a brief course of english culture and civilization

8/12/2019 A Brief Course of English Culture and Civilization

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ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR. MAGDA TEODORESCU

A BRIEF COURSE IN ENGLISH CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION


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LECTURE 1: SOME REMARKS CONCERNING ENGLAND IN ROMAN TIMES AND

DURING EARLY MIDDLE AGES

I.

1. Introduction

Unlike other European peoples, as we know them today, some of the ancient

inhabitants of today Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and the Irish Republic, still live on

their territories. For instance, the Celts live and speak their language in Ireland,

Scotland, and Wales, but of course, not the original one. Before the Romans advent,

the Celtic tribes were always at strife with each other; in fact, they dominated much ofEurope in the last six centuries B.C., expanding up to todays Romania as well, and

were known as both skilful warriors and craftsmen, which comes as no surprise. They

used to live in treves (hamlets) with timber, wattles structures covered with mud,

which could be easily destroyed. Valuable information about the Celts was provided by

Julius Caesar following his conquest of Britain in 43 A. D. However, the Romans never

occupied Ireland and Wales. The Celtic life was mainly focused on warfare and less on

cultural life. In the 8thcentury AC they invaded Scotland, inhabited at that time by the

Pitcs, and conquered it. So, when we refer to Celtic traces in England, we have to

consider Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Around the time of Christ, Cunobelinus

(Cymbeline) was their kingmade by W. Shakespeare a main character of his play (the

only play dedicated to ancient England, whose story was read by Shakespeare in

Raphael Holinsheds Chronicles [1577], who in his turn, took it from the famous history

of Geoffrey of Monmouths Historia Regum Britanniae [1136]. However, besides the

name, the play has nothing to do with the legend/history of this king). Cymbeline is also

mentioned by Dio Cassius and Suetonius as The king of the Britons (Britannorum rex),

and is a character in Welsh legends.


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2. The Romans in Britain

When the Romans arrived, they found here several tribes that had their own

organization. There were leaders, slaves, and priests, called Druids, who were

extremely powerful in their society; for instance, if a Druid excommunicated a member

of the tribe, he/she would

be eliminated forever.

They had a lunar calendar

and their time unit, the

fortnight, is still used in

English, meaning twoweeks.

The Roman occupation

occurred between the

coming of the Celts and

the coming of the Saxons.

Unlike the Saxons, Celts,

and Dance who came overto slaughter or expel the

inhabitants and settle in

their place, the Romans made an effort to induce their Western subjects to assimilate

Latin life in all its aspects. The British historians agree that the Britons inherited

practically nothing from the Romans, except for a good amount of infrastructure,

architectural, and design patterns, I would say. However, Hadrian Wall did help the

locals through centuries owing to its defense capacities. Moreover, architecture in thereal sense of the word, appeared for the first time in the island with the Romans. Fine

public buildings, both religious and secular, were built and embellished with statues and

carved relieves. The walls were painted and the floors were of tesserae(square mosaic

tiles) set in various designs.


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The Romans brought, it seems, a whole lot of

their civilization facilities. Their roads were built to

transport goods to Dover and then to the

continent. The most famous is known as Watling Street ("Item a Londinio ad portum

Dubris") which had been used before by the Britons and paved by the Romans.

Towns developed on former castra (sing. castrum), a term present in locations like

Lancaster, Gloucester, Winchester, etc. In matters of craftsmanship, the pottery for the

table was embellished with a wealth of design. Moreover, there was a connection

between the Celtic and Roman craftsmen.The former deserted their curvilinear patterns

(much enjoyed by the 19th and 20th century

artists) for the new classical style, and yet

carried on some of their old tradition. An

example of it is the Gorgons head, from the

pediment of the temple of Sulis-Minerva at

Bath (Bath Museum).

Even when the Romans deserted the island, a mixture of Roman-Celtic designs

survived. Modified to suit the Nordic taste, these took their place in the pattern-books of

Anglo-Saxon craftsmen. Obvious pattern traditions could also be traced in the medieval

illuminations of the gospels.

Recent archeological findings point to the migration of European population during thelate Roman period. Thus, the Journ al of Archeological Science (volume 33, 2006)

contains an article about a burial place from Hampshire, southern England. By


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coast of Roman Britain before 300 A. D. and the conquest was completed in 1020 by

King Canute, who reconciled the kindred races of the Saxons and Danes.

The gods of the Anglo-Saxons were those of Germanic mythology: Tiw, Woden,

Thor, and the goddess Freya, still present in four days of the week: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Under the Anglo-Saxons, the country was divided

into shires governed by aldermen, shire-reeves (from which comes todays word

sheriff) and a bishop. Another institution was the Kings Council, known as Witan, the

ancestor of century-old Privy Council. The Witan is also the ancestor of the medieval

parliament.

Now, if compared to the Goth and Frank invasions, in Saxon England city life,

Christian religion (later restored) and Roman-Celtic language all disappeared. It tookalmost one thousand and five hundred years to re-establish the benefits of the Roman

civilization. So, as G. M. Trevelyan, the last Whig-tradition historian, points out: The

first result of the conquest was the loss of the crafts, science, and learning of Rome.

However, the withdrawn Celts, once civilized, became barbarous, while the Saxons

grew more civilized. Nonetheless, the Romans left behind three things as permanent

legacies the traditional site of London, the Roman roads, and Welsh

Christianity. (p. 51) Romes missionaries kept coming to Wales, and among them thefamous Saint Germanus of Auxerre, a former Roman soldier, who won a battle against

the Picts and Saxons. Similarly, the Celtic Christianity developed in Cornwall.

5. Christianity, Arts and Architecture

Some authors believe that the Christian conquest of the island primarily meant the

return of Mediterranean (i.e., Roman) civilization in a new form and with a newmessage. Two figures are of utmost importance: Augustine of Canterbury (circa first

third of the 6thcentury26 May 604), responsible for the Christianization of the British,

and Theodore of Tarsus (602 19 September 690) the first Archbishop of

Canterbury to be invested by Rome, following the Synod of Whitby in 664. They brought
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here a hierarchy similar to the former Roman Empire, and

interestingly enough, the English kings borrowed forms

and policies fitted to the need of their early state. In

Ireland a tremendously important role was played by

Saint Patrickwho brought to Ireland the Latin language

and the scholarly work. Some authors think that the

acceptance of Christianity in Ireland as later in England

was in part due to the admiration felt by the barbarians

for the Empire even in its fall, and for all things appertaining to Rome . It is worth noting

that the Irish did not imitate the Roman hierarchy, thus theirs was not parochial, it was

monastic mainly, and this is due to their tradition established by St Patrick. As a rule,

the normal Irish monastery was connected with a single tribe and acknowledged noecclesiastical superior, even refusing Romes authority. Yet, this monasticism cannot be

compared to the continental one. For instance, Ireland consisted of a congregation of

hermits living each in his own beehive hut of wattle, clay and turf. They were hermits,

scholars, artists, warriors, and missionaries. They would go and preach copy and

illuminate manuscripts in monasteries or seek for more complete seclusion like St

Cuthbert, who left the remote Lindisfarne for the Farne Islands. It is to them that the

Irish and British owe the wonderful manuscript art of Lindisfarne Gospelor the Book

of Kells wherein Celtic and Saxon nature ornamentation were blended in perfect

harmony with southern Christian traditions. Moreover, far from the Papal censorship,

they revived the knowledge of classical secular literature, which had almost died in

Western Europe.

Lindisfarne Bible


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Book of Kells

If we cannot speak about a proper secular

architecture earlier than the 11thcentury, not many

Anglo-Saxon or Celtic churches are left either. There

are some reasons to it. Firstly, most of them were

made of wood, except for the ones in Ireland that

were made of local stone.

Saxon Church at Bardwell Lindisfarne Abbey


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Bosham Church

St Laurence: Bradford-on-Avon

Secondly, the Normans demolished them just to rebuild them after the conquest.

However, a handful has remained. The typical Anglo-Saxon church has a simple plan:

two rectangles of unequal size linked by an arch, with a smaller rectangle to the east.

An additional chamber orporticuscould be attached to the church. The buildings tended

to be of a much greater height than width, as at Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. The

windows were small and round-headed, set high in the walls. Interiors were often

decoratively painted, with little architectural ornament. The external decoration wasoften elaborate, usually pilaster-work (vertical strips of stone on the outside walls). The

exterior might also have round-headed or triangular blank arcading. In some of these

churches, as it happened in most parts of Europe, the builders used bricks from the

Roman ruins or, as it is the case of the crypt at Hexam, Northumberland, and the abbey


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built by Wilfrid in the 7thcentury, using stone from the ruined Hadrians Wall. And there

are other examples in Yorkshire.

Bayeux Tapestry

As to the other arts, there are two examples that have been known so far. Firstly, St

Cuthbert Vestments in Durham Cathedral. Secondly, the 11 thcentury Bayeux Tapestry,

which is a long strip of linen, embroidered in colored wools with lively, detailed scenes

from the life of King Harold, the battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest. Thetapestry is exhibited in Bayeux, Normandy, yet there is a Victorian replica in Reading,

Berkshire.

II. The Norman Conquest and its Outcome

1. Introduction

It did not take long after King Canute united Anglo-Saxon tribes at strife, that what we

know as Great Britain today was conquered by the Normans. Culturally, the Canute

kingdom was civilized due to Christian culture but it lacked organization. Thus, England

was invaded by the most highly organized continental state of the day (p. 96), which

also sustained the Church power. The Normans brought to England the luminaries of

the day, like Lanfranc of Pavia and Anselm of Aosta, who became Archbishops of

Canterbury. Moreover, Lanfranc and Anselm brought the knowledge of Roman and

Canon Law, and the latest theology and philosophy of the day. Remember that thathappened before the age of Universities, when the monasteries served as major

centers of learning. At the same time, architecture was already laying its massive

impact on the Norman landscape. You do not have to imagine that the average Norman

aristocrat was a man of letters, a civilized person (in fact, at that time you could find


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such people only among the clergymen). The Normans were as barbaric as the Anglo-

Saxons or Danes who, under Canute incorporated England into his Nordic Empire.

Sometimes their methods of warfare were as cruel as ever. These Christians converts

were as ruthless and primitive as their Viking ancestors were.

2. Edward the Confessor and his role in the development of London; William the

Conqueror and the outcomes of the invasion

Though less important as a political figure, Edward the Confessor, the half monk Anglo-

Saxon king, (one of the first of Britains kings who grew up in exile in a monastery in

France) was the one who prepared for Westminster the high place that it would hold in

ecclesiastical history and its supreme place in the political development of England. He

moved his residence on the rural island of thorns to be near the church he was

building to St Peter. Besides, during his reign London regained the place it held in the

Roman times, that of a great center of North European commerce. As concerns

Westminster Abbey, which plays a tremendously important role in the history of

England, one should notice that on its site there had been a Benedictine Monastery.

The first monks were brought to Westminster in about 960 AD by St Dunstan, the then

Bishop of London. No trace of the building to which they came has been found. Edwardthe Confessors Abbey was consecrated on December 28, 1065 and one year later,

following the battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror forced his way and reached the

Abbey for coronation on Christmas Day. In fact, William, the so-called Duke of

Normandy, was a bastard, and it was through a chain of tricks and force that he

deprived Harold, the rightful heir of the Confessor, of his throne, and got hold of the

crown.

Now let us consider some consequences of the Norman Conquest. Firstly, William

the Conqueror chased away the Anglo-Saxon priests and replaced them with French

ones. During his reign, Lanfranc, whom I mentioned before, was his right hand.


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Naturally, continental architecture was brought to England by Norman builders who

hastened to replace the largest Saxon churches with more magnificent structures. In

fact, little has remained from the Anglo-Saxon buildings. Another result of the Conquest

was the making of the English language. The language was spoken and written by King

Alfred and Bede (the most important historian of the early medieval times), was

despised as a peasants jargon, the talk of ignorant serfs. Now the clergy talked Latin

and the gentry talked French. Some think it was a chance for the language as such

because it lost its clumsy inflexions and elaborate genders, acquiring the grace,

suppleness, and adaptability which are among its chief merits. At the same time, it was

enriched by many French words and ideas. The English vocabulary is mainly French in

words relating to war, politics, justice, religion, hunting, cooking and art. As for

architecture, it is only partially French. I will gladly quote Trevelyans words on this

matter: It is symbolic of the fate of the English race itself

after Hastings, fallen to rise nobler, trodden under foot only

to be trodden into shape. (p. 117)

3. Some facts about Norman Art and Architecture in

England

The Norman Conquest had little immediate effect on the style of English illumination I

referred to earlier, but there was some influence on details. Some decorative features

became more common, such as historiated initial letters (decorated with figures of men

and animals), and inhabited scrolls, showing arabesques of foliage with animals

inhabiting the branches.

During the first half of the 12th century a new style, the Romanesque, entered the

country. This grew up alongside the surviving Anglo-Saxon style. It derived from

Byzantium and the East and its characteristics were firmness of line, boldness of

execution, and a rigid, monumental dignity in the portrayal of the human figure. A rare


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example surviving from this time is the wall-painting in St Anselm Chapel of Canterbury

Cathedral, namely St Paul and the Viper.

The most important English contribution to Romanesque painting is the development of

the technique of pictorial narrative and of a complete cycle of ceremonial Bibles whichwere produced in the 12th century, in particular the Winchester Bible (Winchester

Cathedral), the Lambeth Bible from Canterbury (Lambeth Palace), and the Bury Bible

(Corpus Christi College, Cambridge). They all are the greatest achievements in

European painting in the 12th century. At the end of the Norman period, they won for

England the pre-eminence in the graphic arts which in sculpture belonged to France.

The Norman or Romanesque style in architecture is magnificent in scale, simple and

inventive. Today we cannot see the churches as they were then. However, three large

churches have stood as they were in Norman times: the cathedrals of Durham, Norwich,

and Peterborough.


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Durham Cathedral, considered as one of the

finest Romanesque churches in Europe, was

begun by Bishop William of St Carilief in 1093

and completed by 1133, and it was the first large building in northern Europe to be rib-

vaulted in stone. Formally, it has stood so, I would say, but changes of details still occur.


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A good example is the stained glass window on the theme of the Last Supper (called

Daily Bread) painted in the eighties of the last century by Mark Angus.

As to castle building, the first Norman forts were simple earth mounds with ditches and

palisades. Their characteristic feature is the square Norman keep combining fortress

and residence functions. Two examples survive from the 11 th century: Colchester,

Essex, and the white Tower in the Tower of London, completed by 1097. It is a four-

storey building divided by an internal wall into two parts. One half of the building was

again subdivided to the plain but beautiful Chapel of St John, which is the oldest

complete Norman church in England.

Chapel of St John

III. Some Facts about the English History in the Middle

Ages

1. Introduction

The medieval period begins about the time of the First Crusade (1096), which also

marks the first signs of anti-Semitism in Europe. Society at large consisted on the one


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hand of the disintegrated secular society of feudal barons and knights, each with an

outlook limited to his province or his manor, while on the other hand there was the pan-

European Church, tightly organized from Rome. Furthermore, since the clergy enjoyed

an almost complete monopoly of learning and clerkship, the control of Church over

State in the early Middle Ages was very great. If for a period of time it was the king who

appointed the Bishops, for instance, in the end it was the Pope who had the last word,

yet with the tacit recommendation of the king. Some think that as compared to other

religions, Christianity was more dynamic in the Middle Ages, and helped the

transformation of society, from uniformity to variety, from the preeminence of the knight

to that of the craftsman and merchant, from the hegemony of priesthood to lay

emancipation, from feudal cosmopolitanism to national monarchy. Behind the fortified

walls of the monasteries the monks were re-interpreting the works of Plato and Aristotle,while beyond the very same walls there was barbarism mixed with flashing lights of

civilization. After the Norman Conquest, England acquired great institutions:

representative assemblies, universities, juries. Some of these institutions, like the

universities, the legal profession, the city guilds and companies, and Parliament itself,

had their origin or analogy elsewhere because they were characteristic products of

medieval Christendom as a whole. But the English Common Law was a development

peculiar to England. Parliament and the Common Law gave England in the end a

political life of her own in strong contrast to the later developments of Latin civilization.

2. Major Kings

You should not imagine that England was the land of milk and honey, of stories of

knights courting ladies, or ladies waiting for their knights back from the crusade. The

worst happened during the conflict between Stephen of Blois, a distinguished knight,and Matilda, wife of the great Plantagenet Count, Geoffrey of Anjou. Their fights torn the

country apart. For instance, an English monk wrote about the tortures invented to

oppress the common people. They took those whom they suspected to have goods, by

night and by day, seizing both men and women, and they put them in prison for their


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gold and silver, and tortured them with pains unspeakable, for never were any martyrs

tormented as these were. Finally, an agreement was reached: Stephen was to wear

the crown till his death, while Matildas son was tosucceed as Henry II (1154-89). He

was a great king, the first who tried to separate the church and secular powers. He had

an administrative mind trained in the best European learning institutions of his day. He

was not merely Duke of Normandy but the ruler of Western France. By marriage,

diplomacy, and war, the House of Anjouhad accumulated such vast possessions that

the monarchy at Paris and the Holy Roman Empire were of

less account.

Map of England under Henry II

Henrys ever-moving court was filled with men of business,

pleasure, and scholarship from every land in Western

Europe. During his reign and that of his sons, the English

knight became less interested in fighting, because he could

buy the military service through what was known as sh ield

money. So, more and more knights turned into what came to be known as the country

gentleman. For these reasons the stone castle, typical of Stephens reign was gradually

replaced by the stone manor house, typical of the Plantagenet era (1154-1485). The

movement was hastened by Henry IIs demolition of unlicensed castles and his

unwillingness to grant new licenses. The donjon-keep was replaced by a high-ceilinged

stone hall, the lineal descendant of the high timber hall of the Anglo-Danish thong. In

front of it there was a walled courtyard partly surrounded by buildings. The manor house

was only to be entered through the gateway of the courtyard, and was often protected

by a moat. That was true for southern and midland counties, while on the Welsh or


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Scottish borders, there dwelt the Marcher Lords in high castles. They participated in the

chief fights during the troublesome times of the Plantagenet period.


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There is one significant fact that distinguishes the English upper class from the

continental one. The feudal law of primogeniture, or the right to the land of the first born,

turned into an advantage, because the other sons were sent out into the world to seek

for their fortune. Unlike the continental upper class, who married inside their own order,

and despised merchants and commerce, the English never became a closed caste, and

that was a rapid way of escaping from feudalism. The great benefit of Henrys reign was

the legal reform, that is, a native system common to the whole land, in place of the

various provincial customs. It meant a step forward towards the emancipation from the

feudal and ecclesiastical courts. He established the jury system that became the boast

of England, contrasting the

French procedure, where torture

was freely used. Yet, Henrywished greater power and control

over the Church and refused to

become vassal to the Pope a

thing that goes like a red thread

through the English history,

culminating with Henry VIIIs act.

In 1162, Henry II made his friend

Thomas a Beckett, his

chancellor since 1155,

Archbishop of Canterbury. However, when the latter became archbishop, he refused to

give up any of the Churchs power. The word goes that when the ill -tempered Henry

heard about it, he shouted: Will none of these cowards rid me of this priest. And his

knights, like any of the contemporary boot-licking officers, took him at his word and went

to Canterbury. On 29 December 1170, they killed the Archbishop while he was praying.

The peoples reaction was so strong that soon he was made a saint. Moreover, Henry

himself went to Canterbury and had himself whipped. The cult of Thomas a Beckett was

the major one throughout Europe of that time.


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King Richard the Lion-Hearted (1189-99) distinguished himself in the Third Crusade

as the greatest of knight-errant, the popular figure in the Middle Ages. He took with him

other men of an adventurous disposition, but not the solid part of the baronage. As for

the English common folk, the emotions of the Third Crusade touched them just enough

to produce some shocking pogroms of Jews, of which the one in York was appalling. To

put it briefly, Richard left England at the mercy of his treacherous brother, John. The

Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter, whom Richard had appointed, backed by the

official baronage, the Mayor and citizens of London, suppressed Johns treason and

purchased Richards deliverance from the Vienna prison into which his fellow crusaders

had thrown him. But he had just returned home that he fled again and never returned to

England.

King John (1199-1216)had no broad political strategy or foresight. He extorted money

from all classes of his subjects and then spent it in clumsy attempts to defend his

inheritance against the kings of France. The loss of Normandy to Philip Augustus took

place in 1204, and ten years later, his scheme to recover it through a grand European

coalition against France was shipwrecked by the defeat of his German allies. King John

had problems with the Pope as well (he struggled with Pope Innocent III over the

election of Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury, to which he eventually

surrendered). In The Li fe and Death of King John by W. Shakespeare, King John

sadly notices:

It is the curse of kings to be attended

By slaves that take their humours for a warrant

To break within the bloody house of life,

And on the winking of authority

To understand a law, to know the meaning

Of dangerous majesty, when, perchance, it frowns

More upon humour than advisd respect.


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Oscar Wilde once wrote that children should learn history from Shakespeares historical

plays. Yet Shakespeare himself missed to dramatize one important event of the Middle

Ages: Magna Charta. An important role in the constitutional making, representing thetension between the king and the people, was played by Magna Charta, the first English

Constitution that led in the end to yet undreamt of liberties for all. More than the

barons, it was Archbishop Stephen Langtonwhose brain and moral strength helped

the movement. His action was all the more remarkable considering that Pope Innocent

III who had supported him to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, disagreed with

him and backed instead King John and declared Magna Charta null and void. The new

English baronial policy, as designed in Magna Charta, was meant to obtain public

liberties and to control the king through the Common Law, baronial assemblies, and

alliance with other classes. It was the first text setting a democratic legal law in

general. Here how Article 1 sounds:

In the first place we have conceded to God, and by this our present charter confirmed

for us and our heirs for ever that the English church shall be free,and shall have her

rights entire, and her liberties inviolate; and we wish that it be thus observed. This is

apparent from the fact that we, of our pure and unconstrained will, did grant the freedomof elections, which is reckoned most important and very essential to the English church,

and did by our charter confirm and did obtain the ratification of the same from our lord,

Pope Innocent III., before the quarrel arose between us and our barons. This freedom

we will observe, and our will is that it be observed in good faith by our heirs forever.

We have also granted to allfreemen of our kingdom, for us and our heirs forever, all the

underwritten liberties, to be had and held by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs for

ever:

Naturally, not all the terms used then have preserved the same meaning. For instance,

freeand freemenhave to be understood as follows:
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Freehere, particular liberty to obey the canon law of the Western Church which,

amongst other things, insisted on ecclesiastical elections being free from lay pressure.

[Article1]it should be understood that the Church did not want the State to interfere

with its own rules.

Freemanthose of free status in the eyes of the law (that is, notvilleins2) and as such

having certain rights denied to villeins, such as access to the Kings courts in certain

actions, freedom to move about and marry and exemption from certain onerous duties.

[Article1]

One interesting aspect, as it appears in Magna Charta is the problem of Jews, which the

authors gave special attention, meaning that that was a hot issue and the population

had to be educated: And if any one die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her

dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased are left

underage, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping with the holding of the

deceased. The debt shall be paid out of the residue , save the service due to feudal

lords. Let debts due to others than Jews be dealt with in similar manner.

As to architecture, we find here the first reference to castles which: before the reign of

Henry II even major castles were mostly built of wood, as were the less importantbuildings and auxiliary defences long after his time. The reference sounds rather funny

today: Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for ourcastles or for any other of our

works, wood which is not ours, except with agreement from the owner of that timber.

Throughout the 13thcentury, the struggle for the Charter, with its constant reissues,

revisions, infringements, and reassertions, was the battleground of parties, until the

Edwardian Parliaments were fully established, yet the Charter remained in the

foreground of mens thoughts. However, when the Parliament was established, and in

the 16thcentury, for instance, the Charter was out of fashion. Shakespeares King John

2Etym. Latin villanus. Meaninga sort of serf. There were two types, one assigned to the manor, the other to the

lord and thus transferable from one to another. A newer meaning, though spelled differently, is that of a wickedperson.
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shows that the author knew little about it. But when, under James I, Prince and people

again began to take up opposing ground, Magna Charta came quickly back as the

goddess of English freedom. It always happened so when the battle for freedom was

looming.

The name parliament was firstly applied during Henry IIIs reign to the feudal

assemblies and kings Council. It carried no idea of election or representation. That

particular Parliament was a revolutionary assembly to which only those Barons were

summoned who were of Simons party, but it set a precedent for the summoning of

burghers, imitated more closely the Parliament of Edward I (Apud Trevelyan).

Edward I (1272-1307). It was during his reign that the Parliament was established. I

would like to insist here on Trevelyans opinion of the nature of the English

Parliament:

No man made it, for it grew. It was the natural outcome, through long centuries,

of the common sense and the good nature of the English people, who have usually

preferred committees to dictators, elections to street fighting, and talking shops to

revolutionary tribunals. (p. 152)

And heres another valid remark, in my opinion: The English people have always been

distinguished for the Committee sense, their desire to sit round and talk till an

agreement or compromise is reached. This national peculiarity was the true origin of the

English Parliament. (p. 153)

There is one essential fact that characterized the Parliament life: it abolished the

distinctions of feudalism. The knights of the shire, a semi-feudal class were acting as

elected representatives of the rural yeoman, and were sitting cheek by jowl with the

citizens of the boroughs. Neither was any House of the Clergy formed as part of the

English Parliament. They voluntarily abandoned their seats among the Commons and

the Lords. That explains why the English couldnt understand what in the world the


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French Revolution was about, although they had their own civil warmore than a

hundred years before

*

Ireland, Wales, and Scotland

What happened to Irelandduring the period after the Conquest? It mainly remained

disorganized, while the majority of its inhabitants preferred the country life to town life.

Their towns were easily captured and transformed into English ones. The citizens of

Bristol were given the right to inhabit Dublin. Dublin Castle, first built by the Vikings,became the centre of Saxon rule in Ireland from the 12 thcentury.

To put it briefly, England proved too weak to conquer and govern Ireland, but strong

enough to prevent her from learning to govern herself. It is significant that the island that

once was the lamp of learning in a barbarous Europe, had no university when the

Middle Ages came to an end.

Before the coming of the Anglo-Normans, the Welshhad been a pastoral rather thanan agricultural people. They lived rather in huts than in towns and villages, that is, they

did not have a community life. When the occupation occurred and they saw their valley

dominated by a Norman castle of timber or stone, with an agricultural village attached to

it, a part of them fled higher into the hills, while the others remained vassals of the new

lord. All through the Middle Ages the native Welsh, in imitation of the English lords and

neighbors, were slowly taking to agriculture, erecting permanent houses, trading in

market-towns. Yet they preserved their own tongue [] and developed their bardic

poetry and music destined in our own days to save Welsh intellect and idealism from

perishing in the swamp of modern cosmopolitan vulgarity, Trevelyan says (p. 168).

As you can see, in England there are people living at a different pace and within a

different history. While Wales and Ireland were forced to submit to Englands rule more


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completely and for a longer time than Scotland, both remained to this day far more

Celtic.

For at least two centuries, Scotlandfought for her independence from England, and

remained an extremely poor, savage, bloodstained land of feudal anarchy,assassination, private wars, and public treason, with constant Border warfare against

England, with peculiarly corrupt Church, no flourishing cities, no Parliament or other

institutions that could promise her a great future. (Of course, this is an Englishmans

opinion). England could have given her wealth and civilization. However, by and by,

Scotland embraced her own religion and, it is worth noting, it gave several monarchs to

Englands throne.

The One Hundred Year Warmeant a period in which England, equipped with

administrative machinery and national self-consciousness, exercised these new powers

at the expense of the French feudal kingdom. In fact, the English kings tried to regain

their possessions. In 1337, when the Hundred Years War began, Edward III and his

nobles spoke French and were more at home at Gascony than in Scotland. In fact the

Hundred Years War was a label of the transition from Middle Ages to Renaissance.

What the One Hundred Years War did was to intensify the patriotic feeling of theEnglish, which outlasted the war, and helped to put an end to the subordination of the

English to the French culture, which the Norman Conquest had established. In Henry

VIIs reign, for instance, the Venetian envoy noted:

They think that there are no other men than themselves, and no other world but

England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner, they say he looks like an

Englishman and that it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishman, and when

they partake of any delicacy with a foreigner they ask him whether such a thing is madein his country (apud, Trevelyan, p. 189).

Moreover, a law was passed by the Parliament declaring that since the French tongue

was much unknown in this Realm, the judgment in the law courts should be spoken in


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English and enrolled in Latin. A more profound revolution took place regarding the

language used in schools. English became once more the tongue of the educated and

of the upper classes, as it had never been since Hastings. The Bible was translated into

English by Wycliffes followers, and soon Chaucer was to write his works. Their work

circulated first in manuscript, and then, in the 15thcentury came Caxtons printing press

at Westminster, which popularized Chaucer and spread through the land translations of

the Bible and Prayer Book in the same dialect, already regarded as the Kings English,

which formed the standard English.

The Dawns of the Renaissance: The Lollardry and Other Cultural Issues

In the 14thcentury there was a movement resembling Protestantism. It was called

Lollardry and it owed its existence to John Wycliffe, the Oxford scholar, the initiator

of the translation of the Bible in English. After his denial of the doctrine of

Transubstantiation he and his followers were expelled from Oxford in 1382 by a

combined action of Church and State. So, he initiated a popular movement spread by

itinerant preachers. Though persecuted and suppressed, Lollardry never wholly died

out; it revived and merged in the Lutheran movement of early Tudor times. The copiesof the Bible translation were destroyed when possible by the Church authorities.

However, they could not prohibit the lay study of the Scriptures.

The end of the Middle Ages and the emergence of the New Learning was a great period

for the foundation of schools, besides Winchester or Eton. Guilds and private persons

were endowing chantries with priests and schools. Reading and writing ceased to be

the monopoly of the clergy. Geoffrey Chaucer, who died in 1400, had a tremendous

influence on the English letters. All the poets of the age followed him. In their verse theyexpress their admiration for the beauty of natural sights and sounds in the orchards and

artificial gardens. As you can notice, landscape architecture is very old in England, and

that can be explained psychologically. From the 15 thto the early 18thcenturies, they

liked artificial gardens because they had so much wild nature. At that time the beauty of


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domestic architecture of the manor houses, then coming to perfection in stone and

brick, the artistic originality in dress, furniture, and homestead utensils enriched life with

joys, we like to think. The everyday objects have acquired through time an esthetic

value, quite different from the one given by the simple craftsman.

The End of the Middle Ages. Historians think that the Middle Ages ended in England

in a curious way, and through the wars of Roses (the battle between the Houses of

York and Lancaster). On each side was ranged a group of nobles, and each noble had

its clientele of knights, gentry, captains, lawyers, and clergy. Of course, there were

cases when they changed sides. London remained neutral in this civil strife. The fighting

nobles were savage in their treatment of one another, and there were many sudden

turns of the fortunes wheel, leading to confiscations of great estates. The Crown was

enriched by these confiscations, while the nobles were impoverished and their number

reduced. The way was prepared for the Tudor policy of suppressing over mighty

subjects. The Wars of Roses were a bleeding operation performed by the nobility upon

their own body and a blessing in disguise for the rest of the people. The Renaissance

lights were shining already.


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LECTURE 2: SOME REMARKS ABOUT ENGLAND DURING THE TUDORS

(RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION)

Introduction

Renaissance in England like anywhere else, set religion in the light of the scholarly

examination of the Scriptures, while on the other hand revealed the long forgotten

ancient Greek and Roman ideals. Moreover, it encouraged man to explore the New

World and thus changed the intellectual outlook on the world. All these tendencies

dissolved the fabric of the medieval society in England. There is one thing, however,that distinguishes England from the rest of the Continent. While in France, Spain, and

Portugal the monarchy was allied with the old Church, in England it was allied with the

Parliament, and the country was more or less a constitutional monarchy. Yet most

institutions remained intact on condition of submitting to the sovereign authority of the

state, including universities, nobles, lawyers, Bishops, secular clergy, and town

corporations. Cosmopolitan church went down before the new idea of a national state

with a national church attached. A sort of labour regulation, started by the Plantagenet

Parliament was carried further in Tudor times, meaning a national control over economy

(one emerging from the Middle Ages, of course!).

Renaissance in England, called Tudor Renaissancewas the time of the nation

assertion of her strength, her claim to do whatever it liked within its own frontiers. The

King exercised his power, while the Parliament played a lesser role. By putting himself

at the head of the Anti-clerical revolution that destroyed the medieval power and

privilege of the Church, Henry VIII (1491-1547), the son of the first Tudor King, Henry

VII, set the new monarchy in alliance with the strongest forces of the coming age:

London, the middle class, the seagoing population, and the Protestant preachers. They

all formed a powerful opposition to the forces of the old world: the monks, the friars, the


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feudal nobility and gentry in the north and popular Catholic piety which was stronger in

the districts far from London. However, both the Catholics and the Protestants were

feeble and neither dared to defy the Crown as the Puritans afterwards defied it in

England (during the 17thcentury). Renaissance was not an age of religious zeal in

England, like the age of Becket, for instance, or that of Cromwell. So long as men

persisted in the medieval error that there should be only one religion tolerated, so long

the alternative was state supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs. And King Henry VIII was a

living proof to it.

In fact, the first steps towards reforms were taken by Henry VII (from the House of

Lancaster, who married Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV in an attempt tounite the factions at war and put an end to the War of Roses. Henry VII used to select

his adviser from lower ranks, following the principle of personal merit.

The Tudors gave new directions to the external and expansive energies of the English.

On the one hand, a new school of diplomacy was set, which from the Cardinal Thomas

Wolsey (1475-1530)to William Cecil (1520-98). The former pursued the Balance of

Power as Englands only chance of security in face of great continental states. On the

other hand, Henry VIII made a really fine Royal Navy that stood against the powerful

Spanish one in the decades to come. Furthermore, the Celtic Welsh were reduced to

order and Wales was annexed on terms of equality to England. That was possible due

to their common Protestant interests. At the same time, the conquest of Ireland was

undertaken in earnest.

The individuals were free to wander and seek for either adventure or new ways of

commerce as the new map of the world yearly unfolded itself. One chief advantage that

England had over Spain in the New World was that England had cloth to sell in

exchange for goods, while the Spaniards had nothing to send except soldiers, priests


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and colonists. The cloth industry had deep roots in the English medieval industry and

developed later as well. That is to say, the English were more pragmatic when faced

with the inhabitants of the newly discovered territories.

I. Sources and Developments of the English Renaissance

All through the 15thc., Oxford suppressed the freedom of thought, mainly represented

by Wycliffism. However, in early 16thc the echoes of Italian Renaissance came to

Oxford. The English scholars and poets like John Lily (1554-1606), the Euphuist,

William Grocyn (1446-1519), the first to teach Greek and Latin at Oxford, and Thomas

Linacre (1460-1524), the physician and professor of Greek and Latin, they all brought a

new interest in Greek literature, Latin grammar and scientific medicine.

The famous Dutch philosopher, Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) was a friend of

the no less famous English thinker, Thomas More (1478-1535), the author of Utopia,

first written in Latin and then translated into English, and the author of the first biography

of King Richard III. They both gave a new character to Renaissance studies, makingthem moral and religious, yet not severe, which would have contradicted the

Renaissance spirit, so different in various parts of Europe but showing an all-embracing

openness. For Erasmus and More, Renaissance meant the New Testament in Greek

and the Old Testament in Hebrew, apart from the ancient philosophers and poets. This

approach is different from the ones taken by the Italians who were far more open to

arts. In England the men of the Renaissance used to study Greek and Latin to reform

not only the schools but also the church itself, calling on both the clergy and laity to acttogether.


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Another leading figure was the scholar John Colet (1467-1519). He and Erasmus were

the Oxford Reformers who, in the name of scholarship, religion, and morality, began a

series of bitter attacks on the monks and obscurantism, on the worship of images and

relics and the worldliness of the clergy. Their influence reached London and,

certainly, Cambridge. Colet also founded, in the shadow of St Pauls Cathedral, whose

Dean he was, St Pauls School, where John Lily, the poet, was the headmaster and

taught Greek and Latin. That was to become the prototype of the reformed grammar

school.

What was the attitude of the Crown to the New Learning, as it is currently called?

Henry VII paid less attention to it. For him the clergy were usefulservants, while the Pope an important person on his personal

diplomatic agenda. Henry VIII had a different story. He

succeeded to the throne and married Catherine of Aragon,

promised to his brother Arthur, who had died prematurely. He

exceeded his subjects both in body and in brain. He was the

paragon of Princes, the patron alike of sportsmen (he was a

champion at tennis and a mighty hunter) and the men of the

New Learning. But just like his father, he continued to encourage the burning of

Lollards, wrote a book against Luther (Erasmus and More were against Luther as well),

for which the Pope named him Fidei Defensor (Defender of Faith). At the same time he

made friends with Colet and More, whom he forced to take up the profession of courtier.

He also defended Colet against the obscurantist clergy by saying: Let every man have

his doctor, this is mine, although Colet had denounced him in a song: For Henry loved

a man. Henry, the young king was a good musician and played well on all known

instruments. Another prominent figure at Henrys Court was Thomas More.

Erasmus, in a letter to Ulbrich von Hutten, where he draws a marvelous portrait of

Thomas More, described Henrys court as follows: You will scarcely find a court so

well-ordered, as not to have much bustle and ambition and pretence and luxury or to be


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free from tyranny in some form or another. And he continues by praising Thomas More

and his role in the Court: But as this excellent monarch was resolved to pack his

household with learned, serious, intelligent and honest men, he especially insisted upon

having More among them, - with whom he is on such terms of intimacy that he cannot

bear to let him go. (Thomas More, Utopia, A Norton Critical Edition, p. 113).

At this point, I would like to discuss Mores Utopia because it shows on the one hand

the Renaissance ideas, and on the other hand, the conflicting religious visions that led

to the creation of this momentous work in the history of thought. Moreover, Mores book

had a tremendous impact on the 19 thcentury thinkers and artists, from William Morris to

Karl Marx. My question is whether we can hold More responsible for the manner inwhich his book was read later. It was published in 1516 in Latin, and translated into

English in 1556 (so, Shakespeare was aware of it). The word itself comes from two

Greek words: ouand topos, meaning no place. Many of ideas Moresideas come from

Platos famous dialogue Republic, while apparently, the description of extravagant

places reflect the recent geographic discoveries of new worlds. Utopiais composed of

two books, two long chapters; the first debates present or recent ideas and events,

mainly referring to the social conditions in England inherited from Henry VII. For

instance, it is a long debate around the matter of crime; in fact, we can read Mores

opinions on law and ethics and the role of the philosopher (read: intellectual) in

attending a Prince. Nothing new so far, if we remember Machiavellis Il Principe.

However, More wraps his message in a variety of meanings, obviously aiming at

creating the ideal of the Ideal Commonwealth. The traveler who tells the story about

Utopia is Raphael Hythloday. The etymology of his name is quite significant: hythloday,

means to distribute nonsense, while Raphael means God heals; consequently, the

translation would be God heals through nonsense. Having said that, I hope you can

better understand its purpose: to cure people through an invention. Is it the role of any

art? Cant we interpret it, in todays words, an example of meta-f ict ion? But the 19th

century socialists and communists interpreted it literally and tried to transfer an ideal


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society on earth or fiction into real world.

So, what is all about? First, Utopia is an island where there is no private property, where

people despise gold (which is worn only by slaves and kids play with it for fun), and has

a rather complicated and picturesque government system. For instance, people have to

change house every ten years not to develop attachment to things. People areeducated in farming and other practical professions since their childhood. However,

there are several symbols/layers underlyingthe entire construction. For instance,

Utopia is shaped like a new moon, looking very much like England (if you reverse the

mapsee above) or a maternal womb. The founder, Utopos, changed the name of the

island from Abraxa, which has a mystical connotation alluding to the 365 days of the

year, into Utopia. There are fifty-four similar cities built on the same plan, and the capital

is Amaurot, meaning dark city in Greek. However, it was also interpretedas a

derivation fromAmaury of Bne, a medieval heretic from Flanders, whose teachings

were responsible for several medieval communist sects of the Free Spirit. Amaurots

plan is similar to that of London; so, in speaking about Utopia, More has England in his


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mind. From the description of the city life you can understand something about the

material nature of utopia, echoing Tudor England:

Every house has a door to the street and another to the garden. The doors, which are

made with two leaves, open easily and swing shut automatically, letting anyone enter

who wants toand so there is no private property. Every ten years, they change

houses by lot [lottery]. And he goes into further details: Their houses are all three

stories high and handsomely constructed; the fronts are faced with stone, stucco, or

brick, over rubble construction. The roofs are flat, and are covered with a kind of plaster

that is cheap but fireproof, and more weatherresistant even than lead. Glass is very

generally used in windows to keep out the weather; and they also use thin linen clothtreated with oil or gum so that it let in more light and keeps out more wind (p. 38).

There are two sorts of utopias: one refers to the political and social system, and the

values/virtues attached to them, and the other to technical dreams. We may say the

latter is less dangerous, and from the last part I have quoted, you could notice Mores

ideas about his dream house that, in fact, bears some resemblance to Tudor

constructions. As for the first, it only bogged down when it was read literally.

If you read it from the 15thcentury point of view, it emphasizes the Ideal Commonwealth

based on Catholic and ancient virtues, which makes his satire upon contemporary

European abuses more pointed.After all, Thomas Mores Utopiais a satire of an ideal

sort: you read the negative through the positive discourse. From this perspective,

Thomas More just opened a door to the 17 th-18thcentury prose writers like the famous

Jonathan Swift.

a) Politics


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The last and the most famous Cardinal who labored over the state business was

Wolsey, who was of humble family (he was the son of a butcher) but behaved like a

Prince of Blood. For the English he epitomized all the faults of the church. Wolsey

received from his bishoprics an income of 35,000 a year and did not conceal it;

instead, he displayed it in the fabulous palace Hampton Court, eventually overtaken by

Henry VIII (which shows the real relationship between the Crown and Church).

However, in his hands the Balance of Power in Europe first became clearly defined as

the object of Englands foreign policy. For several years, he kept the balance with

perfect, consummate skill and with a minimum of expense to the English treasure. In

1513, the victory against the Scots and French raised England to a strong position. After

1521, his skill and foresight failed him. A new era began in Europe, with a strong Spain

and a weak Italy, while the Habsburg supremacy became visible in Europe. Against thisbackground, England herself was on the brink of destruction, hadnt been for the growth

of popular, maritime, and religious forces in the island which, in fact, Wolsey had

opposed. For one, he discouraged maritime adventure. Though Henry VIII himself did

not encourage it in particular, he founded the Royal Navy. Not only did he create ships

especially commissioned to fight, but his architects (read designers) designed many of

these royal ships on an improved model that made them more adaptable to sea

conditions than the ones built by the Mediterranean powers. In 1545, at the end of

Henrys reign, a French army attempted to invade England, but it was smashed and in

the very same year a baby called Francis Drake was born.

To put it concisely, Henry VIIIs creation of the Royal Navy saved him and later his

daughter, Elizabeth I, when they had to oppose the European Catholic powers. By

comparison, Wolsey was a man of the old school, a diplomatist of the old type, very

good at pulling strings but of a lesser vision. Furthermore, the Tudors were the

prototype of modern man, ready for any sort of adventure.


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b) The Royal and Parliamentary Reformation under Henry VIII

One important aspect during Henry VIIIs reign was the bitter struggle between the

Catholics and the Protestants who acted against the backdrop of Luthers revolt. Yet

some amazing things did happen. One of the Kings friends and a great scholar, Sir

Thomas More, the scathing critic of religious order, became a martyr of Papal

Supremacy when Henry broke with Rome, while others, known as famous papalists

defended the kings option. Things were not very clear back then, because Henry VIII

burnt Protestants, while hanging and beheading the Catholic opponents of an anti-

clerical revolution. Later on, under Elizabeth I the English anti-clericals defended

themselves against the Catholic reaction by alliance with the Protestants.

But how did it happen? The Lutheran doctrines became very powerful in England and

acted like a reactive; for instance, men like Erasmus feared Protestantism, More, as I

said, opposed it and wrote against it. Oxford held back in doubt, but Cambridge stepped

in. From 1521, students met at the White Horse tavern in the town to discuss Luther.

The tavern was nicknamed Germany and those haunting it Germans - they were the

makers of the new England.

Under such hazy circumstances, Henry decided to divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

This request that the Popes had granted to other monarchs for government reasons

was denied to him because the Pope himself was at the mercy of Charles V,

Catherines nephew. So, the whole matter became one of national pride. And it was

then that the King remembered the Parliament. So, the instrument chosen by Henry to

effect his Royal Reformationwas the Parliament. Unlike his predecessors, this one set


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for seven years and in the course of its eight sessions acquired a continuity of personal

experience among its members, which helped build up the traditions of the modern

House of Commons as a great instrument of government.

I think that you remember Louis XIV famous phrase, Ltat, cest moi! (I am/embody

the state). Henry VIIIs authority was of a different sort. In 1543, he told the House of

Commons: We be informed by our Judges that we at no time stand so high in ou r

estate royal as in the time of Parliament, when we as head and you as members are

conjoined and knit together in one body politic. (see Trevelyan, 223).

The Reformation Parliamentsuppressed the order of monks and friars, and

secularized their property. Henry sold great part of their lands to peers, courtiers, public

servants who resolved them to smaller men, and so we can clearly see a case of real

estate speculation. Many abbeys had become manor houses or a quarry out of which a

manor house was being built. In London, as in every other towns, valuable and

conspicuous sites of religious houses and much house property belonging to them

passed into lay hands, removing the last check on the ever-increasing Protestantism,

anti-clericalism, and commercialism of the capital.

At Oxford and Cambridge, the monks and friars had been very numerous and resisted

the New Learning. They gradually disappeared and were soon replaced by an

increased proportion of gentlemens sons. Such graduates were to govern the

Elizabethan England. People like Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the great

experimentalist and philosopher, father of empiricism and author of Novum Organum,

fostered a new development of intellectual ideas which would have never taken roots if

these universities had been left to the guidance of monks and friars.


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The anti-clericalism under Henry VIII led to the destruction of country relics and miracle-

working images were taken down, while their crude machinery exhibited to the people

on whose credulity it had imposed. The shrine and cult of Thomas a Becket, the center

of English and continental pilgrimage, were suppressed.

The English Reformation, which had begun as a Parliamentary attack on church fees,

and proceeded as a royal confiscation of Abbey lands, found at last its religious basis in

the popular knowledge of the Scriptures which was Wycliffes dream. However, both

Wycliffe and the Lollards would have been burnt because the Act of Six Articles was

passed decreeing death against anyone who denied Transubstantiation, the need of

confession and clerical celibacy.

I. The Elizabethan Era

a). Main Ideas

When Henry VIII died the State was heavily in debt and the religious feuds which he

seemed to have suppressed by violence were bound to break out afresh. Elizabeth I

(1558-1603) came at a right time to prevent civil war caused no less by Queen MaryTudor (nicknamed Bloody Mary), her sister, who had almost yielded England to Spain

through her marriage with Philip of Spain. What was more, the other possible successor

to the throne of England was Mary Stuart, married to the Dauphin of France, a staunch

catholic. However, throughout Elizabeths reign it was the rivalry of the two catholic

powers, France and Spain, that saved England, the heretic island, from conquest, till it

was strong enough to defend itself. Elizabeth was a cunning queen who knew how to

fuel the internal fights in Spain and France by sending men and money to keep therebellious movements alive. Elizabeth learned the lesson of her youth and understood

that private affections and passions are not for Princes. So, she left to her rival, Mary

Stuart, to lose a world for love. Elizabeth put all her strength and talent in the service of

state. Her public appearances and progresses through the country were no dull and


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formal functions, but works of art, meant to strengthen the relation between the Queen

and the people. She did not build palaces, but palaces were built to entertain her.

Whenever she addressed the Parliament her speeches were neither stern nor dry. She

could also discourse in Greek and Latin to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge,

and was fluent in Italian. She was rather a child of the Renaissance than of the

Reformation.

I will not go into the complex details of the relation between Scotland and England

during Elizabeths reign. However, I would like to emphasize that an important role was

played by the incessant fight between the Catholics and the Protestants in both

countries. Mary Stuart was executed in 1587, but her son ruled England as James Iafter Elizabeths death. However, at the beginning of her reign the anti-clerical party still

consisted of both Catholics and Protestants. When she died, the majority of the English

regarded themselves as ardent Protestants, members of the Church of England, and

not subjects to the Pope.

b) The English Sea Power

If France had not been torn apart by religious strives, it might have become a mighty

sea power. But while the massacre of St Bartholomews night was taking place, Francis

Drake (1540-1596)and his Protestant sailors whom he led became the servants of the

English monarch. We can refer further to the causes of the English supremacy over

France and Spain, and emphasize that it was their medieval order that kept them from

free enterprise. Having said that, there were obvious differences between the English

and the Spaniards, for instance, and that finally led the former to win the battle with theArmada. The new spirit of private enterprise, individual initiative, and good-humored

equality of classes were on the increase in the defeudalized England and manifested

themselves even stronger among the commercial and maritime population. Francis

Drake understood that discipline was needed on the board ship, but not feudalism and


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class pride. Richard Hakluyt (?1552-1616) a lecturer of geography or cosmography,

who introduced the use of globes into the English schools, put together the stories of

Drakes sailors in his book Principal Navigation, Voyages, and Discoveries of the

English Nation. [In the footnote you have a sample of the oversea adventures and also

of the written English at that time]. Besides the stories about Drakes robbing of the

Spaniards3and opening trade with their colonies at the canons mouth, the ten volumes

3From R. Hakluyts volume XIII: XXXVII. The relation of Nicholas Burgoignon, alis Holy, whom sir

Francis Drake brought from Saint Augustine also in Florida, where he had remayned sixe yeeres, in mine

and Master Heriots hearing. This Nicholas Burgoignon sayth, that betweene S. Augustine and S. Helen

there is a Casique whose name is Casicla, which is lord of ten thousand Indians, and another casique

whose name is Dicasca, and another called Touppekyn toward the North, and a fourth named Potanou

toward the South, and [pg 535] another called Moscita toward the South likewise. Besides these he

acknowledgth Oristou, Ahoia, Ahoiaue, Isamacon, alledged by the Spaniard. He further affirmeth, that

there is a citie Northwestward from S. Helenes in the mountaines, which the Spaniards call La grand

Copal, and is very great and rich, and that in these mountains there is great store of Christal, golde, and

Rubies, and Diamonds: And that a Spaniard brought from thence a Diamond which was worth fiuethousand crownes, which Pedro Melendes the marques nephew to olde Pedro Melendes that slew Ribault,

and is now gouerner of Florida, weareth. He saith also, that to make passage vnto these mountaines, it is

needefull to haue store of Hatchets to giue vnto the Indians, and store of Pickaxes to breake the

mountaines, which shine so bright in the day in some places, that they cannot behold them, and therefore

they trauell vnto them by night. Also corslets of Cotton, which the Spanyards call Zecopitz, are necessary

to bee had against the arrowes of the Sauages. He say farther, that a Tunne of the sassafras of Florida is

solde in Spaine for sixtie ducates: and that they haue there great store of Turkie cocks, of Beanes, of

Peason, and that there are great store of pearles. The things, as he reporteth, that the Floridians make most

account of, are red Cloth, or redde Cotton to make baudricks or gyrdles: copper, and hatchets to cut

withall. The Spaniards haue all demaunded leaue at their owne costs, to discouer these mountaines, which

the King denyeth, for feare lest theEnglish or French would enter into the same action once knowen. All

the Spaniards would passe vp by the riuer of Saint Helena vnto the mountaines of golde and Chrystall.

The Spaniards entring 50. leagues vp Saint Helena, found Indians wearing golde rings at their nostrels and

eares. They found also Oxen, but lesse then ours. Sixe leagues from Saint Helena toward the North, there

is a poynt that runneth farre into the sea, which is the marke to the Seamen to finde Saint Helena and

Waterin. Waterin is a riuer fortie leagues distant Northward from Saint Helena, where any fleete of great

ships may ride safely. I take [pg 536] this riuer to be that which we call Waren in Virginia, whither at

Christmasse last 1585. the Spaniards sent a barke with fortie men todiscouer where we were seated: inwhich barke was Nicholas Burgoignon the reporter of all these things. The Spaniards of S. Augustine

haue slaine three hundred or the subjects of Potanou. One Potassi is neighbour to Potanou. Oratina is he

which the French history calleth Olala Outina. Calauai is another casique which they knowe.


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narrate the history of navigation from ancient times, beginning with King Arthur, to his

time.

The English gave the Black people a better treatment than they got from the Portuguese

and tried to avoid conflicts with either black or white. By comparison, the Spaniards

would hand over English merchants and sailors to the Inquisition. Thus the fight

between England and the Catholic countries did not take place only in Europe, but also

in the colonies. Nevertheless, England was aggressive, but hadnt she been so, she

would have been forced to accept exclusion from the trade of every continent save

Europe and abandon her

maritime and colonialambitions.

c) Tudor Architecture, Arts

and Literature

Tudor architecture is also

labeled as the age of the

country house (1485-1603), because it is at this time that the country house first

emerged as an architectural form. As you could have seen from the above presentation,

church building had virtually ceased with the Reformation. The house still retained tones

of Gothic, and some of its characteristics persisted until mid 17thc. Fortified gateways,

grand courtyards, battlemented parapets, towers and turrets stayed for ornament rather

than defense. The ornamented chimneys alluded to the interior comfort. In fact they are

an important feature of the Tudor house. Often elaborately carved and decorated, they

offered the bricklayers the chance to exploit their skills. The hall became a symbol of

grandeur, with its carved fire-place, oak-paneled walls and timber roofs. Hampton

Courtis a famous surviving example.


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The original part of the palace is built of red brickwork in

diamond pattern (also called diaper) and has

battlemented parapets, a turreted gatehouse, many

courtyards and ornamental chimneys. Later on, to the end of Hen ry VIIIs reign, the new

Classicism of Renaissance came to England from France and continued to be

superimposed on Tudor Gothic. An example must have been the Somerset House, now

destroyed. Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-79), the founder of the Royal Navy imported

from Antwerp a Classicism more flamboyant

than the French style, overloaded with bulbousdetail, cartouches or scroll ornament.

About 1580, during the Elizabethan Age,

architecturetook another course. It rejected

the classical and returned to the glories of the

English Perpendicular, with huge windows and

a striking skyline. Although architects did not

exist as a professional group before Inigo Jones, at the beginning of the 17 thc, two

creators of style could be singled out: Robert and John Smython, father and son.

They designed Longlet and other castles in the neo-medieval style: Woolaton Hall,

Hardwick Hall (more window than wall, as it is characterized), and Bolsover Castle.

The Elizabethan buildings were impressive, set in a dramatic setting, often on hill tops.

Their startling effect is enhanced by symmetry, and by areas of glass, making them look

like lanterns twinkling across the countryside at night.


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Theater. Theaters were built in London during the reign

of Queen Elizabeth I who was extremely fond of drama.

The most successful company, in which Shakespeare

had share, was the Globe. The Elizabethans followed

the plan of the Roman Coliseum for the building of the

Globelooked, yet they built it at a smaller scale, with a

timber structure, and up to 100 feet in diameter. It

consisted of an open arena, which meant that during winter the plays were performed

in-doors. By following the Classical model, the designers were seeking for

respectability. No evidence has been traced as to the dimensions of the Globe stage.

However, we know that the stage dimensions of Elizabethan theaters varied from 20

foot wide 15 foot deep to 45 feet to 30 feet. The stage was raised - 3 to 5 feet andsupported by bulky pillars.

The Pit, or yard, was the area around the stage. There

was no seatingso, the audience had to stand. The

stage structure projected halfway into the ' yard ' (see

the picture below) where the commoners (groundlings)

paid 1 penny to stand to watch the play. They would

have crowded around the 3 sides of the stage structure.

Above the main entrance of the Globe was a crest displaying the classical figure of

Hercules bearing the globe on his shoulders together with the motto "Totus mundus agit

histrionem" (the whole world is a playhouse). This phrase was slightly re-worded in the

William Shakespeare play As You Like It- "All the worlds a stage".4

4All the world's a stage,/And all the men and women merely players:/They have their exits and their entrances;And one man in his time plays many parts,/ His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,/ Mewling and puking in thenurse's arms./ And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel/And shining morning face, creeping like snailUnwillingly to school. And then the lover,/ Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad/Made to his mistress' eyebrow.Then a soldier,/ Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,/ Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,Seeking the bubble reputation/Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,/ In fair round belly with good caponlined,/ With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,/ Full of wise saws and modern instances;/ And so he plays his part.The sixth age shifts/Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,/ With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,/ His youthfulhose, well saved, a world too wide/For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,/ Turning again toward childish


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The pillars supported a roof called the Heavens '. The Heavensserved to create an

area hidden from the audience. This area provided a place for actors to hide. A

selection of ropes & rigging (chains) would allow for special effects, such as flying or

spectacular entries (Deus ex machina).

The stage galleryabove the stage wall was called the 'Lord's rooms' used by the rich

members of the audience, the Upper Classes and the Nobility. Immediately above the

stage wall was the stage gallery, which was used by actors (Juliet's balcony, for

instance). The 'Lord's rooms' were considered the best seats in the 'house' despite the

poor view of the back of the actors. The cost was 5 pence & cushioned seats were

provided for the elite members of the audience.

The stage wall structure contained at least two doors leading to a small structure, back

stage, called the 'Tiring House'. The stage wall was covered by a curtain. The actors

used this area to change their clothes (perhaps from the older word for clothes, attire) -

thus it was called the 'Tiring House'! The 'Hut' above the ' Tiring House ' was a small

house-like structure called the 'hut' complete with roof. The Hut was used as a covered

storage space for the troupe.

The grounds of the theatre were filled with stalls selling a variety of what we call todaytake-awayfoods and beverages! [In the Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde describes

the interior of a theatre reminding of the atmosphere during Shakespeares time; for

instance, the audience was allowed to eat and drink beer during the performance].

The Globe theatre was also used for gambling and prostitutes who plied their trade

within the confines of the Globe building and grounds! Fights also broke out amongst

audience members adding to the entertainment available!

It would take long to talk about William Shakespeare (1564-1616), who was not only

the genius of Elizabethan England but of all times. Yet, there were other artists of not a

treble, pipes/And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,/That ends this strange eventful history,/ Is secondchildishness and mere oblivion,/ Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. (As you like it,Act II, Scene 7)


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lesser scope at that time. For one, Christopher Marlowe (1564-93), the author of

Faustus, who is said to have become greater than Shakespeare if he had not died

young (they were born in the same year!). Shakespeare looked at him as his master.

Another prominent literary figure was PhilipSidney, the author ofAstrophel and Stella,

that brought with it a flavor of Petrarch sonnet sequences, and so one model of Italian

Renaissance. Ben Jonsonwas the comic playwright of the age who successfully

speculated the theory of humors in his plays, such as Everyman in his Humor.

However, Shakespeare surpassed them all. He was not only an author of tragedies but

also of comedies and historical plays. He is universal as much as he created both

villains and sublime characters, both Iago and Hamlet, both King John and Prospero.

The essence of this insightful remark belongs to Oscar Wilde, yet he gave other

examples. Shakespeare perceived the philosophical and political ideas of his age with

an inescapable eye and shaped them into art. I shall quote and briefly comment on a

passage from Troilus and Cressida, more precisely from Ulyssesdiscourse:

The heaven themselves, the planets, and this centre

Observe degree, priority, and place,

Insisture [persistency] course, proportion, season, form,

Office, and custom, in all line of order;

And therefore is the glorious planet Sol

In noble eminence enthrond and spherd

Amidst the other; whose medcinable eye

Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil,

And posts, like the commandment of a king,

Sans check, to good and bad: but when the planets

In evil mixture to disorder wander,

What plagues, and what portents, what mutiny,

What raging of the sea, shaking of earth,

Commotion in the winds, frights, changes, horrors,


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Divert and crack, rend and deracinate

The unity and married calm of states

Quite from their fixture! O! when degree is shakd

Which is the ladder to all high designs,The enterprise is sick.

The idea of the sick universe, of sick human kind is sustained against the Renaissance

idea of universal symmetry and harmony, and only a genius like Shakespeare could

have articulated it so powerfully in this age of restless pursuits and conflicts. By

choosing a character like Ulysses, he goes against the general classical ideas of

harmony and introduces a modern dimension to his age.

Shakespeare himself paid his homage to the great Elizabeth in The Famous History of

the Life of King Henry VIII, when in the last act of the play Henry VIII speaks about his

newly born infant:

Though in her cradle, yet now promises

Upon this land a thousand thousand blessings,

Which time shall bring to ripeness: she shall be

But few now living can behold that goodness

A pattern to all princes living with her.

So, even the greatest playwright ever described Elizabeth a pattern to all princes. It

was then, in the 16thc, that an exceptional queen was the contemporary of the

unparalleled Shakespeare whose work competes with the Bible.


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Sculptorswere mostly employed to overlay and garnish a building or to carve a tomb

with effigies. They did not carve or paint portraits, busts or mythological groups as in

Italy.

Paintingin Renaissance England began quite abruptly with the arrival of a foreigner,the German Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543). He brought with him all the

discoveries of High Renaissance in Italy: skill in perspective and illusionism, knowledge

of Classical antiquity and acute

psychological observation as can be noticed

in his Portrait of Henry VIII. Another exiled

painter was Hans Eworthwho portrayed

Mary I. His style is indebted to Holbein, and

so is Nicholas Hillards(1547-1619),

Queen Elizabeths miniaturist. He portrayed

the queen, the romantic Raleigh, and other

courtiers.

In the Middle Ages, as you already know,

England was famous for its embroideries.During Elizabeths reign this decorative art

revived. But it was no longer applied to

vestments but to curtains, bed hangings,

cushions, etc. In the Elizabethan period

tapestry was woven in England for the first time under the auspices of the Sheldon

family.


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Sheldon Tapestry showing the map of England

LECTURE 3: ENGLAND UNDER THE STUARTS

I Introduction

In the Stuart era, the English developed for themselves a system of Parliamentary

government, local administration and freedom of speech and person, contrary to the

absolutist tendencies on the continent that subjected the individual to the state. (Under

Henry VIII England had known that sort of movement, but rejected it).

The Stuart kings were James I (1603-25), Charles I (1625-49) and Charles II (1660-

1685).

If the power of the Tudors was not material but somehow metaphysical because they

appealed sometimes to the love and loyalty of their subjects, struck by awe, in the 17 th

century the people showed a less obliging temper. The Stuarts claimed greater powers,


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higher than the English law and custom. At the same time, the Parliament made their

own claims. The Parliamentary (MP) emerged as a profession under these two kings.

They convinced their fellow citizens that the

a brief course of english culture and civilization

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