The renaissance and the age of Shakespeare

Under the Tudor dynasty, England changed from a medieval country to a modern one. The main events that
contributed to this change were the development of a strong central government, the break from the Church of Rome,
the English Reformation, and the discovery of America. People's way of thinking expanded, and England took part in
the revival of classical learning, known as the Renaissance.

This period is often named after Shakespeare, its greatest playwright, but it is also known as the Elizabethan Age,
after its greatest queen.

Richard III, who ruled from 1483 to 1485, was the last king from the
Plantagenet family and the last king from the House of York. A rebellion against
him led to the "War of the Roses," a 30-year-long family conflict that started in
1455 and ended in 1485.

Richard of York, whose symbol was a white rose, was defeated and killed by the army of Henry Tudor from the
House of Lancaster, whose symbol was a red rose. Henry's victory marked the start of the Tudor era in England.

Henry VII and the National Monarchy

1485-1509
Henry Tudor became king as Henry VII and married Elizabeth of York, Richard’s niece, to unite the two rival families.
During his reign, Henry united the country, reduced the power of the nobles, and strengthened the power of the
throne. The system of government he started was so strong that it is sometimes called "Tudor Despotism."

Henry VII was followed on the throne by his son, Henry VIII (1509/1547).
Two months after becoming king, Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, the Spanish widow of his brother. Henry
was smart, athletic, and cultured—a true example of the Renaissance man. One of Henry’s main problems was
succession: although he had a daughter, Mary, no queen had ever ruled over England, and if he died without a clear
successor, the government system set up by the Tudors could fall apart. Henry asked the Pope to cancel his
marriage, but when the Pope refused, Henry ordered the Archbishop of Canterbury to declare the marriage invalid. In
a secret ceremony, he married Anne Boleyn. This act challenged the Pope’s authority and led to a break with Rome.

Martin Luther (1517)

Luther published his Thesis In 1517 the German monk Martin Luther nailed his '95 theses' to the door of Wittenberg
cathedral. Luther's act of condemnation of the corruption of the Catholic Church is considered the official start of the
schism that led to the birth of Protestantism.
The Act of Supremacy
In 1534, the Act of Supremacy made Henry VIII the supreme head of the Church of England and separated the
Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. This break with Rome greatly encouraged Protestants in
England. Henry then began to shut down religious orders in England and to take and sell their property.

1535
Execution of Sir (and Saint) Thomas More > Utopia
After opposing Henry VIII's attempt to become the head of the Church of England, Thomas More, a strong and
faithful Roman Catholic, was arrested in 1534 and executed in 1535. More was one of the best thinkers of the
English Renaissance and a friend of the famous humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam.

1536
Succession Guaranteed
Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, had a daughter named Elizabeth. Henry falsely accused Anne of adultery, incest,
and treason. She was tried, found guilty, and executed in the Tower of London in 1536. In 1537, Henry married
Jane Seymour, who gave him his only son to survive infancy, Edward, and this guaranteed the Tudor succession.

The Short Reign of Edward VI

1547-1553
When Henry VIII died in 1547, his nine-year-old son, Edward VI, became king, and a Council of Regency controlled
the kingdom. In 1553, young King Edward died.

Bloody Mary
1553-1558
In 1553, Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, was declared queen. A devoted Catholic, she
was determined to restore Roman Catholicism in England.
Mary took part in terrible persecution, which made her very unpopular with her people. Several Protestants were
burned at the stake. This earned her the nickname "Bloody Mary."

The Puritans
Because of Mary’s persecution, many Protestants fled to Protestant cities like Geneva and Basel, where they
learned about the ideas of John Calvin (1509-64), a leader of the Reformation in Geneva. When Queen Mary died,
the Protestants returned to England and formed a Calvinist group known as the Puritans.
The Puritans were extreme Protestants who wanted to "purify" the Church of England and remove all traces of
Roman Catholic practices.
Elizabeth I | 1558-1603
An enlightened queen. In 1558, Queen Mary was succeeded by her 25-year-old half-sister, Elizabeth. She supported
artists and explorers, becoming a symbol of national unity and one of the most famous English queens in history.

The ‘Middle Way.’ To bring England back to Protestantism, Elizabeth promoted the Second Act of Supremacy in
1559, which restored the Anglican Church, brought back Protestant leaders, and made herself its highest authority.
Her main goal was to create a national Church that included as many people as possible, whether they were Catholics
or Protestants. This balanced approach to change was called the ‘middle way.’

Foreign Policy. Known as the ‘Virgin Queen,’ Elizabeth had many suitors, including King Philip II of Spain. At that time,
marriage was about political alliances, so Elizabeth turned them all down and never married. She wanted to avoid
upsetting any group—Protestant or Catholic—among her people and to keep her country free from foreign control.

A Formidable Rival - Mary Stuart 1560

One of the greatest threats Elizabeth faced during her reign was Mary Stuart’s claim to the English throne. Mary, the
only daughter of James V of Scotland, was a descendant of Henry VII. After spending many years in France, Mary
returned to Scotland in 1560 to be crowned queen. While she was away, Scotland had become strongly Protestant,
and Mary, who was Catholic, was forced to give up her throne to her infant son, James.

Mary fled to England to seek Elizabeth’s protection, as many Catholics saw Elizabeth’s right to the English throne as
illegal. Mary was clearly a dangerous rival for Elizabeth, who ordered her execution in 1587.

Trade and Empire

In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh set up a colony on the east coast of North America and named it “Virginia” to honor
Queen Elizabeth, known as the Virgin Queen. A few years later, in 1600, Elizabeth signed a charter for the British
East India Company, which created connections with Asia and challenged the Dutch and Portuguese control of the
spice trade.This was the beginning of important British expansion in the 17th and 18th centuries and led to British
control over the Indian subcontinent.

The War with Spain 1588

To stop Elizabeth from helping Spain’s enemies and from English attacks by her “sea dogs” on Spanish ships in the
New World, in 1588, Philip II sent a huge fleet, called the Spanish Armada, to invade England. Philip’s Armada was
defeated by bad weather and skilled English sailors led by Francis Drake. This victory was celebrated as a sign of
England’s strength over Spain.
JAMES I The unmarried Queen Elizabeth died childless in 1603 and was succeeded by her cousin James VI of
Scotland, who became James I of England, the first Stuart king of England. James united three kingdoms: England,
Scotland, and Ireland. He believed in the Divine Right of Kings and considered himself above the law and Parliament.

He reinforced the Anglican Church, disappointing both Catholics and Protestants. This attitude led to two important
events: the Gunpowder Plot (1605) and the departure of the Pilgrim Fathers (1620).

Another important aspect is that James commissioned a new translation of the Bible, known as the “King James
Version.”
In 1605, a group of Catholics, upset that James did nothing to help Catholics in England, planned to kill the king. Led
by Guy Fawkes, they put barrels of gunpowder in the basement under the Houses of Parliament, ready to blow up the
building when the king was there. However, the “Gunpowder Plot” was discovered, and Guy Fawkes and his men were
arrested, tried, and then hanged, drawn, and quartered. The Gunpowder Plot made the country hate and fear
Catholicism for many years to come.

King James’ Bible

In 1611, King James ordered a new translation of the Bible, known as the King James Version (KJV). This version is
still seen as one of the best and most accurate in English. It is also called the Authorized Version and is still used in
many Anglican churches. People appreciate it for being faithful, clear, and beautiful, with an old-fashioned style that
many find elegant and impressive.

Puritans
Commonwealth
In 1620, a group of Puritans, trying to escape religious persecution, set sail from Plymouth on a ship called The
Mayflower. They landed at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, America, and founded a strictly Puritan
Commonwealth. Virginia had been founded by Sir Walter Raleigh under Queen Elizabeth.

That attempt had failed, but Raleigh’s old plan was taken up by a group of London merchants, who established the
first permanent settlement for a new source of wealth: tobacco.

• social and cultural background

The period that began with the Tudor monarchy was a time of great discoveries. On one hand, there was the
discovery of the New World, and on the other hand, a rediscovery of the classics from ancient times during the
Renaissance. During this time, people’s thinking expanded, and England took part in the revival of classical knowledge
known as the Renaissance.
The Renaissance led to the rediscovery, study, and translation of classic texts that had been forgotten in the Middle
Ages. This movement, called Humanism, aimed to develop all human abilities and resulted in a flourishing of different
fields of learning.

The invention of the compass helped exploration and showed that many old ideas about the world were wrong. The
invention of printing made books more available and cheaper, allowing people to think for themselves.

In Italy, the Renaissance saw art and architecture thrive in powerful city-states like Milan, Mantua, and Florence.
England, however, experienced a delay in its Renaissance due to its break with Rome but began to flourish in the 16th
century under Elizabeth I.

English humanists were less interested in art and more focused on issues of ethics, religion, and education. Two
important English humanists were Thomas More and John Colet, who were friends with Erasmus of Rotterdam, a
famous Dutch humanist. Erasmus criticized medieval ideas and church abuses, and More did the same in his book
“Utopia.”

The English Renaissance reached its peak during the reign of Elizabeth I, when poetry and drama grew immensely.

General Features of the Universe: During this time, there was a concept called the “Great Chain of Being.” This idea,
influenced by Plato and Aristotle, described the universe with three main features:
1. Plenitude: The universe is full and has the maximum diversity.
2. Continuity: Each element in the universe shares at least one quality with its neighbor.
3. Gradation: All elements are arranged in a hierarchical order, starting from God, the perfect being, down to
the simplest forms of existence.

This hierarchical view reflected the order of human society and justified the absolute authority of the monarch in
political and spiritual matters.

Elizabeth I was a strong leader, and her wisdom and courage were clear during a difficult time. She was the daughter
of Henry VIII, and when she became queen, she faced many religious challenges. She allowed a degree of freedom of
faith to try to unite the country. Although many wanted her to marry and have an heir, Elizabeth refused to be
controlled by a husband and chose to remain single, saying she did not want a “wedding ring” but rather a “yoke.”

A significant moment in her reign was the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, which showed England’s power.
When she died in 1603, Elizabeth left behind a strong nation that was relatively free from religious conflicts and
respected among European countries.
• Discovery of a New World
The Birth of Colonialism: Modern colonialism began during the “Age of Discovery” when Spanish and Portuguese
explorers discovered South and Central America. They set up trading posts and took control of surrounding areas to
keep their power secure. Other European countries soon followed, including France, Britain, and Holland, setting up
colonies in the New World, Africa, and Asia. Two main types of colonialism can be identified: settler colonialism and
exploitation colonialism.

Settler colonialism, like the Puritan colonies, brought many people to a new area for political or religious reasons.
Exploitation colonialism, on the other hand, aimed to get cheap raw materials for industries in the home country. The
benefits of colonialism were mostly enjoyed by the imperial powers, who gained valuable resources. But competition
between these powers often led to conflicts and wars. The impact on native peoples was mostly negative; they were
exploited, enslaved, lost their languages and cultures, and suffered from new diseases that caused epidemics.

Slavery: Slavery has existed since ancient times, but the “slave trade” grew in the 17th century with the expansion of
European trade. Trading ships went from Europe to the west coast of Africa, where they traded goods.

• literary background
During the Tudor era, England experienced a period of discovery and cultural revival, known as the Renaissance. This
was a special time for English literature, reaching a high point of creativity. The literature of the English Renaissance
was influenced by several factors, including the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, who supported culture, and the
rise of great poets like William Shakespeare, whose works helped make the English language modern and universal.

Elizabethan poetry is known for the triumph of the sonnet, a 14-line poem. The sonnet was introduced in England by
Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey, inspired by Italian poet Petrarch. Poets like Philip Sidney, with his collection
Astrophel and Stella, Edmund Spenser, author of Amoretti and The Faerie Queene, and William Shakespeare, who
wrote 154 sonnets, raised the sonnet form and explored universal themes like love and time.

Though famous for plays and poetry, the Elizabethan period also saw the development of refined prose, including
essays, utopian stories, and travel writings. Utopia by Thomas More, for example, describes an ideal society and
marks the start of utopian literature. Philip Sidney wrote Defence of Poesie, a critical essay defending poetry from
religious criticisms. Among travel writers, Richard Hakluyt strongly supported English colonial expansion.

Finally, this period is marked by many translations of foreign texts, especially Italian literature. Popular translations
included works by Boccaccio and Bandello. The translation of the Bible, like the Tyndale Bible, was also essential,
making sacred texts available in modern English and helping spread knowledge widely.
• The Golden Age of Drama

1. Contextual Conditions: Drama represents the key features of Elizabethan literature and is the result of
unique social, cultural, and historical conditions.
2. The Role of London: London was one of the largest and most important cities in the world. It was dirty
and dangerous but also lively and multicultural. It was a center for entertainment, with Southwark hosting theaters and
places for fun, where people went to enjoy themselves.
3. Elizabethan Theatres: The first theatre was The Theatre, built in 1576, followed by others like The Swan
and Shakespeare’s Globe. These theatres were open-air structures like large amphitheaters, where spectators stood
around the stage and paid a penny to watch shows.
4. The Audience: The audience came from all social classes and went to the theatre not just to see a play,
but also to socialize. During performances, they interacted with the actors, which influenced how the actors
performed.
5. Playwrights: Playwrights had to consider the audience’s tastes. Most came from modest backgrounds,
and many were also actors. The plays belonged to the theatre company, not the individual authors.
6. Actors: Women were not allowed to act, so male actors played female roles. Actors were seen as
“vagrants” and organized into companies for protection. They were also shareholders in their companies and often
owned their plays and theatres.
7. Mise en Scene: The theatres were outdoors and used natural light for performances. The audience had to
use their imagination to fill in the gaps because there were no elaborate sets.
8. Continuity with Medieval Tradition: Elizabethan drama mixed elements from medieval tradition with more
creative freedom, leading to new forms of storytelling.

• Elizabethan Playwrights (drammaturghi)

1. Marlowe’s Modernity: Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus tells the story of a man who sells his soul
to the devil for 24 years of infinite knowledge. Faustus is a modern tragic hero who realizes his dream is impossible.
The play mixes comic and tragic tones and deals with the fight between vice and virtue, ending with Faustus’s eternal
damnation.
2. Thomas Kyd and Revenge Tragedies: Revenge tragedies focus on heroes who seek revenge against
those who have wronged them. Influenced by Seneca, these plays feature horrors, revenge, supernatural elements, and
complex language. Thomas Kyd became famous with The Spanish Tragedy, which includes a ghost seeking revenge
and ends in a massacre.
3. William Shakespeare: Shakespeare represents the variety and complexity of Elizabethan drama. In the
first phase, he experiments with different genres. In the second phase, he explores the human soul in plays like Hamlet,
the first true modern play. His great tragedies—Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth—explore the tragic condition of
humanity. The last phase includes works with supernatural events and harmony, called romances.

• Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

Elizabeth I was the last of the Tudors and the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She became queen in 1558.
During her reign, England became a powerful nation with the establishment of the Anglican Church, exploration of new
lands, and a flourishing of the arts. Her power grew after the defeat of the "invincible" Spanish Armada in 1588,
which shifted power from Catholic to Protestant Europe. Elizabeth was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she
never married, claiming she was married to her country instead. She gave her last speech in 1601.

In her speech in 1588, just before the battle against the Armada, Elizabeth stood among her soldiers without her
bodyguards. She aimed to encourage them and explain why she was on the battlefield. She addressed her critics,
showing her bravery and strength. She said that even though she was a woman, she had the heart of a king. This
helped her connect with her soldiers and showed her unique role as a strong and caring leader.