Download the renaissance, 1485-1660

THE
RENAISSANCE
,
1485-1660
THE TERM
RENAISSANCE
THE TERM RENAISSANCE WAS
FIRST USED IN THE 19TH CENTURY TO
CHARACTERIZE THE CHANGE THAT
BEGAN IN THE TIME OF
CHARLEMAGNE AND CONTINUED
THROUGH THE 15TH OR 16TH
CENTURY.
TH
14
THE RENAISSANCE BEGAN IN
CENTURY ITALY, WHERE THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH FINANCED
MANY INTELLECTUAL AND
ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS.
AN INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT
KNOWN AS HUMANISM BEGAN
TO USE THE LATIN AND GREEK
CLASSICS, COMBINED WITH
TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN
THOUGHT, TO TEACH PEOPLE
HOW TO LIVE AND HOW TO DIE.
RENAISSANCE MAN:
LEONARDO DA VINCI
HE IS THE ULTIMATE RENAISSANCE
MAN. HE PIONEERED NEW
ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES SUCH AS
SFUMATO, A WAY OF SOFTENING
SHARP LINES.
DA VINCI WAS A SCIENTIST WHO
EXPLORED EVERYTHING FROM
THE MOVEMENT OF WATER TO
HUMAN ANATOMY, AS WELL AS
AN ENGINEER WHO DESIGNEDD
VARIOUS FLYING AND MILITARY
MACHINES.
GUTENBERG’S PRINTING PRESS
HELPED SPREAD THE NEW
KNOWLEDGE, MAKING MORE
BOOKS AVAILABLE TO MORE
PEOPLE THAN EVER BEFORE.
THE SISTINE CHAPEL
THE CHAPEL IS NAMED AFTER
POPE SIXTUS IV, WHO COMMISSIONED ITS CONSTRUCTION
(1473-81).
THE CHAPEL’S INTERIOR WALLS
FEATURE FRESCOES DEPICTING
EVENTS FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST
AND MOSES, PAINTED BY A
NUMBER OF ARTISTS.
THE OLD TESTAMENT STORIES ON
THE CEILING AND THE LAST
JUDGMENT ON THE WALL BEHIND
THE ALTAR ARE THE WORKS OF
MICHELANGELO.
MICHELANGELO ALSO WROTE
POETRY, BUT HE IS LESS FAMOUS
FOR HIS WRITING.
SIR THOMAS MORE
HE INSPIRED A NEW LITERARY
GENRE, THE UTOPIAN NOVEL.
DEFYING CUSTOM, SIR THOMAS
MORE TAUGHT LATIN TO HIS
DAUGHTER MEG; FEW WOMEN IN
RENAISSANCE EUROPE WERE
GIVEN ANY KIND OF HIGHER
EDUCATION.
THE CATHOLIC
REFORMATION
THIS WAS A TIME OF INTERNAL
REFORM IN THE CHURCH, AS WELL
AS A TIME OF CXRITICISM FROM
THOSE WHO CHOSE TO BREAK
AWAY.
POPE PAUL III, FOR EXAMPLE,
CONVENED THE COUNCIL OF
TRENT IN 1545 TO INVESTIGATE
THE SELLING OF INDULGENCES,
OR RELIGIOUS PARDONS, AND
OTHER ABUSES.
PROTESTANTISM
LUTHER BEGAN THE LUTHERAN
CHURCH; SOON OTHERS,
INCLUDING THE ANGLICAN,
CALVINIST, AND ANABAPTIST
FAITHS, SPRANG UP.
ALL OF THESE FAITHS,AND THE
DENOMINATIONS THAT
DEVELOPED FROM THEM, SUCH
AS METHODIST, EPISCOPAL, AND
PRESBYTERIAN, HAVE COME TO BE
CALLED PROTESTANT.
STRONG FEELINGS OF PATRIOTISM
AND NEW IDEAS COMING FROM
THE CONTINENT ENCOURAGED
PEOPLE TO QUESTION THE
AUTHORITY OF THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH AND TO OBJECT TO THE
FINANCIAL BURDENS IMPOSED ON
THEM BY THE POPE IN ROME.
KING HENRY VIII
IN 1531, REFUSED AN
ANNULMENT BY THE POPE,
HENRY VIII BROKE WITH THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ROME AND
DECLARED HIMSELF HEAD OF THE
ENGLISH CHURCH.
THIS MARKED THE BEGINNING OF
THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION
IN ENGLAND.
KING HENRY VIII’S RULE WAS
BOLD AND BLOODY. HE
INCREASED ENGLAND’S
STRENGTH AND ENSURED ITS
SECURITY BY BUILDING UP THE
ROYAL NAVY, BUT THOSE CLOSE
TO THE KING PAID A HIGH PRICE.
KING HENRY’S
GREATEST
ACCOMPLISHMENT
IT WAS THE CREATION OF WHAT
WOULD BECOME THE MODERN
ADMIRALTY, OR THE
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT IN
CHARGE OF THE NAVY.
WARS OF THE ROSES
THE WARS OF THE ROSES BEGAN
IN 1455 AND WERE FOUGHT BY
THE RIVAL FAMILIES OF YORK AND
LANCASTER.
IN 1485, SO MANY BARONIAL
FAMILIES WERE EXTINGUISHED
THAT THE HIERARCHY OF
SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE IN
ENGLAND WAS PERMANENTLY
ALTERED, ALLOWING HENRY VII
TO BECOME KING.
BLOODY MARY
MARY TUDOR SUCCEEDED HER
FATHER HENRY VIII. IMMEDIATELY,
SHE KILLED PROTESTANTS (BURNED
AT THE STAKE) AND REVERSED HER
FATHER’S POLICIES: SHE RESTORED
THE POPE’S POWER IN ENGLAND.
ELIZABETH: VIRGIN
QUEEN
ELIZABETH I WAS ONE OF THE
MOST BRILLIANT AND
SUCCESSFUL MONARCHS IN
HISTORY. HER DEEPEST PASSION WAS
TO RULE. SHE WOULD NEVER GIVE
HERSELF A MASTER—A HUSBAND.
MARY STUART
QUEEN OF SCOTS
SHE WAS ELIZABETH’S COUSIN,
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH
BLOODY MARY, HER HALF-SISTER.
MARY CLAIMED THE THRONE OF
SCOTLAND (INDEPENDENT OF
ENGLAND) AFTER HER HUSBAND’S
DEATH. HER TIES TO FRANCE
(HUSBAND WAS FRANCIS II) AND
SPAIN MADE HER A POWERFUL
THREAT TO ELIZABETH’S ENGLAND.
ELIZABETH I OF ENGLAND HAD
HER COUSIN MARY STUART,
QUEEN OF SCOTS, BEHEADED AT
FOTHERINGAY ON FEBRUARY 8,
1587.
IN 1588, THE ENGLISH ROYAL
NAVY DEFEATED THE SPANISH
ARMADA. THIS STUNNING SEA
VICTORY ASSURED ENGLAND’S
INDEPENDENCE FROM THE
POWERFUL CATHOLIC COUNTRIES
OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
ELIZABETH ENCOURAGED AND
INSPIRED MANY WRITERS. WITH
THE ERA OF PEACE AND
PROSPERITY THAT FOLLOWED THE
DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH
ARMADA, THE ENGLISH STARTED
WRITING AS NEVER BEFORE.
THE POLITICAL CLIMATE IN
ENGLAND BEGAN TO CHANGE
AFTER ELIZABETH’S DEATH. THE
END OF THE ENGLISH
RENAISSANCE IS USUALLY
MARKED BY THE RETURN OF THE
EXILED KING IN 1660.
BY THIS TIME, MORE POLITICAL
AND SECULAR VALUES WERE
BEGINNING TO CHALLENGE THE
ACCEPTED DOCTRINES OF
RELIGION.
JAMES AND
JACOBEAN ENGLAND
JAMES VI OF SCOTLAND WAS THE
ONLY SON OF MARY, QUEEN OF
SCOTS, AND HER SECOND
HUSBAND, AN ENGLISH
NOBLEMAN NAMED LORD
DARNLEY.
WHEN JAMES SUCCEEDED HIS
MOTHER’S COUSIN ELIZABETH AS
SOVEREIGN OF ENGLAND, HE WAS
CALLED JAMES I BECAUSE HE WAS
FIRST TO RULE ENGLAND.
THE REIGN OF JAMES IS CALLED
THE JACOBEAN PERIOD.
JACOBUS IS THE LATIN FORM OF
JAMES.
QUICK SUMMARY
1. THE TERM RENAISSANCE
REFERS TO A REBIRTH OF
INTEREST IN THE WRITINGS OF
CLASSICAL GREECE AND ROME.
2. NEW CREATIVITY IN THE ARTS
FIRST APPEARED DURING THIS
ERA IN ITALY.
3. RENAISSANCE HUMANISTS DID
NOT REJECT THE BIBLE.
4. THE INVENTION OF PRINTING
HELPED MAKE CLASSICAL
TEXTS MORE READILY
AVAILABLE.
5. IN ALL COUNTRIES WHERE THE
REFORMATION OCCURRED, A
KEY ELEMENT WAS THE
REJECTION OF THE AUTHORITY
OF THE POPE.