The Renaissance  It is the decline of the Middle Ages, and birth of the “modern” world.  Additionally, it is the revival of the spirit, culture, art, science, and thought of this period.  Characteristics of the Renaissance are usually considered to include intensified...  Classical scholarship  Scientific and geographical discovery  The assertion of the active and secular over the religious and contemplative life. It is also known as “The Rebirth” of what used to be the Western Culture.

Politics The Renaissance

Politics  The Renaissance period in England was marked by religious conflicts.  Leaders were assassinated, writers were imprisoned, and the country even endured a civil war over questions of religion.  During William Shakespeare’s lifetime, there were frequent struggles for control in and around the court of Elizabeth I and her successor, James I.  In turn many of Shakespeare’s plays dealt with themes of political conflict and the struggle to achieve balance between power, justice, and legitimate authority in society.  Each successive monarch held a different view on the country’s official religion.  Henry VIII (Catholic/Protestant)  Edward (10 yrs old; Jane Seymour; Protestant)  Mary I “Bloody Mary” (Catherine of Aragon; Catholic)  Elizabeth I (Anne Boleyn; Protestant).

Religion The Renaissance

The Reformation in England  The Protestant Reformation was about power: would the Roman Catholic Church retain power over...  All aspects of worship.  The legitimacy of marriage and children.  Land and financial resources, which included the power to impose tithes and taxes.  The spark that set off the Reformation was a challenge put forward by Martin Luther in 1517 to the long standing church practice of selling indulgences.  Ninety-Five Theses- document nailed to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg which set out Luther’s arguments.  Focus on faith alone as the key to salvation, and a denial that human beings have free will (only with grace, he said, and not from the exertion of will can people choose the good).

Religion: Key developments in the break from Rome  The marriage of Henry and Catherine is annulled.  Henry marries Anne Boleyn ( who was already pregnant), and she becomes queen.  Henry is excommunicated from the Catholic church, and forbidden to receive communion which he is excluded from salvation.  Henry passes the Act of Succession through Parliament, under which all adult males in England would have to swear that they support the change in the King’s marital arrangements.  Henry also decreed that the Bible should be made available in English, and that church services should be in English rather than Latin.

Drama The Renaissance

Drama  In public theaters in England, female roles were played by adolescent boy actors, a practice that provided for multiple opportunities for complex layering storylines such as those of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice involving females pretending to be males.  Playwrights were paid per play, typically six pounds per play.  Although popular plays would often play again over many years, the playwright would receive no additional income from the performances.  Many plays of the time are not set in England because many of the patrons of the time included nobility.  As such, it was safer to set the action of a play in Italy, and in a vaguely defined past rather than in London in the present.

The Globe Theater:  When the Globe theatre flag went up that means that a play is being performed.  The Globe Theatre burnt down in A cannon used for a performance of Henry VIII set light to the thatched roof and the fire quickly spread.  It was rebuilt the following year in the same spot, but was burnt a total of three times. The Swan Theater Theaters of the Renaissance