so he wanted a
divorce
– Pope refused
– Henry defied the Pope and declared himself the
“Supreme Head of the Church in England”
(Anglican Church)
Consequences of break with Catholicism
• England came to have a new, independent,
national identity
• When Sir Thomas More opposed Henry’s
divorce and refused to swear allegiance to
Henry as the head of the state, More was
imprisoned and executed
• More was the leading figure in the
renaissance and was sacrificed for political
power of King
Reformation in England
• Edward VI- 9 year old son of Henry VIII
• Mary came to throne when Edward died
(1553-1558) (Bloody Mary)
– Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
– Half Spanish; devout Catholic
– Married Phillip II of Spain
– Reign of terror against English Protestants to
return England to Catholic authority
Mary
Elizabeth I (1552-1603)
• Half-sister of Mary
• Daughter of Henry VIII and his 2nd wife
Anne Boleyn
• Took the throne at 25
• Intelligent, educated by a Humanist
• Linguist, poet
• Encouraged artistic growth
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (1552-1603)
• Religion
– Moderate- somewhere between Protestant
extremism and capitulation to Catholicism
• Foreign affairs: WONDER OF HER AGE!
– Pushed for expansion
– 2nd half of 16th century pushed English seamen to
raid Spanish ships
– Prevented war with Spain by playing France off of
Spain
– Used her unmarried status as a bargaining chip
Elizabethan Literary Achievement
• Elizabeth’s Court in London
– London was now a center of industry,
business, government, finance, and law
– Many talented individuals came to her
court who were strong political or literary
figures
– Came to court to contribute what they
could
Elizabeth’s Court
• Pair of authors who were close friends;
discussed how to reform English poetry
to make it as good as French and Italian
• Sir Phillip Sydney (1554-1586)
• Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
Elizabeth’s Court
Sidney:
•aristocrat Ideal Renaissance gentleman
•Strong political ideas and literary ability
• wrote for a private circle of friends
•Work not published until after death
Elizabeth’s Court
• Spenser:
–A “professional man of letters”
–Scholar-poet
–Wanted to be a great writer
–Wrote “The Faerie Queene” a major
allegorical epic (never finished)
–Which is dedicated to Elizabeth
Elizabethan Drama
• Greatest achievement of Elizabethan
literature
• Characteristics:
– More nonreligious plays (as compared with
medieval period)
– Characters developed (more characters)
– Many private performances
– By end of 16th century writers were
educated at Oxford and Cambridge
Elizabethan Drama
• Origins in:
– native folk culture and popular entertainment
– Sophisticated, aristocratic world of literary
circles and the court
• Influences during 16th century
– Dramatically spoken English; the dramatic
nature and flair distinguished them from
Italian and French Renaissance writing
Characteristics of Elizabethan Plays
– Basic sets, costumes, atmospheric
effects
– Audience had to use imagination
– Effects given through emphasis on
spoken word
Elizabethan Theatres
• Theatres:
– Shoreditch: first public theatre just outside city
limits of London in 1576
– Globe: home theater of Shakespeare’s company
just across the river Thames
• Audiences:
– Crowding into theatre (London had a population
of 50,000)
– ALL classes were in the audience
GLOBE THEATRE
Elizabethan Tastes and Attitudes
•
•
Peculiar combination of old and new
Love of the “artificial”
– definition to Elizabethans
•
Everything that is made by human skill and
ingenuity
– artificial in Elizabeth’s court
–
fantastically decorated gowns; ornamental gardens
and buildings
– artificial in literature
•
•
Complicated rhyming forms like the sonnet
Abstract verbal patterns but used repetition
Elizabethan World Picture
•
“Great chain of being”
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•
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World is a a vast, unified hierarchical order
Created by God
Everything is ranked within a category in the chain
Human beings’ role in the chain
– At the midpoint (souls and free will made
them above animals)
– Could choose to move higher (toward
angels) or lower (toward animals)
KEY TERMS & PEOPLE
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•
•
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•
Renaissance
Humanists
War of the Roses
Globe
Artifice
“Great Chain of
being”
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Petrarch
Michelangelo
Henry VII
Henry VIII
Mary
Elizabeth I
KEY AUTHORS
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Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas Wyatt
Sir Philip Sydney
Edmund Spenser
Christopher Marlowe
William Shakespeare