The English Renaissance:
An Introduction
By
Dr. William J. Burling
The English Renaissance:
Overview
 Continental origins—
Italy, in particular
 English origins
 Literary developments
in poetry, prose
fiction, and drama
Continental Origins
 Important Developments in Italy in the 13th
and 14th centuries.
 Fall of Constantinople in 1453
Key Moments of the Italian
Renaissance
 Giotto’s paintings (late 13th, early 14th
centuries)
 Importance of Florence: Ghiberti’s “Doors
to the Baptistery” (1401)
Medieval Italian Art
Bernardo Daddi, 1335
(late example of older
Byzantine style)
Giotto (c. 1226-1337)
 Widely considered to be one of the first
innovators of the new modes of naturalism
and space in painting
 Praised by Dante in The Divine Comedy
The Mourning of Christ (Giotto, c. 1305)
Ghiberti’s “Doors” (1401)
Ghiberti, detail from “Doors”
Significance of Ghiberti’s “Doors”
 Highly sophisticated emphasis on correct
perspective, realism
 Church relaxes the position of “contemptu
mundi”
 The Church becomes chief patron of
“high” Renaissance art (Michelangelo,
etc.)
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Detail, Sistine Chapel
1508-1512
Italian Literary Models
Dante (1265-1321)
Vita Nuova (by 1294):
MS; lyric love poems to
“Beatrice”
The Divine Comedy : (c.
1304-1317) MS epic poem
Petrarch (1304-1374)
Canzoniere (MS. begun c.
1336; completed c. 1374):
contains 366 poems
Contains the sonnets to
“Laura”
Political Factors
 Pressure on Eastern Roman Empire from

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the Turks;
Fall of Constantinople in 1453
Refugees emigrate to West Europe
dissemination of learning
concentration in Italy
Rise of Ottoman Empire
 Earlier sieges of Constantinople: 13941402; 1422. City was the last Christian
“island” in the midst of the Islamic territory.
 Final defeat of the city in 1453 by
Meh.med II; the end of the eastern Roman
(Byzantine) Empire
 Extensive expansion of the Ottoman
Empire by “Suleiman the Magnificent”
(sultan, 1520-66) and his son (1566-74).
 Empire lasted until the end of WW I
The Ottoman Empire (c. 1683)
The Renaissance Comes to
England
 Introduction of the Printing Press, 1476
 Political Stability under the Tudors, 1485,ff
New Technology: The Printing
Press enters England, 1476
Stability and Progress
 Henry VII defeats
Richard III in 1485 
end the War of the
Roses
 Tudor dynasty
established and
consequent stability
 Fosters artistic and
economic development
Significant Developments in
England, 1509-47
 Sends delegations to
Rome
 Delegates return to
England inspired by
Italian art, music, and
literature
 1534:
Disenfranchises the
Catholic Church and
establishes the
Church of England
Reformation . . .
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
1517: “95 Theses” nailed to
the door of the Castle
Church at Wittenberg
And Counter-Reformation
The Trial of Galileo
Early Renaissance Poetry
 John Skelton (Poet Laureate to Henry VIII);

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example of pre-Italian style
Importance of Italian influence; influence of
Petrarch’s and Dante’s works
Thomas Wyatt: example of Italian influence;
protégé: Henry Howard, earl of Surrey
Rapid development of poetic forms and
techniques
Importance of Tottel’s “Miscellany” (1557)
Henry Howard, earl of
Surrey; executed age 30
Sir Thomas Wyatt; died age 39
Tottel’s Songs and Sonnets written by the
Right Honourable Lord Henry Howard Late
Earl of Surrey and Other (1557)
 First major published collection of English
poetry
 Contains 271 poems
 Established the reputations of Wyatt and
Howard
Early Renaissance Prose Fiction
 Sir Thomas More
(1478; executed
1535)
 Utopia (1516)
Early Renaissance Drama
 Significant influence of English mystery
and morality drama
 Emphasis on secular themes after 1540,
especially tragic “lives of kings” (e.g.,
Gorboduc and the Mirror for Magistrates)
 Classical influence: Seneca (tragedy);
Plautus and Terence (comedy)
Reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
 English nationalism
growths (defeat of the
Invincibile Armada,
1588)
 Powerful advocate
and defender of
Protestantism
Defeat of the Armada, 1588
“High” Renaissance Poetry
 High degree of sophistication and
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
elegance
Philip Sidney
Edmund Spenser
William Shakespeare
Ben Jonson
John Donne
John Milton (early career)
Elizabethan Era Poetry
Edmund Spenser
Sir Philip Sidney
The Faerie Queene (1596)
Jacobean Poetry
John Donne
Ben Jonson
John Milton (1608-1674)
As a young man.
Milton (post-1660)
Women Authors
Aemilia Lanyer (15691645): Salve Deus Rex
Judaeorum (1611)
Mary Sidney Herbert,
Countess of Pembroke
(1562-1621): Arcadia,
Psalms
“High” Renaissance Drama
 Establishment of first patent companies

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and first permanent theatres in London
The Theatre (1576)
The Rose (1592)
The Swan (1596)
The Globe (1599)
The Globe, 1599
The New Globe (interior)
Famous Playwrights
 Christopher Marlowe
 William Shakespeare
 Ben Jonson
 John Fletcher
 Thomas Middleton
Shakespeare’s Contemporaries
Christopher Marlowe
John Fletcher
Shakespeare’s Contemporaries
 Thomas Middleton (15801627)
 A Game at Chess (1625):
single most popular play of the
Renaissance era
1564-1616
War (1642-49) …
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Charles I (1623-1649)
Supported colonization
Unpopular monarch
Created religious strife;
sends groups into exile
 Isolated from the people
 Conflicts with Parliament
result in Civil War and
eventual execution in
1649
 “Cavalier” poetry
emerges
Cavalier Poets
Sir Richard Lovelace
Sir John Suckling
… and The Commonwealth
(1649-1660)