Download The English Renaissance (Early Modern Period)

The English Renaissance
(Early Modern Period)
(1485-1625)
Of Men and Horses
The Renaissance: Definition
• The Renaissance was a flowering of literary,
artistic, and intellectual development that
began in Italy in the 14th century (1300s) and
spread to England by the last two decades
of the fifteenth century (1400s).
• The movement was inspired by the arts and
scholarship of ancient Greece and Rome,
which had been rediscovered during the
Crusades.
Key Characteristics
• New thoughts on religion
– Humanism
– The Reformation
• Stable/ capable monarchy
– Henry VIII
– Queen Elizabeth I
• The production and acquisition of knowledge
– Age of Exploration
– Movable Type
New Thoughts on Religion:
Humanism
• Humanism: The belief or practice resulting from the
belief that man’s experience on earth is at least
as important as an “afterlife.”
• Religious devotion of the Middle Ages somewhat
declined and gave way to new interest in/emphasis
on human beings’ place on earth.
• Humanism was deeply involved with the study of
the Classics (written in Greek and Latin) because
they examine human experience from a secular
angle.
New Thoughts on Religion:
The Reformation
• People were fed up with the corruption of the
Catholic Church (remember the Pardonder?).
• Martin Luther, German Monk, nailed his famous
ninety-five theses to the church door in Wittenberg
in 1517.
• Humanist scholars were doing academic work that
would seem to challenge Church authority.
– (A new translation of The New Testament by Desiderius
Erasmus was published in 1522 and highlighted,
negatively, the Church’s authority over interpretation of
the Bible).
• Henry VIII wanted to get divorced.
The Reformation
The Reformation
Three main tenets of the Reformation:
1) Only the Scriptures (not the Church or
tradition) have authority in matters of
religion.
2) Only God’s grace and personal faith (not
good works, religious practices, or
commodities) can bring about salvation.
3) Only enlightened private conscience (not
priests, ministers, or hierarchies) can
determine what an individual must believe
and do.
Stable and Capable Monarchy (Mostly)
• Henry VII (1485-1509)
– Kingship marked the end of the War of the Roses
– Helped modernize England’s economy by making
provisions to expand cloth production
• Henry VIII (1509-1547)
–
–
–
–
Patron of the arts
Formed a standing army (Feudalism had declined)
Expanded the Navy
“Defender of the (Catholic) Faith”  Founder of a
new religion: Church of England (Anglican)
Stable and Capable Monarchy:
Elizabeth I
• Perhaps no English monarch is more closely
associated with the Renaissance than
Elizabeth I.
Elizabeth I
• Reigned from 1558-1603 (45 years)
• Succeeded her sister, Mary I, “Bloody Mary”
• Established a secure Church of England but compromised with
Catholicism and did not actively persecute Catholics
• Exercised good judgment in choosing government officials and
advisors
• Chose not to marry to preserve the integrity of her judgment on
matters of foreign and domestic policy (Virginia was named
after her.)
• Supported exploration and economic expansion
• Supported the arts (esp. theater)
• Earned the devotion—almost worship—of her subjects and
inspired strong nationalism
Production/Acquisition of Knowledge:
Age of Exploration
Production/Acquisition of Knowledge:
Age of Exploration
• Christopher Columbus (Italian)
– Americas, 1492
• Vasco de Gama (Portuguese)
– Reached India by sea, sailing around the Cape of Good
Hope (1497-1499)
• John Cabot (British/British)
– Newfoundland, 1497
• Sir Francis Drake (British)
– Sailed through the Strait of Magellan, pillaged Spanish
towns on the Pacific, reached as far as San Francisco,
crossed to the Philippines, and returned around the
Cape of Good Hope
Age of Exploration:
Vasco de Gama’s Voyage
Age of Exploration
Good outcomes
• Increased knowledge
about the world
• Created great wealth for
European countries
(triangular trade,
colonies)
• Created opportunity for
“commoners” to make
their fortunes and/or
increase personal freedom
outside of Britain
Not-so-good outcomes
• British self-perception as
culturally-racially superior
to the rest of the world
• Colonization
– Ireland suppressed because
of Catholicism
– British East India Company
1600 (not as large as Dutch
East India Company [1602]
but definitely older)
– Triangular trade (slaves-raw
materials-finished goods)
Production/Acquisition of Knowledge:
Movable Type
• Johannes Gutenberg (German) is credited with inventing
movable type; his printing press was in operation by 1450; he
printed a Bible in 1455.
• Englishman William Caxton introduced movable type to Britain
(1476).
• Literacy increased during the fifteenth century, so that many
more people could read than in Geoffrey Chaucer’s time.
• Estimates suggest that about 30 percent of the people could read
English in the early 15th century and about 60 percent by 1530.
• Printing obviously made books cheaper, more plentiful,
providing more opportunity to read and more incentive to learn.
Movable Type
Movable Type: Effects
• Birth of “race” as we know it
– Travelogues were produced from various voyages
abroad and made for cheap, interesting reading.
– By reading about people whose appearance and
culture were dramatically different from their own,
the average British citizen was able to form ideas
about how Englishness (and being European) was
different from other cultural identities.
– In fact, “race” came into the English language in
connection with this historical development. Its
first known usage in English was in the 16th century
(1500s).
Movable Type: Effects
• Strengthened Protestantism
– King James I (who followed Elizabeth and was also a
strong Renaissance monarch) commissioned the
translation of a new Bible (1604-1611)
– New Testament translated from Greek.
– Old Testament translated from Hebrew and Aramaic.
– Apocrypha translated from Greek and Latin.
– King James’s Bible was only the third version in English;
Henry VIII had commissioned the first translation in
1535.
– King James’s version was able to be mass produced and
widely read; it is still influential 404 years later.