1. The English Renaissance: Celebrating Humanity: 1485-1625

2. Life in Elizabethan and Jacobean England
London expanded greatly as a city
People moved in from rural areas and from other European countries
Strict class system
Busy and crowded; lots of commerce, craftsmen
Grew into substantial port and admired European city
Southwark: suburb known for its “vice” – theaters, gaming, prostitution, etc.
London was a cesspool—“The Thames was a beautiful sewer” and disease and criminals ran wild.

3. Architecture: Theatres
The ground sloped toward the river so that human and animal waste would – drain down to the river. It worked, mostly.
London & The Thames
Architecture: Theatres

4. Crime & Punishment Other Less Serious Offenses:
- murder: hanging till dead
- theft: stocked, then whipped; pressed to death; branded
- suicide: stake driven through their hearts
Punishment for Offenses against the State:
- hanged until half dead, then taken down and quartered alive; members and bowels cut from their bodies, and thrown into a fire, provided near hand and within their own sight, even for the same purpose
Crime & Punishment

5. I’m baaack… The London Bills of Mortality
main source of mortality statistics of plague deaths fm. 1600s-1830s (1/3 pop. dies in London)
used as way of warning about plague epidemics
made in London after outbreak of plague in 1592
After the 1603 outbreak, they were made on a weekly basis
gave everybody information as to increases or decreases in number of deaths.
collected by Parish Clerks and published every week
I’m baaack…

6. How many times do we have to go through this???
In 1563, in London = over 20,000 people died
In 1665 the Great Plague of London killed 16% of pop. (17,500 out of the population of 93,000)
The same outbreak of 1563 claimed 80,000 people in England
December 1592-December 1593 Stow (Elizabethan archivist) reported 10,675 plague deaths in London, a city of approximately 200,000 people
Four serious outbreaks of the disease occurred in 1563, 1593 , 1603 and 1608.
Theatres (The Globe, The Swan, and The Rose) closed in the summer months.
In 1563, Queen Elizabeth moved to Windsor Castle + had gallows erected to hang anyone arriving from London.
How many times do we have to go through this???

7. How did the plague affect the hero of our tale?
Family lost to the plague:
sisters Joan, Margaret ( just babies) and Anne (aged 7)
brother Edmund (aged 27)
only son Hamnet (aged 11)
Conditions in London :
no sewage system
waste just dumped into the River Thames
Life expectancy = 35 yrs.
How did the plague affect the hero of our tale?

8. And don’t forget the plague! What a fun place…
Shakespeare's London: - overcrowded, rat-infested, sexually promiscuous, with raw sewage flowing in Thames, was hub for the nastiest diseases known to man. Here are the worst of the worst.
Smallpox: high fever, vomiting, excessive bleeding, and pus-filled scabs that leave deep pitted scars
Syphilis: (pox) no antibiotics meant fever, body aches, blindness, full body pustules, meningitis, insanity, and leaking heart valves.
Typhus: Crowded, filthy conditions,/near total lack of bathing = body lice that defecated on skin when scratched. Just one minor cut/sore for the typhus infected feces to enter bloodstream>high fever, delirium, and gangrenous sores.
Malaria: (ague) fever, unbearable chills, vomiting, enlarged liver, low blood pressure, seizures, and coma
And don’t forget the plague! What a fun place…

9. What next. FIRE. Are you KIDDING me
What next? FIRE? Are you KIDDING me????? How does anybody survive this place?

10. September 2, 1666: a small fire on Pudding Lane, in bakery of Thomas Farynor, baker to King Charles II
baker and his family escaped but fear-struck maid perished in the blaze
most London houses = wood and pitch construction, dangerously flammable, and the fire spread to hay/feed piles on the yard of the Star Inn at Fish Street Hill, took off
strong wind sent sparks igniting Church of St. Margar + then spread to riverside warehouses + wharves filled with hemp, oil, tallow, hay, timber, coal and spirits…

11. Renaissance = rebirth Remember that creepy Pardoner? Rebirth of:
interest in learning, especially that of ancient Greece and Rome
civilization in general
arts and sciences
Reaction to “Dark Ages” of medieval
Europe
Movement away from the restrictions
of the Church
Remember that creepy Pardoner?

12. Historically speaking…
UK represent!
Exploration by sea: John Cabot, 1497
Religious rifts:
New sense of nationalism prompted many to question ethics in and teachings of Church
Questioning of Papal authority and Scripture
Erasmus (Dutch) – version of New Testament
Thomas More – Utopia
Protestant Reformation sparked by Martin Luther’s 95 theses

13. The Monarchy: strengthening themselves and the nation Henry VII:
Catholic
Restorer of national economy and prestige of
monarchy
Henry VIII:
Catholic, at first…
Supports Pope against religious dissenters
(“Defender of the Faith”)
But…
Church’s refusal to annul his marriage leads to break from Catholicism
Dissolves Church ownership of property, monasteries
Has Thomas More executed for refusing to renounce Catholic faith
Marries 6 times
Fathers Elizabeth and Mary; has a son, Edward, with his 3rd wife, Jane Seymour

14. And I could use a drink. Make it a…hmm…
More Tudor action…
Edward, Henry VIII’s son, rules from the ages of 9-15 (whatever; that’s like a 7th grader ruling your country)
Parliament drastically changes religious practices
English replaces Latin
Book of Common Prayer required in public worship
England is on its way to becoming a Protestant nation until…
We’re back, baby!
Mary I takes throne
Restores Roman practices to Church of England
Restores authority of Pope over English Church
Known as “Bloody Mary” for ordering execution of about 300 Protestants
And I could use a drink. Make it a…hmm…
Mary rules for 5 years, and then…

15. (literally and figuratively)
Cate Blanchett Elizabeth I takes the throne!
Classically educated; patron of the arts
Reinstated monarch’s rule over Church of England, ending religious turmoil
Established climate of religious compromise
Known as one of the best rulers in English history
Spoiler alert! Dies in 1603
Hey, I wonder if that’s where they got the name for the Elizabethan period…
Elizabeth… arrgh…
The Mary Stuart problem:
Catholics considered Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, rightful heir to throne of England (marriage annulment issues)
Imprisoned by cousin, Elizabeth, for 18 years
Hatched numerous Catholic plots against her
Elizabeth let her live, punished Catholics
Parliament insisted on beheading Mary in 1587
I rule!
(literally and figuratively)

16. Life after Elizabeth…the Stuarts
James I (well, James VI of Scotland, but James I of England)
Son of Mary Stuart
Named by Elizabeth as her successor
Protestant
“Jacobean” era (from Latin for James)
Expanded England’s position as world power (colony in VA)
Believed in “divine right” of monarchs
Power struggles with Parliament
Persecuted Puritans (who migrated to Plymouth Colony)
Hey, I wonder if that’s where they got the name for Jamestown…
Smell you later, Jimmy!
I may have divine right, but this outfit is just wrong…

17. Renaissance Poetry Lyric over narrative poetry Sonnets! Yeah!
Finally, the good stuff…
Renaissance Poetry
Lyric over narrative poetry
Psst! Lyric poem: a short poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet) who expresses thought and feeling.
Sonnets! Yeah!
Sonnet cycle: A series of sonnets, usually fit loosely together to form a story
Big men on campus: Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Shakespeare
Two major rhyme schemes: Petrarchan/Italian and Shakespearean
Shakespearean rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg
Psst! Sonnet: 14 lines, iambic pentameter, various rhyme schemes. Word!
Many sonnets consist of 8 lines setting up one idea, 4 lines responding to that idea, and a concluding couplet at the end. Rock and roll!

18. Hey, I wonder if that’s where they got the name for Raleigh, NC…
Pastoral poetry
Idealized rustic simplicity of rural life
Heavy hitters: Christopher Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh
I’m a poet, soldier, explorer, historian and member of the Royal Court. I am The Man - the true Renaissance man!
Hey, I wonder if that’s where they got the name for Raleigh, NC…

19. And I might have gotten credit for stuff you wrote! Too bad, suckah!
Renaissance Drama
Turned away from religious focus and toward classical Greek and Roman tragedies and dramas
Christopher Marlowe: First major dramatist
(1580s)
Shakespeare ( )
Started as actor
Famous playwright by 1592
37 Plays: most can be categorized as tragedy, comedy, or history
Deep understanding of what it means to be human helps maintain popularity
People say that if I’d lived past 30 I might have eclipsed Shakespeare as England’s greatest playwright! Dang!
And I might have gotten credit for stuff you wrote! Too bad, suckah!

20. Renaissance Prose Not as popular as poetry Names to drop:
Which is the more satisfying bacon: pioneering English author or tasty breakfast meat?
Not as popular as poetry
Names to drop:
Sidney, Raleigh and Thomas Nashe
Sir Francis Bacon: essays, science, philosophy
King James Bible
Translated Latin Bible into English
Huge achievement—probably most important in English Renaissance
54 scholars worked 7 years!
Influential, used to this day

21. Important Dates 1485: Thomas More publishes Utopia
1534: Church of England established
1535: Thomas More executed
1549: The Book of Common Prayer issued
1558: Elizabeth I becomes Queen
1563: More plague: 20,000 Londoners die
1564: Shakespeare is born!

22. Important Dates (Cont.)
1594: Shakespeare writes Romeo and Juliet
1599: The Globe Theater opens
1603: Queen Elizabeth I dies; James I becomes King of England.
1606: Guy Fawkes executed for Gunpowder Plot
1607: Royal Colony of Jamestown established
1611: King James Bible published
1616: Shakespeare dies
1620: Pilgrims land on Plymouth Rock
1625: King James I dies.