Background information about eh Renaissance

3. Renaissance rebirth, a renewed
interest in classical
learning
Began in Italy -
Boccaccio - literature
Petrach - sonnets
Leonardo Da Vinci art
Galileo Galiee –
science
Michelangelo - art

4. Top Ten People of the
Millenium
 10. Galileo Galelei
 9. Nicolaus
Copernicus
 5. William
Shakespeare
 4. Charles Darwin
 8. Albert Einstein
 3. Martin Luther
 7. Karl Marx
 2. Isaac Newton
 6. Christopher
Columbus
 1. Johan Guttenberg

5. Humanism
- an attempt to join the
classics with religion to
strengthen both. Places an
emphasis on
humanity’s, rather than
God’s, importance.
“What a piece of work is a
man: how noble in reason;
how infinite in faculty; in
form and moving how
express and admirable; in
action how like an angel; in
apprehension how like a god;
the beauty of the world, the
paragon of animals.”
Hamlet

6. Technology
and Thinking
*Erasmus – Dutch
philosopher, traveled
*Thomas More – English
philosopher, advisor to Henry
VIII and killed by him due to
his not supporting his divorce
suit (A Man for All Season –
Bolton)
*Johan Guttenberg –
developed printing press –
first book was the Bible
*William Caxton – brings
printing press to England
1476

7. Cheap Books Bring . . .
 High availability
 Increased literacy
 Printing books in English cause the need for
spelling and grammatical rules to be created
 A & E chose Gutenberg as the most important
person of the milennium

8. Renaissance in
England and
Northern
Europe
*Close ties with religion –
more bookish than art
based
*All Christians still
Catholic until . . .
*Martin Luther begins the
Reformation – he
challenges the authority of
the Catholic Church – 95
Theses
*Hated the Jewish

9. Church of
England
*1531 - Henry VIII
forms new church
because the Pope
would not grant him a
divorce from his wife
*The Church of
England - Anglican
Church - is still the
dominant church in
England today.

10. The Jewish
*Persecuted throughout
European history - kicked
out of cities or forced to
live in a certain areas
*Usury - lending money
for interest
*Shylock - character
created by Shakespeare in
his play The Merchant of
Venice stereotypical Jewish
lender
*Marlowe - The Jew of Malta

11. The Tudors- A
new ruling
family

12. The Tudor
Dynasty
• Henry VII seized
power from Richard
III (Wars of the
Roses)
• His son Arthur was
raised to be king but
died unexpectedly
• Henry VIII becomes
king

13. Henry VIII
(1509-1547)
*Argued heavily against
Martin Luther
*Renaissance man –
athletic, poet, played
instruments, hunted
*Created royal navy
*Notorious womanizer

14. The Wives of Henry VIII
Catherine of
Aragon - divorced
Anne of Cleves divorced
Anne Boleyn beheaded
Catherine Howard beheaded
Jane Seymour died
Katherine Parr survived

16. Edward VI
(1546-1553)
*Son of Jane
Seymour
*Crowned at age
nine
*Very poor health
*Died at 16 childless

17. Lady Jane
Grey
*Cousin of Edward VI
*Very well educated
*She was used by parents
and father-in-law to
(Protestants) to maintain
control and not lose power
to Catholic Church
*Queen for 9 days
*Reluctantly executed by
Mary I

18. Mary I (15531558)
*Daughter of Catherine of
Aragon
*Called Bloody Mary
because she tried to
reestablish the Catholic
Church and executed
Protestant leaders and
others who tried to stop
her
*Married Philip I from
Spain (Catholic)
*Died childless

19. Elizabeth I
(1558 – 1603)
*Daughter of Anne Boleyn
*Considered England’s
greatest monarch
*Restores Church of
England
*Builds the navy and
defeated the Spanish
Armada (55-0) – this
changed the balance of
power in Europe
*Known as the Virgin
Queen
*Died childless

21. James I
*Son of Mary Queen
of Scots (she was a
cousin to Elizabeth
(same grandmother))
*Elizabeth had her
executed due to
rumors of Catholic
take overs (Babington
Plot)
*James is king of
Scotland (James VI)
and becomes king of
both (James I)

22. Literature
Most of the literature in this era was
considered poetry and had to fit a PATTERN
 Sonnet – 14 line poem
 Pastoral – poem with
shepherds and farmers
– rural
 Epithalamia –
wedding song
 Epigrams – poems
making fun of people
 Songs – poem written
to music
 Epitaphs – poems for
the dead

23. More on this later