· 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.