The Renaissance Period

The Coming of the Renaissance

· The Renaissance was a flowering of literary, artistic and intellectual development that began in Italy in the fourteenth century.

· It was inspired by the arts and scholarship of ancient Greece and Rome, which were rediscovered during the Crusades

The Age of Exploration

· Crusades opened routes to Asia soon monopolized by Italian merchants.

· Columbus’s discovery of the New World in 1492--colonization

· Invention of printing made books more available

· 1497—Italian-born John Cabot reached Newfoundland (an island off the coast of Canada) and perhaps the mainland

The Protestant Reformation: Questioning the Catholic Church

· Complaints: the sale of indulgences, payment to the church (like taxes)…

Martin Luther

· German monk Martin Luther nailed a list of dissenting beliefs (“ninety-five theses) to the door of a German church.

· The intent was to reform the Catholic Church, but actually divided the church and introducing Protestantism.

· Division of Protestants—Lutherans and Calvinists (Puritans and Presbyterian sects)

Tudor England

· Tudor dynasty ruled from 1485-1603. Time of stability and economic expansion

· London a metropolis of 180,000 people

Henry VII (1457 –1509)- First Tudor monarch, Inherited an England depleted by civil war.

· Before his death in 1509, he rebuilt the treasury and established law and order.

Henry VIII (1491 -1547)

· Catholic. Relationship with the Pope did not last

· Marriage to Catherine of Aragon produced no male heir

· Henry tried to obtain an annulment to marry Anne Boleyn.

· The Pope refused, but Henry married anyway

Henry’s Break with the Church

· Henry’s defiance led to an open break with the Roman Catholic Church.

· Henry became the head of the Anglican Church (the new Church of England).

· He seized Church property and dissolved the monasteries.

· Henry used ruthless measures to suppress opposition.

· He even had his former friend and advisor, Thomas More, executed, because More refused to renounce his faith.

· Henry married six times.

· His first two marriages (Catherine and Anne) produced two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.

Edward VI (1537 -1553)

· Became King at 9; died a 15 (1553). English replaced Latin in church.

Bloody Mary (Tudor) 1516-1558

· Mary I, Edward’s half sister; a Catholic

· Mary married her Spanish cousin, Phillip II, making England a part of the powerful Spanish state.

· Mary also persecuted Protestants: she ordered the execution of some 200 Protestants during her reign, strengthening anti-Catholic sentiment in England

Elizabeth I (1533(15330907) 1603)

· After Mary’s five year reign, her half-sister, Elizabeth came to the throne.

· Elizabeth was the last of the Tudors, dying unmarried and childless.

Elizabeth received a Renaissance education, became a patron of the arts, and Elizabethan came to describe the English Renaissance at its height. Ended religious turmoil

· This cleverness allowed England a period of peace and allowed commercial and maritime interests to prosper.

Mary Stuart (1542- 1587)

· Elizabeth’s Catholic cousin, Mary Stuart; queen of Scotland by birth and next in line to the British throne (granddaughter of Henry VII)

· Catholics did not recognize Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother, and considered Mary Stuart the queen.

· Mary was a prisoner of England for 19 years and the center of numerous plots on Elizabeth’s life.

· Eventually Mary was convicted of plotting to murder Elizabeth and went to the block in 1587, a Catholic martyr.

· “In my end is my beginning”—Mary’s death (she was beheaded) led Catholic Spain to declare war on England.

England vs. Spain

· Spain rejected English claims in America and resented the fact that English privateers had been attacking and plundering Spanish ships.

· Privateers like John Hawkins and Francis Drake operated “on their own,” but were really under the authority of Queen Elizabeth.

The Spanish Armada

· After Mary’s execution, King Phillip II prepared a Spanish armada of 130 warships to attack England.

· In 1588, English sailors defeated the Armada in the English Channel.

· This event marked the decline of Spain and the rise of England as a great sea power

From Tudors to Stuarts

· Elizabeth’s death marked the end of the Tudor dynasty.

· To avoid civil strife, Elizabeth named King James VI of Scotland her successor (son of Mary Stuart).

· James was a Protestant.

· The reign of James I (1603-1625) is now known as the Jacobean Era

King James I (1566-(15660619)1625)

· Strong supporter of the arts

· Furthered England’s position as a world power

· Sponsored the establishment of the first English colony in America—Jamestown

· Believed in “divine right” monarchy and had contempt for Parliament (power struggle)

· Persecuted Puritans (House of Commons)—James’s persecution prompted a group of Puritans to establish Plymouth colony in 1621

The English Renaissance

· Architects designed beautiful mansions

· Composers wrote new hymns for Anglican service and popularized the English madrigal

· Renaissance painters and sculptors moved to England (Hans Holbein the Younger was court painter to Henry VIII)

· Opened public schools (like private secondary schools today)

· Improvements at Oxford and Cambridge

The Renaissance literature

• Renaissance basically means 'rebirth' or 'revival.'
• The period is characterized by a rebirth among English elite of classical learning, a rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman authors, and a recovery of the ancient Greek spirit of scientific inquiry.

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 1128