Renaissance England

1
Renaissance England

• (1485-1660)

Raphaels The School of Athens
2
Renaissance

• Renaissance is French for rebirth.
• Renewed love of classical learning and how the
  texts survived.
• A rebirth of the human spirit of curiosity and
  creativity.
• A Renaissance man

3
The Renaissance in Italy

• Italys vast wealth from banking and trade help
  it flourish.
• Famous Italians of this time
• Painters da Vinci, Michelangelo, etc.
• Explorers Columbus, Vasco da Gama
• Scientists Galileo
• The popes serve as
• patrons, encouraging
• further growth.

Michelangelos Sistine Chapel commissioned by
Pope Julius II
4
Humanism

• Tried to find an answer to what it is to be
  human and lead a good life, using both classical
  and Christian sources as inspiration.
• Humanism Humanities?
• Thomas Mores Utopia is a great example of
  humanism it analyzes the current problems of
  England and envisioning an ideal society

5
Religion

• Numerous Reformations happened at this time,
  which weakened the Catholic Church.
• Martin Luther (1483-1546) Protestant
  Reformation in Germany
• Humanists in England were criticizing the
  Catholic Church
• Henry VIII creates the Church of England
  to get a divorce

6
The War of the Roses

• 1455-1487
• Unlike the Hundred Years War, this war took place
  on British soil.
• King Richard II died without an heir. He had been
  overthrown and murdered by Henry IV who usurped
  the throne.
• Edward IV gt Henry VI gt Edward IV gt (princes)
  gt Richard III gt Henry VII
• Lancastrian faction Henry IVs descendants and
  supporters.
• Yorkist faction descended from Edward IV,
  associated with House of York from North England.
  
• Henry Tudor (Henry VII) had won the final battle
  and easily took the throne (most of the
  candidates had died in battle). He also married
  Edward IVs daughter to strengthen his claim to
  the throne.

7
Henry VIII the early years

• England had never been very wealthy,
• but thanks to Henry VIIs financial
• skills, Henry VIII took the throne
• with a considerable fortune.
• King at 18, dashing and handsome, Henry
• married Catherine of Aragorn (his dead older
  brothers wife).
• Henry showed little interest in politics and
  spent most of his time amusing himself with sport
  and entertainment.
• But Henry showed an interest in the navy. Swayed
  by Catherines father Ferdinand, and his own
  pride, Henry attacked France in the early part of
  his reign.

8
Henry VIII the marriages

• With England showing more distaste towards Spain,
  and Catherines constant miscarriages, started
  causing some major changes. Henry showed more
  interest in politics and in his own legacy
• Catherine (mother of Mary) Anne Boleyn
  pregnant, no male heir, broke from pope to have a
  divorce
• Anne Boleyn Elizabeth and a miscarriage, Henry
  notices Jane, framed for treason and incest,
  executed
• Jane Seymour married within a day of Annes
  death, gave birth to Edward and died
• Anne of Cleves French alliance, Henry notices
  Kathryn, divorce
• Kathryn Howard thirty years younger,
  infidelity, executed
• Katherine Parr married as many times as Henry,
  good stepmother, remarried right after Henry died

9
Henry VIII the later years

• Henrys ego was as enormous as his body, but
  fortunately many of the selfish moves he made for
  himself benefited England.
• The separation of government from the church
  saved England from religious civil war.
• His interest in the Navy helped it build up to
  the impressive fleet Elizabeth I needed to defeat
  the Spanish Armada.
• His forceful attempt at unifying Scotland with
  England was not successful, but it encouraged the
  importance of unity in the British Isles and
  brought structured rule to Ireland.
• His foundations for Parliament were important for
  the future of England. Henrys desire to not
  perform an illegal act according to law made this
  possible.

10
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

• Nothing was expected of Elizabeth. She was
  placed third in line for the throne, behind
  Edward and Mary.
• Edward VI (1547-1552)
• Mary I (1553-1557)
• Elizabeth took over the kingdom during a period
  of fierce religious feuds. She restored law and
  order and reestablished the Church of England.
  The pope excommunicated her.

11
Elizabeth I

• the Virgin Queen
• Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
• King Philip and the Spanish Armada
• James VI of Scotland takes the throne

12
Life in Renaissance England

• Wealth and security throughout England.
• Catholicism is illegal, more illegal to be a
  Jesuit.
• Language The educated use thou, the uneducated
  thee thy and thine
• Servants exist, but they are hopeful.
• London crowded, smelly, the sign of success
• Ways to kill time sports, gossip, theatre

13
The Flood of Literature

• Elizabeth as a muse and literary symbol.
• Poetry pastorals, love sonnets, carpe diem
• A philosophical and cultural revolution.
• Drama
• Metaphysical poetry intellectual use of
  conceits, paradox, and imagery

14
Pastorals and Pastoral Poets

• Christopher Marlowe translated love poems by
  Ovid considered too erotic and burned by the
  Bishop of London, became a spy, wrote the play
  Dr. Faustus, was killed(?)
• Sir Walter Raleigh - handsome, well-dressed, and
  arrogant, captain of Elizabeths guard and fought
  for England in numerous countries, enamored with
  Elizabeth, Spain demanded Raleigh be killed to
  make peace with England (James), noble and
  carefree about death
• Pastorals depict country life in idyllic,
  idealized terms. The characters in pastoral
  poems are naïve and innocent yet express
  themselves with poetic sophistication.
• P. 295-298 (1-5 and write two PROPER paragraphs
  in response to The Bait)

15
Metaphysical Poetry

• John Donne government career, poet in secrecy,
  well-read in the morning and socialite in the
  evening, married a 17 yr old and arrested
• John Donne,
• Anne Donne,
• Undone.
• Eventually wrote against his first religion
  Catholicism, James made him a clergyman, gave
  brilliant, theatrical sermons until his death.
• Metaphysical poetry intellectual and abstract,
  noted for its ingenious and obscure imagery,
  philosophical and religious speculations,
  rough-sounding meter, conceits, and witty word
  play.
• P. 338 (1-5) as a class / p. 342 (1-6) / p. 349
  (1-5, 8)

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John Milton (1608-1674)

• Chose to be a poet early in life, Milton came
  from a supportive and financially-capable family
  that could support his aspirations.
• Milton fought for the Parliament when they
  struggled with King Charles, causing many to
  believe he was a Puritan. Later he became a
  diplomat, translating all correspondence with
  other countries.
• Milton went blind at the age of forty-four before
  writing his epic.
• Charles son was put on the throne by the people,
  years later, branding Milton a traitor and
  practically getting him beheaded.

17
John Miltons Paradise Lost

• Miltons daughters read poetry to their father to
  help his study. They also would write his epic
  for him
• Milton debated on the subject of his literary
  epic, and he found British folklore like Arthur
  too fictitious and chose the Bible instead as his
  subject.
• Imitated Greek epic and Shakespeare
• Milton covered few Bible verses, hoping to answer
  the question of why if God loves us does he also
  allow evil in the world. In the process of
  writing this epic, Milton didnt realize that
  Satan started to become the hero of this epic a
  fierce individual, fighting against immeasurable
  odds again and again.

18
Sir Thomas More 1478-1535

• Son of a prominent judge, wrote comedies while at
  Oxford, considered being a monk and took up their
  habits
• Became close with Henry VIII
• (assisting with uprisings and
• helping Henry with his writing),
• made Speaker of the House of
• Commons and Chancellor of
• the Duchy of Lancaster
• Established parliamentary right of free speech
  and wouldnt endorse Henrys divorce, becomes
  Lord Chancellor, beheaded for treason, "The
  King's good servant, but God's First."

19
Mores Utopia

• Utopia, originally written in Latin and later
  translated into many languages, depicts what its
  narrator, Raphael Hythloday, claimed to be an
  ideal human society, the island of Utopia.
• There is still a great deal of debate whether
  Utopia is Mores ideal country or merely a
  criticism of Tudor England.
• There are many ways to analyze the society of
  Utopia. It can be thought of as the culmination
  of rational thought or Humanist beliefs, as an
  alternative to feudalism, a statement in favor of
  communal society, or an effort to promote reform
  according to Christian values.