ENGL 3113W Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Queen Regnant, Elizabethan Era, House Of Tudor
Chace
1
Rachel Chace
Professor Brown
English 3113W
January 24, 2016
Renaissance Literature Notes
Class Notes Tuesday January 19, 2016
• The Renaissance was a European cultural movement beginning in the late 14th
century and ending in the 17th century. This era was largely defined by a renewed
interest in art, architecture, politics, science, and literature.
• The term “renaissance” is derived from the French word for “rebirth”, and was
used to demonstrate the era’s rediscovery of Greco-Roman art and Classical
philosophy.
• The Italian Renaissance was largely defined by a revolution in cultural attitudes
about the physical self, which challenged the body-negating theology that
persisted in Medieval Europe.
• As a result, the visual arts became the dominant art form in Italy.
• Conversely, the English Renaissance developed out of a series of radical shifts in
religion and a rising interest in Renaissance Humanism.
• This resulted in England’s cultural focus on language and literature over more
visual mediums.
Class Notes Thursday January 21, 2016
• The Reformation was largely defined by the Protestant’s iconoclastic response to
the Catholic Church’s distinctly sumptuous aesthetic.
• Elizabeth I was held prisoner in the Tower of London on the orders of her half-
sister, Mary I. Upon Mary’s death, Elizabeth became queen regnant and helped
usher in an era of religious reforms and tolerance. Her coronation (1558) marks
the beginning of England’s “Golden Age”, known as the Elizabethan era.
Notes from Readings: Introduction (pgs. 531-541)
The Sixteenth Century 1485 – 1603
• The English language was not taken seriously abroad and many felt that it didn’t
hold the same intellectual prestige that Latin did. (Pg. 532)
• The language’s development can partially be attributed to several events that
strengthened England’s national power and identity.
o The establishment of the Tudor Dynasty (1485-1603), beginning with
Henry VII.
o The Protestant Reformation, inspired by Martin Luther and his Ninety-
Five Theses (1517).
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Chace
2
The Court and the City (pg. 532 – 534)
• The Wars of the Roses (1455-1487) were a series of dynastic wars between the
rival royal houses Lancaster and York. These wars weakened and divided
England’s barons and allowed the earl of Richmond (crowned Henry VII) to
usurp the throne from Richard III.
• Despite Henry VII’s shaky claim to the throne, England’s impoverished state
prevented most of the landholding nobility from contesting his right to rule.
• During his reign, Henry VII was able to centralize power and build a more unified
England.
• The Royal court was a place where the worlds of both political and cultural often
intersected, which led to duplicitous dealings among courtiers.
• It also created the perfect environment for theater, poetry, music, and other forms
of entertainment to flourish. With limited freedom of speech, the public often
accessed important issues of the day through the arts.
• Influential works such as Machiavelli’s The Prince and Castiglione’s The
Courtier greatly influenced how people conducted themselves while at court. The
former instructed people on how to obtain and keep power, while the latter taught
courtiers how to decipher complex linguistic codes.
• William Caxton’s introduction of German-style printing made books less
expensive and more accessible to the public. This increased the rate of literacy in
England, which was further reinforced with the Protestant practice of direct
encounters with the Bible.
o “Direct encounters” with the Bible also helped alter religious reading
experiences to something more intimate than the more communal
encounters seen in Catholicism at the time. This intimacy also promoted
and incentivized learning among readers, regardless of their
socioeconomic position.
• Between 1520-1550 London’s population doubled, which many historians
attribute to a rapidly increasing shift in cultural and political thought.
Renaissance Humanism (pg. 534 – 537)
• Renaissance Humanism was primarily inspired by English travellers’ visiting
Italy during the 15th century. The Italian Renaissance inspired many of them to
begin reviving the cultural legacy, literary legacy, and moral philosophy of
antiquity.
• Humanists encouraged intellectual curiosity, individual self-assertion, and
supported the notion that “man was the measure of all things”. This in turn
inspired reforms in education for both young men and women.
• Humanists valued Classic texts for their moral, political, and philosophical truths.
They asserted that these values could be easily reconciled with the moral vision of
Christianity.
o This resulted in a Classical and Christian thought in many Renaissance
works (see Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen).
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Document Summary
Class notes tuesday january 19, 2016: the renaissance was a european cultural movement beginning in the late 14th century and ending in the 17th century. Upon mary"s death, elizabeth became queen regnant and helped usher in an era of religious reforms and tolerance. Her coronation (1558) marks the beginning of england"s golden age , known as the elizabethan era. The sixteenth century 1485 1603: the english language was not taken seriously abroad and many felt that it didn"t hold the same intellectual prestige that latin did. (pg. 532: the language"s development can partially be attributed to several events that strengthened england"s national power and identity, the establishment of the tudor dynasty (1485-1603), beginning with. Henry vii: the protestant reformation, inspired by martin luther and his ninety- 532 534: the wars of the roses (1455-1487) were a series of dynastic wars between the rival royal houses lancaster and york.
