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The Monarchy & The Church

People were put to death for not following orders from the king Sir Thomas Moore, and Sir Walter
Raleigh
Had different beliefs in religion

The Tudors
1485- Henry Tudor took throne as Henry VII
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Rich
Arranged marriage for son (Arthur) to Spanish princess (Catherine of Aragon)
Created political alliance with Spain
After Arthur died, pope allowed younger brother, Henry to take throne, and marry Catherine

Protestant Reform

Henry VIIIs reign

Corruption in the church
Dissatisfaction with in the church
Cardinals living in luxury, friars selling indulgences (for forgiveness of sins)
1517- Martin Luther writes 95 these (arguments)
Named a heretic
Church in England
- Henry VIII really wanted a son, so he divorced Catherine & Anne Boleyn
- Wanted an annulment, pope refused
- Departed from Rome, and declared himself head of church in England in 1534
- Had 1 son, 6 wives
- Edward VI, sickly succeeded at age 9, died at age 15
- Radical protestants believed the church needed more reform Purify
- Puritans came and clashed w/ monarchy
- After Edward, Catherines daughter Mary took the throne
- Persecuted protestants
- Brought Catholicism back
- Died in 1558
- Her successor was her half sister, Elizabeth

The Elizabethan Era

Henrys and Annes unwanted daughter was Elizabeth I

- Ablest monarchs in history
- Her reign gave prosperity & prestige
- A consummate politician exercising authority but being considerate of the publics opinion
& being respectful of parliament
- Kept England from an expensive war

Ended the Spanish Alliance

Encouraged overseas adventures
- Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe & Sir Walter Raleigh's attempt to
establish a colony in Virginia

Reestablished the Church in England

Catholics considered her cousin Mary Stuart, the queen of Scotland
Elizabeth ordered Mary to be beheaded in 1587.
Phillip II sends Armada, to challenge the English.
The English win; Elizabeth remains leader
The Rise of Stuarts
Elizabeth dies in 1603.
- succeeded by her cousin James VI,
- Unsuccessful Gunpowder Plot of 1605 - Kill James VI, and blow up Parliament
- Clashes with Parliament only worsened when Charles I took the throne in 1625.
- 1629: Charles dismissed Parliament - not summoned again for 11 years.
- thousands of English citizens (Puritans) went to North America to escape Parliament
- 1637 Anglican practices were presented to a Presbyterian church in Scotland creating a
rebellion
The Defeat of Monarchy
- General Oliver Cromwell defeated the Royalists in 1645, the king surrendered a year later.
- established a commonwealth
- made Cromwell "Lord protector"
- Cromwell dies in 1645
- 1660: new Parliament, invited Charles II to assume the throne
The Renaissance
- Time period of writers, painters, scientists, and scholars
- Means rebirth or revival created by a energy of a more modern time than
- medieval time
- Started in the 14th century in Italy quickly spreading throughout Europe to the North
The Renaissance Worldview
- People of this time were interested about life then not about the afterlife like in the Middle
Ages
- The ideal Renaissance man was not a bold and dashing knight or a scholarly
- monk but well- rounded person who cultivated his talents to the fullest.
Creativity & Exploration
- Time period of Columbus, Galileo, and Shakespeare
- Curious about literature, nature, human impulses, exploration
- Compass, astronomy were discovered
- Gutenbergs printing press created a new way for books to be made instead of by
handcreating the population of England to read by 1530
- James I helped create the new translation of the Bible

- 1660 Renaissance Period ended due to Cromwells reign and closing of theaters
Pastoral Poems & Sonnets
- Elizabeth I wrote lyrics and poems and encourage Sir Walter Raleigh & Sir Philip Sidney
- Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queen in 1590 for Elizabeth
- Sir Walter Raleigh and Christopher Marlowe wrote pastoral poems
- Pastoral poem: a poem that portrays shepherds and rustic life, usually in an idealized
manner.
- Didnt write in a shepherd voice
- Wasnt written in common language instead was written in courtly language
Improving Nature
- Elizabethans viewed nature as beautiful, intricate, & complex.
Natural world was not for imitation but for improvement by creative minds
- Elizabethans created literary devices (metaphors, allegories, analogies, sonnets)
- Sir Thomas Wyatt & Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey created the 14-line verse form of poetry
- Sonnet became a popular form to express love
- Sonnets by Shakespeare do not form a clear sequence, many believe they were addressed
to Amelia Lanier (mysterious dark lady who was a poet)
- English Sonnet became Shakespearean Sonnet
Shakespearean Drama
- Mystery, miracle, & morality plays were performed in churches, inns, and markets.
- Interludes mocked customs & manners of the commoners
- Latin & Greek Dramas were study at Oxford & Cambridge and shared the qualities of
tragedy & comedy
- Were often staged in courts or nobles homes or inn yards where people could see from
their balconies
- Englands first theatre was the famous Globe Theatre
Shakespeares Influence
- 1600 London had more playhouses than any other part in Europe.
- Shakespeare created 37 plays
- Tragedies: Othello
- Comedies: A Midsummer Nights Dream
- Histories: kings of England
- People would pay a penny to watch a play while the royal family would get special
performances.
- Shakespeare was the it factor in the 16th
& 17th century
- Christopher Marlowe-first playwright to exploit the English language as a dramatic medium
- Ben Jonson- comedic playwright who provided a satiric, cynical commentary of ordinary
lives.
- Masques attracted aristocratic audiences with its scenery, costumes, music, and dance
- By Elizabeths death in 1603, puritan influence had spread in England.
- Believed Elizabethan dramas & rowdy crowds that attracted them were immoral
- Shakespeare wrote Macbeth during Elizabeths successors reign James I
- All playhouses were closed when James son Charles I was overthrown in 1649
The Rise of Humanism
- Humanism: worth and importance of the individual, about the spiritual value of beauty in
nature and art, about the power of human reason to decide what is good or bad.
- Those who taught this view were called humanists

Studies humanities such as art, history, philosophy and literature

Erasmus was a Dutch monk who studied ancient Greek & Hebrew and led the Christian
humanists
English Humanists
- Sir Thomas More
- English writer & scholar
- 1516 published Utopia (Greek for no place) about a perfect society with
- no poverty or greed
- Humanists were concerned with classical learning
- Translated George Chapmans of Homers Iliad & Odyssey
- Sir Thomas More did not approve of Luther and Protestants
- John Milton was a great writer
Spiritual & Devotional Writings
- England remained a Christian nation even with all the chaos that has happened
- King James Bible molded English prose style better than any other work
- In the 14th century the first English version of the bible was translated by John Wycliffe
who was attacked by an archbishop
- Another translator William Tyndale was condemned as a heretic & was burned at the stake
The King James Bible
- 1604 James I created 54 new leading versions of the bible in Hebrew & Greek as well as
Latin
Two Masterpieces
- John Milton was a puritan poet who was influenced by the King James Bible
- Supposedly knew the bible by heart
- Paradise Lost is said to be about the first humansAdam & Eve and the story of their fall
from grace
- John Bunyan was an uneducated tinker and preacher who was a puritan
- Jailed for his beliefs
- While jailed he wrote The Pilgrims Progress
The Metaphysical & Cavalier Poets
- Ben Jonson was not only a playwright but an accomplished poet
- Wrote about the classical forms
- His followers were called sons of Ben many were sophisticated aristocrats
- Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Sir John Suckling
- Known as Cavaliers for taking the side of Charles I
- John Donne was a metaphysical poet
- Used imagery, metaphors, convention about death, physical love, and religious devotion