The Renaissance
1485-1660
The Renaissance
• French word meaning
“rebirth”
• New interest in
science, art, literature
• Great advances in
science and education
• New social order
• Interest in humanism
“Vision of Ezekiel” by Raphael, 1518
Printing Press
• 1430s: first mass-produced
books; no longer had to be
hand-copied
• Used interchangeable letter
block templates, oil-based
inks, and high-quality paper
• Made books (esp. the Bible)
widely accessible for the
first time
Protestant Reformation--1517
• Martin Luther (German monk)
• Protested sale of indulgences
(and
other practices) by Catholic
church
• Nailed 95 Theses to church door
• Reformation led to
Protestantism
• Had a huge influence on society,
politics, and the economy
Renaissance Worldview
• Middle Ages – people focused
energy on religion and the afterlife
• Renaissance – people focused
energy on life on earth
• Emphasis placed on individual and
his/her human potential
• “Renaissance Man” a well-rounded
person who cultivated his talents to
the fullest
“Age of Exploration”
• European nations “discovered”
other nations for commerce
• Contributed to later imperial
domination and exploitation
Major Scientific Advances
• Alchemy, astronomy, medicine, geography, inventions.
• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) and Galileo (15641642)—theory of heliocentrism controversial with Church
Medical Advances
• Many medical advances—learned more about
anatomy, surgery, and treatment of disease; used
knowledge from earlier Islamic physicians
Page from an
Ottoman
manuscript
describing how
to make
medicines
Leonardo da Vinci, “Fetus in the Womb”
Rulers of Note: Tudors and Stuarts
King Henry VIII
• 17 when crowned
• 6 marriages
• 1530—broke with
the Catholic church
and created Church
of England (a.k.a.
Anglican Church)
Sumptuary Laws
• King Henry VIII wanted to be
able to tell upon first glance
what social class someone
belonged to
• Laws specified the kinds of
cloth, colors, and accessories
that were forbidden to people
beneath a certain rank
• Breaking sumptuary laws
punishable by loss of
possessions, title, or even life.
Social Classes
• Middle class continued to grow with emergence of global
trade—especially merchants
• Four main classes: royalty, nobles, merchants, and peasants
• First three classes often patronized the arts
“The Peasant Dance”
by Pieter Bruegel the
Elder, 1569.
Social Classes: Merchants
Quentin Metsys, “Money
Changer and His Wife,” 1514
Pieter Aertsen, “A Cook with Poultry,” 16th c.
Social Classes: Nobles
Jan Gossaert, “A Noble Man,” 1530.
Jan Mostaert, “Portrait of an
African Noble,” 1520-30
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
•
•
•
•
Created and supported art
Turned England into a world power
Last of the Tudor Line
Considered the epitome of beauty: white
skin, fair hair, red lips
Stuarts
• James I (1603-1625)
Anglican Church supporter
• Charles I (1625-1649)- harsh
leadership led to Puritan
exodus and civil war
• Cromwells and
commonwealth took over
until 1660, ending the
Renaissance
Charles I
Renaissance Literature
• Writers, like artists, gained
patronage from wealthy people
• Pastoral poetry: idealized
depictions of nature and rural
life
– Used courtly language with
meter and rhyme
• Popular poets: Edmund
Spenser, Sir Walter Raleigh,
Christopher Marlowe, William
Shakespeare
Depiction of a scene from
Spenser’s Faerie Queene
Rise of Humanism
• Literature reflected
“humanism” – new ideas
about the worth and
importance of the individual
• Humanists were often devote
Christians
• Sir Thomas More – Wrote
Utopia about a perfect society
Sonnets
• 14-line poems
• Petrarchan (1300s) and
Shakespearean (1500s1600s)
• Iambic pentameter
– 5 feet = 10 syllables
– 1 foot = 1 unstressed
syllable, 1 stressed syllable
William Shakespeare
Pastoral Poems
• Poems that portray shepherds
and rustic life in an idealized
manner.
• Poems not written in the voice
of the common shepherd
• Speakers used courtly
language rather than common
speech
Metaphysical Poets
• Broke with convention
• Employed unusual imagery
• Attempted to encompass the
vastness of the universe and
explore life’s complexities and
contradictions
• Most famous poet - John
Donne
Metaphysical Poems
Poems had
• Irregular meter
• elaborate metaphors
• Themes of death, physical love,
religious devotion
• Dealt with vastness of the
universe