The Sixteenth Century

1. The Sixteenth Century 1485-1603

2. Important Dates • 1485 Ascension of Henry VII inaugurates Tudor dynasty • 1509 Ascension of Henry VIII • 1517 Beginning of Reformation • 1534 Henry VIII declares himself head of the English church • 1558 Ascension of Elizabeth I • 1603 Death of Elizabeth I • 1603 Ascension of James I, first of Stuart dynasty

3. Background • At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the English language had no prestige abroad • By century’s end, English had been fashioned into an immensely powerful expressive medium

4. The Court • The court was the center of culture and power • Court tastes shaped the taste of the country • Court culture created an art of intrigue • Castiglione’s The Courtier • Patronage • Courtiers were highly gifted at crafting graceful words with double meanings

5. The City • Population of London tripled • London was the largest and fastest growing city in Europe

6. Literacy • Caxton’s printing press made books cheaper and more plentiful • Protestantism encouraged reading

7. Renaissance Humanism • Beginnings in Italy • Rebirth of letters and recovery of texts and artifacts from classical antiquity • Submission of human spirit to discipline gave way to individual self-assertion • Emphasis on worth of life in this world • Vision of self-fashioning • More and Erasmus – great English humanists • Liberal education • Knowledge of the classics • Literature in the vernacular rather than Latin • Renaissance translations

8. The Reformation • Before the Reformation, the Catholic church was the central institution of life • In 1517, Luther started the Reformation with his theses against the abuses of the Church • Luther’s emphasis on scripture and faith

9. Calvinism • Started by John Calvin in Switzerland • The Institutes of the Christian Religion • Calvinism rooted in belief in predestination • Government subordinate to the Church

10. The English Reformation • Henry VIII craved a legitimate son. His wife Catherine of Aragon failed to give him one • The pope refused to annul his marriage so he could marry Anne Boleyn • Henry declared himself Head of Church and State • Act of Supremacy passed • Henry had no sympathy for Catholics or Protestant sects • After Henry’s death, throne passed to his son, Edward. • Forty-Two Articles and Book of Common Prayer

11. Queen Mary • After Edward’s death, Mary became queen. • She restored Catholic Mass, reaffirmed the authority of the pope

12. Queen Elizabeth • Elizabeth became queen after Mary’s death • Restored supremacy of the Anglican Church

13. England and Otherness • England claimed to be rulers of Ireland • Jews were objects of hostility • Africans regarded as exotic • African slave trade to the New World • Merchant of Adventurers founded and Englishmen began to explore Asia and the North America

14. Elizabethan Attitudes Toward Women • Queen Elizabeth ruled by royal absolutism • In reality, Elizabeth ruled through political maneuvering and command • Elizabeth’s Cult of Love • Court became a place of romance

15. England and Spain • Elizabeth learned that Phillip II, her former brother in-law and one-time suitor, was prepared to send an enormous fleet to invade England. • The Armada reached English waters in July 1588 • The Armada was destroyed by violent storms.

16. Writers, Printers and Patrons • The career of the professional writer was almost impossible • Strict government regulations • Writers thought of themselves are courtiers • Poetry was a social grace • Financial rewards came in the form of gifts from wealthy patrons • City of London and the two universities had impact on the period’s literature • Women had no access to universities

17. Renaissance Style • Renaissance literature is the product of a rhetorical culture • Figures, forms of patterns of words, were shaped and repeated in order to confer beauty or heighten expressive power • Elaborate ornament • Elaborate design • Delight in pattern • Renaissance poetry is interested in the magical power of workmanship to draw its readers into fabricated worlds • Poetry has a moral value and didactic function • Use of literary conventions: pastoral, heroic, lyric, satiric, elegiac, tragic, and comic

18. The Elizabethan Theater • Mystery plays performed by guilds of writers • Before the construction of public theatres, playing companies performed short plays called interludes • Morality plays • Tragedies • Comedy • Music and dance were incorporated into plays • First public theater in England dates from Shakespeare’s time

19. Characteristics of the Renaissance and Renaissance Literature • Use of poetic conventions • Preoccupation with this life rather than life beyond • Emphasis on the individual • Art glorifies human nature • Concern with time • Great Chain of Being • Microcosm/Macrocosm • Rebirth of antiquity • Humanism • Christian Humanism