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THE RENAISSANCE
(1485-1660)
The Renaissance
• Renaissance means rebirth, specifically of the intellectual
and artistic energies of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
• Europe moved away from medieval habits of thought and
turned toward the modern.
• People valued arts and individual conscience.
• Also believed in humanism: the renewed interest in human
life on Earth, as opposed to the afterlife or God.
The Renaissance
• Key to these developments was the
invention of printing.
• In 1453, Johannes Gutenberg set up
the first printing press in Germany.
• Soon after they appeared all across
Europe, and people began to read
and think for themselves.
The Beginnings of the Tudor Dynasty
• From 1455-1485 England was torn by the civil War of the Roses
between houses Lancaster and York.
• The war ended when Lancaster, Henry Tudor, defeated the
Yorkist Richard III.
• Henry married Elizabeth
of York, uniting the two
houses.
• Became Henry VII,
first king of the
Tudor Dynasty.
The Beginnings of the Tudor Dynasty
• Henry VII proved to be a very capable
leader.
• He rebuilt the nation’s treasury,
established a powerful central
government, and built a fleet of
English ships that formed the basis of
English power.
• England began to explore the New World, which led to
the colonization of America.
The Beginnings of the Tudor Dynasty
• Henry VII died in 1509,
leaving the throne
to his son, Henry VIII.
• Henry VIII was one of
the most important figures
in English history.
• Strong-willed and
self-absorbed, he further
increased the power of the
English monarchy.
The Protestant Reformation
• In 1517, German
monk Martin
Luther nailed his
“95 Theses” to the
door of a Catholic
church.
• The theses were a
list of objections
to the beliefs and
practices of
Catholicism.
The Protestant Reformation
• Luther believed that people were fundamentally evil and
could only become good through God, rather than earthly
kindnesses or good deeds.
• He opposed the church’s sale of indulgences, which were
pardons for sins that people
could buy.
• He also challenged the Pope’s
authority, saying that religion
is a matter of individual
conscience rather than group
worship.
The Protestant Reformation
• John Calvin of Switzerland took Luther’s ideas on Original Sin
one step further.
• He said that all events
were preordained by God,
and that God already
decided who will be saved
and who will be damned.
• The Calvinist Doctrine,
known as predestination,
later became the central
belief of the Puritan
Movement.
The Protestant Reformation
• The Protestant Reformation made its way to England
because Henry VIII wanted a son.
• He blamed his wife, Catherine of Aragon,
for only producing daughters.
• He soon fell in love with
Anne Boleyn, a young woman
of his court.
The Protestant Reformation
• Divorce at the time was not allowed, so Henry broke from
the church.
• He established the Church of England, or Anglican Church,
of which he was the supreme ruler.
• He granted himself a divorce from Catherine and married
Anne.
• He dismantled the Catholic Church in England, seizing its
land and wealth.
The Protestant Reformation
• Anne Boleyn gave birth to a
daughter named Elizabeth, but
never produced a male heir.
• Henry convicted her of adultery
and had her beheaded.
• He later married Jane Seymour,
who gave birth to a son named
Edward.
The Protestant Reformation
• When Henry died in 1547, the
sickly, nine year-old boy
became King Edward VI.
• During Edward’s short reign,
Protestantism spread
through England.
• He died at the age of 15,
leaving the throne to
his half-sister, Mary I.
Mary I and the Counter Reformation in England
• Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and
Catherine of Aragon, was a staunch
Catholic, and she tried to restore power
to the Catholic Church in England.
• She restored Catholic practices to
Anglican services.
• Also made the Pope head of the English church.
• Later married her Catholic cousin, Phillip II of Spain.
Mary I and the Counter Reformation in England
• The English people resented her marriage to a Catholic
Spaniard.
• Mary met opposition with absolute brutality.
• She ordered the death
of all practicing
Protestants, earning
herself the title
Bloody Mary.
The Elizabethan Age
• Mary’s successor,
Elizabeth I, was one of
the greatest English
monarchs.
• Under her reign, England
became the most
powerful nation in
Europe.
The Elizabethan Age
• Elizabeth remained
unmarried, leading
other rulers to hope
for a marital alliance
to the English throne.
• She built up the
English Navy, second only to the Spanish Armada.
• She also reestablished the Church of England with a policy
of moderation, ending the persecution of Protestants and
tolerating Catholics.
The Elizabethan Age
• However, her Catholic cousin Mary Stuart, or Mary Queen
of Scots, also wanted the throne.
• English Catholics wanted Mary for their queen, because
Catholics did not recognize Henry VIII’s divorce and second
marriage, making Elizabeth, in their eyes, a child born
out of wedlock.
• Mary plotted to kill Elizabeth
and was imprisoned for 19
years and later executed.
The Elizabethan Age
• In 1588, Philip II of Spain attacked
England’s naval fleet.
• This widower of “Bloody Mary”
had hoped to return Catholicism to
England, but severed ties once
Mary Queen of Scots was
executed.
• He attacked England’s Naval fleet, and the English Navy
defeated the Spanish Armada, making England the
greatest military power in all of Europe.
Literature During the English Renaissance
• Elizabeth’s court became the center of an exuberant
culture of literature.
• The most famous English poets emerged during the
Renaissance, including Philip Sidney, Christopher Marlowe,
and Edmund Spencer.
Literature During the English Renaissance
• However, the greatest literary achievements were in the
field of drama.
• In the past, almost all
plays had some sort
of religious theme.
• By the end of the 15th
Century, plays with
nonreligious plots and
characters began
to appear.
Literature During the English Renaissance
• Great Renaissance playwrights
include William Shakespeare,
Christopher Marlowe, and
Ben Jonson.
• Two major “stars” on stage
were Edward Alleyn and
Richard Burbage.
Elizabethan Tastes and Attitudes
• The most striking feature of Elizabethan artistic taste was
delight in elaborate patterns and complicated ornaments.
• For us, artificial has a negative connotation.
• For Elizabethans, it was a term of praise, for that which is
artificial is made by human skill and ingenuity.
Elizabethan Tastes and Attitudes
• Elizabethans saw the world as a vast and unified hierarchy.
• Believed in the “Great Chain of Being,” where every
existing being or thing was ranked within a category.
• The lowest group was all matter with no spirit (aka a rock).
• The highest group was all spirit with no matter (aka God).
James I, First of the Stuart Kings
• Elizabeth died in 1603, ending
the Tudor Dynasty.
• Her cousin, James VI of
Scotland, became James I of
England.
• Like Elizabeth, James was a
Protestant, but sympathized
with Catholics.
• He was also a great patron of
literature and the arts.
James I, First of the Stuart Kings
• James I also believed in the
Divine Right of Kings.
• This was the belief that God
appointed him to the throne and
that challenges to his authority
were challenges against God.
• The idea of the Divine Right of Kings led to the growing
resentment of the common people.
• When James died in 1625, his son, Charles I, became king.