Download The English Renaissance 1485-1625

The English Renaissance
1485-1625




Renaissance-flowering of literary, artistic,
and intellectual development
Began in Italy in the fourteenth century
•
Medici family/banking
“Rebirth” of intellectual and artistic
energies that characterized ancient Rome
and Greece
Also a time of territorial exploration and
discovery>both in Asia and the Americas
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty






Henry VII married Elizabeth of York
Ended the Wars of the Roses
Symbol>the Tudor rose
•
Eight-petaled design that combined the old white
(York) and the red (Lancaster) designs
Ruled the country for more than a century
Time of stability and confidence
Progress of the Renaissance in
England>slow and fitful
The Tudor Rose: A combination of
the white (York) and the red
(Lancaster)
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty

Henry the VIII came to the throne when his
father died in 1509
•
•
•
•
Willful and audacious man
Wanted to be thought of as “enlightened Prince of
the Renaissance”
Brought stability; made court patronage of
artists/writers possible
Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (Greek for “no place”)
• First masterpiece of English Renaissance
• Center of active/brilliant circle>Humanists>Erasmus
Henry VIII
Henry VIII and his six wives
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty

Sir Thomas Wyatt/Henry Howard, Earl of
Surry
•
•

Two gifted poets in Henry’s court
Sonnets>based on Italian (Petrarchan) style
Movement of religious protest
•
Martin Luther>Germany>Ninety-five Theses
•
No religious alignment for England>political
• Objections to church abuses
• Became Protestant Reformation
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty



Henry VIII>married Catherine of Aragon(#1)
•
•
•
•
Spanish>Roman Catholic>no male heir
Henry wanted divorce>Pope refused
Henry had marriage annulled
Mary>daughter=illegitimate
The Act of Supremacy>Henry=head of
church and state>Anglican church
established
Sir Thomas More refused to swear
allegiance to Henry>imprisoned/executed
(A Man for All Seasons)
Catherine of Aragon and daughter,
Mary (Mary Tudor/Mary I/Bloody
Mary
Anne Boleyn and her daughter,
Elizabeth
Jane Seymour and her son,
Edward
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty



Henry kept mass, all rites, left doctrine
unchanged
Henry’s six wives:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Catherine of Aragon---Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary)
Anne Boleyn---Elizabeth I
Jane Seymour---Edward VI
Anne of Cleves
Catherine Howard
Catherine Parr
“Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced,
beheaded, survived”
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty


Henry died in 1547>succeeded by nine-year old
son>Edward VI>died of tuberculosis at fourteen
Edward VI succeeded by Mary Tudor (Mary I,
Bloody Mary)
•
•
•
•
•
Wife of Phillip II of Spain
Instituted a reign of terror against Protestants
Had Elizabeth imprisoned in Tower of London
•
Two months>then put her under house arrest at country
estates for five years
Died after five-year reign
Succeeded by Protestant half-sister>Elizabeth
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
Only 25 when she came to the throne
Schooled in French, Italian, Spanish, Greek,
and Latin
Mother>Anne Boleyn, 2nd wife of Henry VIII
Had a sharp intellect & excellent Renaissance
education
Accomplished linguist & poet
Clever, skillful diplomat>shred, even ruthless
politician
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
Internal tension between Protestants
and Catholics
Promoted peace and prosperity
Moderate religious course
Foreign affairs>the wonder of the era
Balanced financial affairs with realistic
ingenuity
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)



Leader in pursuing explorations to the New
World
Sir Francis Drake>Golden Hind
•
•
•
•
•
First Englishman to circumnavigate the world
Pirate>preyed on Spanish ships
Brought much-needed funds
Drake knighted>Phillip II furious
Led to the Spanish Armada>1588
Defeat of the Spanish Armada made
England “Mistress of the Seas” and the
most powerful nation in the world
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The Tudor Dynasty
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)



Elizabeth I used her unmarried status
as a way to gain support from other
nations, but she claimed to be
married to the throne of England
Died childless in 1603
James VI of Scotland became James I
of England>begins the House of
Stuart
The English Renaissance
1485-1625>The House of Stuart