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The English Renaissance (1485-1660)

The English Renaissance (1485-1660). What was the Renaissance?. Renaissance is French for “rebirth”. It began in Italy in the 14 th century and in England extended past the middle of the 17 th century (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 128).

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The English Renaissance (1485-1660)

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  1. The English Renaissance(1485-1660)

  2. What was the Renaissance? • Renaissance is French for “rebirth”. • It began in Italy in the 14th century and in England extended past the middle of the 17th century (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 128). • The Renaissance ushered in a new age of “modern” thinking, and separated itself from the previous era called the Middle Ages (or Dark Ages) (Farzaneh). • Society saw a rebirth of the intellectual and artistic energies that characterized ancient Greek and Roman civilization. • It awakened a whole range of new interests in human beings and the world they lived in (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 128).

  3. The words of Erasmus of Rotterdam, a great Dutch thinker who influenced English thinkers in the 16th century, reflect this spirit of hopeful renewal: “I am led to a confident hope that not only morality and Christian piety, but also a genuine and purer literature, may come to renewed life or greater splendour.” (qtd. in Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 129)

  4. The Renaissance was an artistic movement: The Renaissance shaped the works of great painters, sculptors, musicians, and architects; the visual arts flourished (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 129).

  5. The Renaissance was an intellectualmovement: • Before the Renaissance, Medieval thinking was defined by certain attitudes and beliefs. • Medieval thought put an emphasis on God, relied heavily on faith, and saw this life as preparation for the afterlife. • The world and its pleasures were viewed as temptations and rejected as sinful. • Society demanded unquestioning obedience to authority (to God, church, feudal lord, or king). • Community (under the system called feudalism) was more important that individuality. • Tradition was not challenged. (Kreis)

  6. With the Renaissance came a new intellectual movement known as Humanism. • The Basic Beliefs of Humanism: • Saw the potential of life in the here and now, not just the afterlife. • Emphasized the capacities of the human mind and the achievements of human culture rather than the power of God (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 129). • Replaced unquestioning faith with an instinct of curiosity, honest doubt, and skepticism. • Sought freedom from authority and valued personal independence (Kreis). • Believed in the dignity and potential of the individual (Abrams 240). • Valued individual expression (Kreis). • Cherished beauty and earthly pleasures, as the ancient Greeks and Romans did. • Emphasized the importance of education , reason, and intellectual freedom; moved away from the traditional study of logic, law, astronomy and philosophy to a study of subjects we now refer to as the humanities: liberal arts, grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy (Farzaneh).

  7. Overall Impact of Humanism on the Renaissance • Although humanism broke away from the traditions and superstitions of the Medieval Era, God and Christianity were still important; however, many Christian humanists questioned the practices of the Roman Catholic church (Farzaneh). • Humanism therefore contributed to the thinking behind the Protestant Reformation (Kreis). • It provided a crucial step towards later periods of scientific advancement (Farzaneh). • It resulted in a more educated, literate society and prepared people for literature with more secular (non-religious) ideas (Kreis).

  8. The Renaissance - An Era of Exploration • Exploration and discovery of new worlds (including the Americas) supplied Europe with goods and trade partners. The English were not pioneers in the discovery and exploration of the new world, but they profited greatly as colonizers and merchant adventurers, especially during the reign of Elizabeth I (Abrams 239).

  9. The Renaissance - An Era of Science • Copernicus (1473-1543) & Galileo (1564-1642) (physicists, mathematicians, astronomers) hypothesized that the Earth was not the centre of the universe as the Catholic Church traditionally believed. Instead, they suggested that the Earth, as well as other planets, orbited around the sun. • Both men were labeled as heretics by the Catholic Church (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 142)

  10. Gutenberg’s Printing Press • It was invented in 1440 in Germany by Johannes Gutenberg and introduced in England a few decades later by William Caxton. • At a time when education was becoming more important, the printing press made books cheaper and more widely available to a rising middle class. • In the early 15th century, about 30% of the people were literate compared to 60% by 1530. (Abrams 240) • The time was right for the flowering of the Renaissance literary movement.

  11. So the Renaissance meant… • … a “rebirth” for humanity. • …that human beings were ready to demonstrate what they could accomplish in the realms of philosophy, music, literature, art, science, and global exploration. • It began in Europe in the 1300’s. • So why did it take a century or so for the movement to catch on in England?

  12. Political Instability Stifles the Renaissance in England • England was slow to participate in the European Renaissance mainly for political reasons. • The Yorks and the Lancasters battled each other for the throne in the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485). • In 1485 Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, defeated Yorkist King Richard III and was crowned King Henry VII, reigning until 1509. • The Tudor dynasty was established and ruled the country for more than a century (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins132-133). • Henry VII’s reign brought the political stability necessary for Renaissance ideas to take root in England. • It was not until the reign of his son, Henry VIII, that Renaissance ideas were able to flower (Abrams 240).

  13. The Reign of King Henry VIII (1509-1547) • Henry saw himself mainly as a political leader but admired what the Renaissance had achieved in Europe. • He wanted to he thought of as “an enlightened Renaissance prince”. • In Henry’s court, famous poets such as Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard were beginning their work. • Sir Thomas More became the center of a brilliant circle of English Humanists. His Utopia was an early Renaissance masterpiece. • But it was during his reign that religious and historical forces once again disrupted literary and artistic development (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 133).

  14. The Protestant Reformation • Was a movement of religious protest against the authority and “corruption” of the Roman Catholic Church. • Was already underway in Europe under the leadership of people such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, who protested against the practices of the Roman Catholic Church for religious reasons. • Henry VIII had political and personal motives for breaking away from the Church: • Catherine of Aragon, his first wife, had not produced a male heir for the throne. • The Pope refused Henry VIII a divorce. • He defied the Pope, married Anne Boleyn, and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England (the Anglican Church) (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 133).

  15. Negative Effects of the Reformation on the Renaissance • Sir Thomas More opposed the king’s divorce and refused to swear allegiance to him. Henry imprisoned More and executed him. • More's death is a reminder of how the cultural and artistic spirit of the Renaissance was prevented from thriving under Henry's lust for dynastic power and authority. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 133)

  16. Negative Effects Continued • It led to a lot of political and religious instability that hindered the advancement of the Renaissance, even after Henry’s death in 1547. • Catholic was pitted against Protestant. • Edward VI (reigned 1547-1553) – • son of Henry and Jane Seymour • continued Protestant reforms • Queen Mary (reigned1553-1558) – (Known as “Bloody Mary”) • Daughter of Catherine of Aragon • Was a devout Catholic and married Phillip II of Spain. • Instituted a reign of terror against English Protestants in an attempt to return England to Catholic authority. • Her time on the throne threatened England's growing national identity and allowed Spain to emerge as the dominant, most imperialistic power in sixteenth-century Europe. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 134)

  17. Elizabeth I and the Renaissance Renewed • Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558-1603) • She ascended to the throne at age 25. • She was very intelligent and had an excellent Renaissance education. Her tutor was Roger Ascham, a famous English Humanist. • She was an accomplished linguist and poet . • She encouraged literary and artistic developments which allowed the Renaissance in England to grow. • She was a clever diplomat and ruthless politician. • She used her unmarried status as a way to manipulate her traditional enemies, France and Spain, who sought alliances with England through marriage to its Queen. • She promoted peace by navigating a reasonable religious track between the Protestants and the Catholics. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 134)

  18. I have no desire to make windows into men’s souls. (a reference to the Catholic/Protestant issue) I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the kingdom of England. (Elizabeth to Parliament) I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.(Tilbury Speech, 1588) (“Elizabeth I Quotes”)

  19. In 1588, England’s navy defeated the Spanish Armada (the strongest naval force of the age) when Spain attempted to invade. • The victory marked Elizabeth's authority in a country that had become one of the most powerful in the world in less than a century. • With swelling national pride and new economic prosperity due to commercial trade in the Americas, England was ready for a period of great artistic and cultural achievements. • Many individuals of talent came to Elizabeth’s court to distinguish themselves artistically. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins135)

  20. The Defeat of the Spanish Armada

  21. Artistic Tastes of Elizabethans • Elizabethan attitudes toward art, literature, and life in general was a strange combination of old and new; attachment to the medieval past and a modern outlook. • Artistic tastes veered toward elaborate pattern and complicated ornament controlled through order and symmetry. • Elizabethans admired artifice, and considered that which was artificial" to be an extension of the art itself. They believed that which was made by human skill added to and improved on the order found in the natural world. • These tastes appeared in all aspects of Elizabethan life from gowns, to buildings, gardens, music, dance and poetry. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 138-139)

  22. See YouTube – Dance from Shakespeare in Love for an example of highly patterned dance. • See YouTube for example of an English madrigal. A favorite is Fair Phyllis, composed by John Farmer and sung by the King’s Singers. Lots of independent vocal parts that intertwine.

  23. In literature, they enjoyed a verbal pattern for the eyes and the ears much like a repeated tune or rhythmic beat found in music. • Intricate verbal patterning and arrangement were seen as an essential means of expressing the true order of the mental and material universe.(Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 139) Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 

  24. The Elizabethan World Picture • Elizabethans saw the world as a vast, unified, hierarchical order, or "Great Chain of Being," created by God. • Every existing being, or thing, was ranked within a category on the chain. • Categories were ranked by the attributes of their members, from the lowest group – all matter and no spirit – the highest group – all spirit and no matter. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 139)

  25. Inanimate things were at the bottom. • Above were plants and animal kingdoms. • Human beings were at the midpoint of the chain. Having souls and free will, they could choose to strive for the holiness of the spirit world or fall into depravity (animallike). • The realm of God and the angels was the dwelling of purely spiritual beings. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 139)

  26. Each group had its own place in the chain and each member a place in that group. • The lion was the highest ranking member of the animal kingdom, the oyster was the lowest. • Metals ranged from gold to lead. • The plant kingdom was headed by the rose. • Each member of a group corresponded with the same-ranking members of other groups: gold (most valuable mineral) was equal to an oak (first among trees) which was like the sun (first among stars). The lion (first among animals) could represent a king or queen (head of a nation) who could embody a rose (first among flowers) and that rose could symbolize God. • Elizabethan writers chose from a wealth of symbolic relationships, references, and allusions. • The Elizabethan World Picture provided a language full of images, metaphors, and analogies. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 139)

  27. The Jacobean Era (1603-1625) • When Elizabeth I died in 1603, the Tudor dynasty came to an end. • James Stuart, already King of Scotland, ruled England and Scotland together until 1625. • His reign is known as the Jacobean Era (the Latin form of the name James). • His reign was one of deep religious and political unrest in England. • In the early part of the seventeenth century, philosophical and intellectual changes were starting to undermine faith in the older Elizabethan world view. • Copernicus (1473-1543) and Galileo (1564-1642) had argued that the sun, and not the earth, was at the centre of the universe and that there may be many more worlds than earth. • This and other scientific investigations called into question the basis of the hierarchical universe. Most people rejected the new discoveries but a new age of scientific thought was dawning (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 141-142).

  28. Civil War in England • James I's son, Charles, ascended the throne in 1625 when the Puritan movement was growing. • Puritans were strict Protestants who wished to “purify” the Church of England. • Soon Charles, the head of the Church of England, found himself in conflict with a House of Commons that was strongly Puritan. • Charles I tried to put a stop to organized religious protest but was opposed. • In Parliament, the House of Commons with-held funds needed for the functions of government. • Parliament grew too strong and voted on reforms of church and state. • Charles I left London to establish his own army and regain power. • In August of 1642, civil war broke out. • The King's supporters were no match for the military of the Parliament made up primarily of Puritans and headed by Oliver Cromwell. • King Charles' army was defeated; he was imprisoned and executed in 1649. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 142-144).

  29. The Protectorate and the Restoration • Oliver Cromwell took over power of the government in was he called the Protectorate (1653-1658) which was a military dictatorship and did not last long. • Cromwell died in 1658 and by 1660 the English people had had enough of harsh Puritan rule, so they set up contacts with Charles II who had set up a government while in exile in Paris (1660-1685). • Charles II returned in what is called the "Restoration" of the monarchy. A new Parliament was elected and England returned to its former style of government. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 144)

  30. Literature in a Century of Change and Uncertainty • Seventeenth century writers built on and extended the developments of Elizabethan literature but were confronted with conflicting values and expressions. • The poetry of the 17th century had two main styles: • "Metaphysical Poets" was a term used to refer to writers who used extended, intellectualized images drawn from philosophy or metaphysics. • Metaphysical poetry extended the Elizabethan love of intricate verbal artifice and feeling for dramatic voice and situation. • It is more argumentative in tone; its language is more colloquial; its meter is varied, irregular, and harsh. • Overall, its content and form reflects the strain and disruption of the 17th century. • A famous metaphysical poet is John Donne. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 145-146)

  31. The second main style of poetry in the 17th century is known as “Classical and Conservative” Poetry. • This poetry was based on discipline and restraint of reason, on classical form, and on fine craftsmanship. Ben Jonson wrote in the style. • A group of poets known as the “Cavalier” poets composed light, witty, and elegant verse that still retained an emphasis on fineness and precision of form. Among these poets are Robert Herrick, John Suckling, and Richard Lovelace. (Keach, Richetti, and Robbins 145-146)

  32. Poetic Conventions, Modes, and Genresof the Renaissance • Literary conventions are patterns of writing that have become habitual. Renaissance poets used well-known patterns or modes of writing to convey their ideas and to arouse certain expectations in the reader. • The Pastoral Mode • The conventions of the pastoral mode present a simple and idealized world of shepherds and shepherdesses who are interested in tending their flocks, falling in love, and poetry. The values of this mode are leisure and contentment with the simple country life. • The Satirical Mode • This mode of writing ridicules the flaws of society such as greed and corruption. • The Lyric Mode • Concerned with praise, love, celebration of nature and the good life. Specific genres within this mode include hymns, odes, ballads, and sonnets. • Sonnets were among the most popular lyric poems and often explored love’s beauty and cruelty, the eternity of the written word, and religious devotion. (Abrams 251-253)

  33. The Tragic Mode • Often written in a genre known as a “complaint”. The chief convention of the complaint is that of a ghost of someone who has fallen from a high place, bemoans his fate, and warns others; the warning carries a moral lesson. • The Erotic Mode • Includes lush and elaborate descriptions of physical beauty, delight in the pleasures of the senses, and frank eroticism. • The Heroic Mode • Values honour, courage in battle, loyalty, leadership, and endurance. Often involves the glorification of a nation or people. The chief genre was the epic, a long exalted poem written in a high style based on a heroic story from a nation’s distant history. (Abrams 253)

  34. Works Cited Abrams, M.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1987.Print. "Elizabeth I Quotes." Elizabeth R. Heather Thomas, 30 Jan 2010. Web. 18 Mar 2010. <http://www.elizabethi.org/us/>. Farzaneh, Arash. "Renaissance Humanism and the Human Perspective." suite101.com. N.p., 4 Jan 2009. Web. 17 Mar 2010. <http://weuropeanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/renaissance_humanism_and_the_human_perspective>. Keach, William, John Richetti, and Bruce Robbins, eds. Adventures in English Literature. Pegasus Edition. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Javanovich, Inc., 1989. Print. Kreis, Steven. "Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History: Renaissance Humanism." The History Guide. N.p., 7 Nov 2008. Web. 17 Mar 2010. <http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/humanism.html>.

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