The Renaissance“A Rebirth of Everything”

Beginning in the late 1400s, the English Renaissance marked

changes in people’s values, beliefs, and behavior.

Rediscovering Ancient Greece and Rome

• “Renaissance” – translated as “rebirth”– Renewed interest in classical learning

• Writings of ancient Greece and Rome

– Found knowledge in books hidden away in monasteries for hundreds of years

– People became more curious about themselves and the world around them

– Renewal of the human spirit- curiosity& creativity

Names for the Time Period

• Renaissance – Rebirth of the classics• Age of Exploration – Exploring new lands

– Ex. – Columbus, Raleigh, Cabot

• Age of Discovery – Discovering new inventions and sciences

– Ex. – daVinci, Copernicus, Galen

• Reformation – Martin Luther• Elizabethan Era – Queen Elizabeth I’s reign

Renaissance Man

• An energetic & productive human being who is interested in science, literature, history, art, and other subjects.– Examples: Henry VIII, Leonardo daVinci

Thomas Jefferson

It all Began in Italy:Italian Renaissance

• Began in Italy in 14th century – 16th century• Wealth generated from banking & trade with

the East– Example: Venice

Leonardo daVinci

Michelangelo Bonarati

Galileo Galilei

Raphael

Christopher Columbus

Religion• Almost everyone in Europe and Britain was Roman

Catholic– Church was rich a powerful in religious and political affairs– Popes were patrons of artists, architects, and scholars

• Pope Julius II – Michelangelo and Sistine Chapel– Vatican City – “Pope’s City”

Sistine Chapel

Humanism• Definition: Intellectual movement.

Humanists went to old Latin & Greek classics to discover answers to question like – What is a human being?– What is a good life?– How do I lead a good life?

• Sought to harmonize the Bible with the classics

– Used the classics to strengthen Christianity

Humanism continued…• Plutarch – Aim of life is to attain virtue, not success

or money or fame• Made subjects related to classical education (history,

literature, and philosophy) popular again• These subjects are called the humanities

Two Friends -Two Humanists:

Erasmus• Erasmus (1466?-1536) Best-known Renaissance Humanist– Dutch monk who lived

outside the monastery – loved to travel

– Taught at Cambridge University

– Became friends with Thomas More

Two Friends -Two Humanists:

Thomas More• Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII• Wrote in Latin poem, pamphlets, &

biographies• Wrote Utopia – Analyzes the social,

economic, penal, and moral problems in England, then describes an ideal, nonexistent society where these problems do not exist.

• A Man for All Seasons- Play by Robert Bolt about More’s tragic standoff with King Henry VIII – He would not recognize Henry as the head of the Church of England – He was beheaded

The New Technology: A Flood of Print

• Printing press transformed the way information was exchanged during the Renaissance.– Before- all books were copied by hand

• Johannes Gutenberg (German) – invented the movable-type printing press– 1st complete book – Latin Bible printed

in Mainz, Germany (1455)

The Reformation: Breaking with the Catholic Church

• Reformation- Movement fueled by a group of reformers who rejected the authority of the pope and Italian churchmen.– Pope Paul III (Council of Trent

-1545)• Used to investigate selling

of indulgences or religious pardons, and other abuses

The Reformation: Breaking with the Catholic Church• 1530- Open break with the Roman Catholic

Church could not be avoided– Strong feelings of patriotism made English people

resent financial burdens imposed on them by the Pope.

– New religious ideas were coming to England from Germany – Martin Luther

The Reformation: Breaking with the Catholic Church• Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Founded new kind of Christianity, not based on what the Pope said, but on a personal understanding of the Bible.– Lutheran Church– 95 Theses – was a list of

complaints against the Catholic Church that was nailed to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany

The Reformation: Breaking with the Catholic Church• Humanists ridiculed old superstitions,

ignorance, and idleness of monks and loose living and personal wealth of priests and bishops.

King versus Pope: All for an Heir• King Henry VIII had six wives:

– He was first married to Catherine of Aragon

(a Spanish Roman Catholic)– Married for 24 years – She could not produce a male

heir• Only Mary ( a Catholic

daughter) – to become “Bloody Mary”

• Henry asked Pope Clement II to declare that he and Catherine were not properly married– She was previously married to Henry’s brother Arthur for only 5 months before

he died.• He got his religious advisors to dig up Biblical evidence in Leviticus that it was

unlawful to marry a dead brother’s spouse.

Henry VIII: Renaissance Man and Executioner

• There were five Tudor rulers in England– Henry’s grandfather, father, and three children

• Grandfather- Henry VII- Welsh nobleman who seized the throne after England was totally exhausted by the Wars of the Roses (began in 1455)

– Battle for the crown between the » Lancaster (white rose)» York (red rose)

King Henry VIII• He was a coarse,

arrogant womanizer• At an early age he was a

“Renaissance Man”– Very attractive, athletic,

and intelligent• Henry could cheat on his

wives but would not tolerate infidelity from them– Anne Boleyn and

Katherine Howard• He did create the Royal

Navy – put a stop to foreign invasions

Henry VIII had Six Wives (1509-1547)

• Catherine of Aragon – Roman Catholic from Spain– He divorced her; she died of natural causes– Children – Mary (Catholic)

• Anne Boleyn– Lady-in-Waiting of Catherine of Aragon– Very bright, spirited, and beautiful– Believed in the Reformation– Beheaded when Henry grew tired of her– Children – Elizabeth (Protestant)

Henry VIII had Six Wives (1509-1547)

• Jane Seymour– Lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn – Gentle, modest, and obedient– Died after birth of …– Children – Edward (sickly boy – died of

TB early)• Anne of Cleves

– Sister of the German ruler– Did not speak English– Henry thought she was ugly; he agreed

to marry her sight unseen– She agreed to a divorce and an

anullment– Children - none

Henry VIII had Six Wives (1509-1547)

• Katherine Howard– Cousin of Anne Boleyn– 15 or 16 when she married Henry– After her marriage to the king, she resumed a relationship with an “old flame”

• She was discovered and arrested• She was executed

– Children - none

Henry VIII had Six Wives (1509-1547)

• Katherine Parr (Lady Jane Grey)– She was in love with Jane Seymour’s

brother, Thomas but dared not refuse the King

– Acted as a nurse to Henry in his old age– Good to his children and helped him

reconcile with Catherine of Aragon’s daughter, Mary

– Henry died on January 28, 1547. Within months she married her true love, Thomas Seymour

– She died of complications from childbirth in 1548

– Children - none

Reasons for Divorce• Catherine bore him only one

living child– A daughter (Mary)– She was too old to bare him

any more children (esp. a son)– She had lost 5 children

previously• Anne Boleyn (one of Catherine’s

ladies in waiting) caught his eye and she would not have sex with him unless they were married– She used this to “play hard to

get” for a while

King versus Pope: All for an Heir• Divorce was not allowed

according to the Catholic Church– Especially with the royalty

(until recently in Britain with Charles and Diana)

– Pope refuses to grant Henry’s request -1533

• Henry declares himself head of the Church of England– Appoints an Archbishop of

Canterbury (as the head of the Church in England) and he declared Henry and Catherine’s marriage invalid.

King versus Pope: All for an Heir

• Catherine refuses to accept the annulment of their marriage– She is put under house arrest in the

Tower of London and out of Henry’s sight

• Henry closes all monasteries and sells the riches, buildings, and lands to his subjects.

King versus Pope: All for an Heir

• This is the beginning of Protestantism in England– People thought the Church

was not reformed enough – They thought it was merely a copy of Catholicism• These people were the

Puritans, Presbyterians, etc. • Wanted to get rid of things

considered “Popish”– Bishops, prayer books,

priests’ vestments,

church bells, stained glass, etc.

Henry’s Children Become Monarchs

• Henry was survived by 3 children– Mary – Daughter of Catherine of Aragon

• Catholic

– Elizabeth – Daughter of Anne Boleyn • Protestant

– Edward – Son of Jane Seymour

Was crowned at age 9 after his father’s death• Was a sickly boy, ruled in name only• Died of tuberculosis

Mary Becomes Queen1553-1558

• Strong-willed, devout Catholic• ½ Spanish• Wanted to avenge wrongs done to her mother

– Ruthlessly hunted down Protestants• Burned approximately 300 at the stake for their faith

– Hence the nickname “Bloody Mary”• Married King Phillip II of Spain (she was older)• She died of a “fever” and childless• After her death, her sister Elizabeth becomes queen.

Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen

1558-1603• One of the most brilliant & successful monarchs in history

• Her 1st task- restore law and order after Mary’s reign– Re-established Church of

England – Rejected the Pope’s authority

• He excommunicated her• To keep Spain happy, she

pretended she might marry her widowed brother-in-law Phillip of Spain

Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen

1558-1603• Resisted marriage all of her life,

but she had several lovers– Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester– Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex

• “Virgin Queen” – she became so tired of her advisors trying to force her to marry in order to beget an heir and secure her throne that she refused altogether.

– Cut off her hair, painted her skin white, and declared herself

the “Virgin Queen,” married to England

This gave Virginia its name

Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen

1558-1603• She survived many plots against her life

– Many by her cousin, Mary Stuart, Mary Queen of Scots

• Elizabeth did not have children and Mary was heir to England’s throne because she was a direct descendant of Henry VIII

• As a Catholic, Mary was deposed of her throne in Protestant Scotland

• Elizabeth enduring Mary’s plots for 20 years, then was forced by Sir Francis Walsingham to execute her– Did not wish to kill Mary because Mary was

a “God anointed sovereign” and her kin

The Spanish Armada Sinks:A Turning Point in History

• King Phillip of Spain used Mary, Queen of Scots’ execution as an excuse to invade England.

• He assembled a fleet of warships – Spanish Armada– 1558-England’s Royal Navy destroyed the Armada

• Assured England’s and all of northern Europe’s independence form powerful Catholic countries of the Mediterranean

• If Spain had won, North and South American would be speaking Spanish, not English.

“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.”

Flood of Literature

• Religion and national identity started England writing as never before.

• Elizabeth was a symbol of peace, security, & prosperity to her subjects.– Inspired authors

• Gloriana• Diana• The Faerie Queene• Cynthia

Decline of the Renaissance

• Elizabeth dies without an heir• Her 2nd cousin, James IV of

Scotland, becomes king (1603-1625)– Son of Mary, Queen of Scots– Wrote books about the Divine

Right of Kings & against the use of tobacco

– Patron of Shakespeare (King’s Men)

– Sponsored an English translation of the Bible• King James Bible

– Benevolent ruler; had problems with pious puritanical-minded merchants

The Renaissance Begins to Wane

• Charles I (James’ son) becomes king– Self-destructive ruler

• His powerful subjects had him beheaded in 1649

• England was ruled by Parliament and a Puritan dictator, Oliver Cromwell, for the next 11 years

• Charles II (Charles I son) returns from exile in France• Milton is the last great writer of the Renaissance

– Paradise Lost

• English Renaissance ends