english renaissance period

8/9/2019 English Renaissance Period

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About the English Renaissance Period

Queen Elizabeth I ranks as the most important authority of the English

Renaissance period.

The English Renaissance Period, which took place during the !th and "thcenturies, has become well#known for its in$uential literature. QueenElizabeth stood at the helm of the mo%ement and sponsored many of itsgreatest artists. &illiam 'hakespeare also created his inestimable oeu%reduring this epoch.

1. Queen Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth, alongside 'hakespeare, was the principal (gure

of the Renaissance epoch. 'he was born in 'eptember )** asthe daughter of +enry II. 'he took to the throne at the age of-), yet ne%er took a husband. rts $ourished under her rule andpatronage. 'he was the (rst English royal to grant permission forprofessional theaters to be erected, pa%ing the way for the /ard.Poet Edmund 'penser paid tribute to Elizabeth in 0The 1aerieQueene0 2)34, )3!5.

Shakespeare

-. &illiam 'hakespeare stands out as the seminal writer of theEnglish Renaissance and the greatest playwright of any era. /ornin pril )!6 in 'tratford#upon#%on, his (rst play is reputed toha%e been 0The 7omedy of Errors,0 performed in )3-. +e began


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leadership of the acting troupe 8ord 7hamberlain9s men in )36,whose celebrated :lobe Theater was built (%e years later. Thecompany performed many plays considered to be classic today,including 0 ;idsummer


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0Renaissance0, 1rench for 0rebirth0, utterly describes the intellectual andeconomic changes that occurred in Europe and also England. &hen referringto England, the Renaissance made its biggest impact between the years of)44 and !44. The Renaissance in England can be categorized in threesectionsB the growth of the Renaissance under early Tudor monarchs 2)44#))?5, clima> of the Renaissance under Elizabeth I 2))?#!4*5, andweakening of Renaissance by 'tuart monarchs 2!4*#!635. =uring thisperiod known by this name, Europe arised from the economic depression ofthe ;iddle ges and e>perienced a time of (nancial astronomical growth.lso importantly, the Renaissance was a period that became the turningpoint for artistic, social, scienti(c, and political thought. ;any people sharethe %iew that a renaissance like this one seemed radiant, optimistic, andforward#looking. 8ikewise, others ha%e %iewed the Renaissance as a time ofuncommonly dire strain that disrupted the English society and aDected e%eryone. The awakening of new possibilities and new doubts somehow ga%e theliterature of England its unmatched %igor.

$iterature and the Renaissance

http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs.htmlhttp://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon45.htmlhttp://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon45.htmlhttp://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs.html


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Elizabeth I o% England

Stuart &ing 'a(es )I o% Scotland*'a(es I o% England+

The Elizabethan and early 'tuart periods ha%e been recognized as being oneof the greatest century of all in human history because of the period9sbrilliant achie%ements. Elizabeth I ruled from )?? until her death in !4*.+er successor was the 'tuart Aing @ames I of 'cotland, who took the title @ames I of England in addition to his other remarkable titles. English literatureof his reign as @ames I from !4* to !-) is be(ttingly dubbed @acobean. Thetime of his rule produced a multitude of authors of genius, some of whomha%e ne%er been surpassed. ther authors that were not well#known still hadthe same ability to write with eloFuence, imagination, and enthusiasm.

The Renaissance made a big impact on English 8iterature. This wasmanifested in the poetry of &yatt and 'urrey, who instituted and nglicized,an italian %erse form that has been %ery popular in English. IntricateRenaissance standards of lo%e poetry were adopted.

Idea*s+ o% the Renaissance

The word renaissance in itself means 0rebirth0, which originated from a

1rench word. The idea of rebirth came about when Europeans thought thatthey had (gured out what made the :reek and Roman culture so superior toto other Gust after centuries of scholastic and cultural decline. The supremeintellectual mo%ement during the Renaissance both in England and Italy, washumanism. +umanism was based on the idea that human are le%elheadedbeings. It stressed the respectability and importance of indi%iduals, a forcecrucial to the de%elopment of the Renaissance in many areas. +umanismcame about from classical culture. The name itself originated because one of

http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Experimental/vatican.exhibit/exhibit/c-humanism/Humanism.htmlhttp://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Experimental/vatican.exhibit/exhibit/c-humanism/Humanism.html


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the period9s maGor concerns for an educational curriculum aimed towardsubGects of studia humanitatis, or humanities.

Renaissance Authors , their -orks

8yric poetry and song were one of the things that succeeded duringElizabethan England. ne of the most famous songwriters was Thomas7ampion. +is (%e collections of songs alongside 0lute0 accompaniment wasmade a%ailable to all social groups. Hndoubtedly, the Elizabethan period wasthe pinnacle of drama. 'ome of the greatest dramatists at the time were7hristopher ;arlowe, &illiam 'hakespeare, and /en @onson. In addition tothese writers, there were dozens of other (ne writers including ones thatwere knighted, including 'ir Thomas &yatt, and 'ir &alter Ralei gh.. /lank%erse became the standard by which these dramatists used to construct

their literary works, especially in the areas of tragedy and comedy. 'e%eral of 'hakespeare9s tragedies such as Hamlet, and Macbeth were written usingblank %erse as was his comedies.

hristopher

!arloe

-illia(Shakespeare

/en 'ohnsonSir 0ho(as

-yattSir -alterRaleigh

!a"or E#ents o% the Renaissance

http://www.bardweb.net/england.htmlhttp://www.luminarium.org/renlit/campbio.htmhttp://www.luminarium.org/renlit/campbio.htmhttp://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/marlowe.htmhttp://www.pinecrest.edu/lowerschool/thinkquest/willie/shakespeare.htmhttp://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/jonson/benbio.htmhttp://www.luminarium.org/renlit/wyattbio.htmhttp://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761559558http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761559558http://www.jps.net/rossw/seadog/raleigh.htmhttp://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761559558http://www.bardweb.net/england.htmlhttp://www.luminarium.org/renlit/campbio.htmhttp://www.luminarium.org/renlit/campbio.htmhttp://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/marlowe.htmhttp://www.pinecrest.edu/lowerschool/thinkquest/willie/shakespeare.htmhttp://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/jonson/benbio.htmhttp://www.luminarium.org/renlit/wyattbio.htmhttp://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761559558http://www.jps.net/rossw/seadog/raleigh.htmhttp://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761559558


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Hnder the reign of +enry III 2)43#)6"5, the populationof England increased, feudalism was 0dead0, and a counntrywide mo%ementof the people to large cities and towns. The enclosure at the time pro%idedimpetus for the mo%ement. The e>pansion of knowledge was facilitated bythe in%ention of the printing press and better methods of manufacturingpaper. mong the most earliest e%ents taking place in England was theintroduction of humanism into >ford uni%ersities during the 634s and

)44s.

english renaissance period

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