RENAISSANCE A REBIRTH OF LEARNING IN EUROPE
The word renaissance is a French word which means rebirth
During the Dark Ages, there was no time for interest in art and literature. People were too busy trying to stay alive
During the Middle Ages, most art, drama, and serious writing was about religion.
The Renaissance brought a rebirth of interest in art, learning, and exploration of all sorts.
The Renaissance is considered to have started in Italy. The dates in England are
One of the starting points for the Renaissance was the rediscovery of ancient Greek literature that had been lost for centuries.
A way of thinking called humanism was also part of the Renaissance.
Humanism emphasized the to make peoples lives better on earth, instead of just telling them things would be better in heaven.
Humanists also tried to reconcile classical literature and the Bible
Two famous humanists were Sir Thomas More and Erasmus.
Sir Thomas More
Erasmus
More was eventually beheaded for opposing King Henry VIII
The biggest change for art and drama was that the subject no longer had to be religion.
Artists now tried to make humans looked realistic.
One example is Michelangelo
Many of his sculptures are amazingly realistic
Michelangelo’s Moses
He is probably best known for painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Another famous Italian artist is Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
The Renaissance would not have happened if not for one invention in the middle of the 1400’s. What do you think it was?
Yes, of course. I am talking about the printing press, invented by Johannes Gutenberg.
Suddenly, people could afford books, and literacy rates increased.
The King James translation of the Bible into English was authorized in 1611, and of course printed on the new printing press.
Many important discoveries were also made in science during the Renaissance
For example, in 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus published the theory that the earth went around the sun, instead of the other way around.
Copernicus
In 1609, Galileo became the first astronomer to study the heavens with a telescope.
Galileo
In England, politics and religion were mixed together in a crazy kind of stew.
The biggest player in this story is King Henry VIII
King Henry VIII
More than anything else, Henry wanted a son, to be the heir to the throne
His first wife was named Catherine of Aragon.
Her parents were King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine only had one child survive to adulthood, a daughter named Mary Tudor.
Mary Tudor
Henry obviously needed a new wife, but the Catholic Church did not permit divorce.
Henry decided to try to get an annulment, but for this he needed the permission of the Pope.
Do you know what the difference is between a divorce and an annulment?
A divorce ends an existing marriage
An annulment states that no legitimate marriage ever existed
Henry claimed his marriage was not legal because Catherine had been previously married to his brother Arthur.
The Pope denied Henry’s request.
Henry finally broke England away from the Catholic Church
He made himself head of the Church of England, and granted himself a divorce
What did he need now?
That right! A new wife! And he already had one picked out!
His 2 nd wife was named Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne’s happiness did not last long, because she had a daughter and miscarried a son.
The daughter’s name was Elizabeth
Henry decided to get rid of Anne by accusing her of a terrible crime
He accused her of having an affair with her brother George
He had George tortured until he confessed, the used this evidence against Anne
Anne was beheaded in the Tower of London
Once again, Henry needed a new wife
Henry’s 3 rd wife was named Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour
She gave birth to a son named Edward, but died shortly of complications from childbirth
Henry’s 4 th wife was a German woman named Anne of Cleaves
Anne of Cleves
He divorced her because he found her unattractive
Henry’s 5 th wife was named Catherine Howard
Katherine Howard
She was caught in an affair with a man named Thomas Culpepper, and was beheaded.
Henry sixth and last wife was named Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr
She outlived him.
After Henry’s death, his son Edward became king, but died soon after.
Edward VI
After Edward’s death, his sister Mary became Queen.
Her attempt to return England to the Catholic Church earned her the nickname Bloody Mary.
After Mary’s death, her sister Elizabeth became Queen.
She also had a nickname, which was The Virgin Queen, because she never married.
Elizabeth ruled for forty-four years.
She was an extremely intelligent and strong-willed person.
She even had her own cousin, Mary Stuart, beheaded for trying to overthrow her.
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
During Elizabeth’s reign, England also began to replace Spain as the most powerful nation in the world
The key event in this process was the English navy’s defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
When Elizabeth died in 1603, she was followed by her cousin, who became King James I
James I
An important religious movement also began at this time, called the Protestant Reformation
Christian denominations other than the Catholic Church began to develop.
One of the most important people in this movement was a German monk named Martin Luther.
In 1517, Luther nailed 95 theses, or statements against the Catholic Church, to the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany
Luther was soon excommunicated by the Pope
He wasn’t arrested because he was protected by powerful local rulers in Germany
His ideas led to the development of the Lutheran Church
The Puritans were also an important group of early Protestants
The Puritans wanted to “purify” religion of anything that resembled the Catholic Church
Eventually, the Puritans gained control of Parliament in England
A Civil War began between Parliament and King Charles I
Parliament and the Puritans won, and Charles I was beheaded
A Puritan leader named Oliver Cromwell became ruler of England
Bonus The most important Jewish character in Renaissance literature is named Shylock
He appears in TheMerchant of Venice, by Shakespeare