The Renaissance, 1485-1660: English history notes for university

The Renaissance Period (1485-1660)

During the 291-year period from 1485 to 1776, England transformed itself from a minor feudal state into what has been called 'the first modern society,' and emerged as the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world. The Renaissance is a period of enormous transition in religious, political and social terms. Writers engaged with this changing landscape which their audiences were experiencing and often explored in new and challenging way.

Conventional Dates for the Renaissance

2 conventional dates:

• 1485: battle of Bosworth Field: end of the War of the Two Roses, death of Richard III and accession of Henry VII.
• 1660: the Restoration of the monarchy: Charles Stuart returns as Charles II.

Which label should we use to define this period? Both are debatable.

"Renaissance" as a Problematic Category

"RENAISSANCE" is a problematic category for 3 main reasons:

1. lack of uniformity of phenomena among European countries in terms of history and geography;
2. It was originally applied to the Italian case, and Eurocentric (Italy early 14th century / England = end 15th century);
3. Popularized by 19th-century historian Jacob Burckhardt as a radical rupture away from the Middle Ages.

"EARLY MODERN" indicates a wider and more neutral label to define period between the Middle Ages and the industrial revolution.

Tudor Dynasty, 1485-1603

Henry VII (1485-1509)

Henry VII (1485-1509): after the 30 years civil war between the Houses of York (white rose) and Lancaster (red rose), Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York as a symbolic union of the 2 houses (he was a distant relative of the Lancaster, came from Wales). The new king was inexperienced in political and financial government, but that meant that he had few enemies and also, he did not have any brothers to challenge his claim to the crown.

Henry VIII (1509-1547)

Henry VIII (1509-1547): he was not supposed to be the king, but ascended to the throne when his elder brother Arthur died. His reign was characterized by a hedonistic court culture, belligerent foreign policies and religious ferment. To follow his personal pleasures, he left the political work to some advisors such as Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. He had 6 wives but he found it difficult to have a male heir, until the birth of Edward by Jane Seymour.

1534, Act of Supremacy: THE KING IS SUPREME HEAD ON EARTH OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, thereby breaking ecclesiastical links with Rome.

Edward VI (1547-1553)

Edward VI (1547-1553): his reign was dominated by a vigorous engagement with Protestant Doctrine. Since he ascended when he was 9, political authority was held by a "Lord Protector", the Duke of Somerset, and the "Lord President of the Council", the Earl of Warwick. He died young because of some health issues.

Mary I (1553-1558)

Mary ! (1553-1558): daughter of Henry VIII's 1st wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was Catholic and persecuted the Protestant heretics (Bloody Mary). Marries Spanish king but couldn't have any children.

Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

Elizabeth ! (1558-1603): daughter of Henry VIII's 2nd wife, Anne Boleyn. She was called the Virgin Queen, because she always refused marriage to avoid being exposed to international forces, in fact she proved to be a vigilant, intelligent and effective political leader.

Famous speech at Tilbury 1588: «I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm: to which rather than any dishonor shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.»

The Early Stuarts and the Interregnum, 1603-1660

James I of England (1603-1625)

James I of England (1603-1625): Elizabeth's cousin James VI of Scotland became king of England while already being king of Scotland. In a period of financial difficulties and social and religious tensions, he had responsibility of 3 separate kingdoms (England + Wales, Scotland and Ireland), with London as principal center of government.He was a strong advocate of royal absolutism, often running into opposition with Parliament (e. g. over matters of taxation) and didn't care for public opinion. He's best remembered for a translation of the Bible which he commissioned: the King James Bible (1611), which would become the most widely printed book in history.

Since he was a Protestant, a group of Catholics plotted a conspiracy to assassinate him and establish Catholic rule in England, but it was a failed attempt > the Gunpowder Plot (November 5th, 1605).

The King also wanted to bring Protestantism to Ireland and to replenish his impoverished treasury, left to him by his cousin, Elizabeth I. The Plantation of Ulster was an opportunity to do both: from 1609 onward, people from England and Scotland would be encouraged to move to the northern part of Ireland to make it friendlier towards James.

Besides this organized colonization, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas (established in Virginia in 1607) also took James' name: Jamestown.

He passed to history as the rex pacificus because he ended the 20-year long war with Spain and marked a noticeable change in the political climate. However, in the final years of his reign the continental powers were drawn into the 30 Years War (Britain remained neutral) and he lost control of political events.

James I's Children

James I's children :

• Prince Henry: his political ideas antagonized his father's - he wanted to create a Protestant empire in Europe and wanted to promote the colonies. He died very young of typhoid fever.
• Princess Elizabeth married the Elector of the Palatinate and was briefly Queen of Bohemia (1619-20). The Winter's Tale was among the plays (revived and) staged on her wedding in 1613.
• Prince Charles succeeded his father as king

Charles I (1625-1649)

Charles I (1625-1649): for his misguided rule over questions of politics and religion, he was often misunderstood and increasingly viewed in autocratic terms. He raised funds by extending schemes of taxation, and in response to opposition at Westminster, he dissolved Parliament in 1629 and the Personal Rule began (11-year period). He managed to keep order and consent until 1641, when his attempt to impose the English Prayer Book on Scotland, caused violent uprisings in Ireland and England. The reign was already facing many internal issues and Charles, scared of being killed, left London and gathered an army in Oxford. This inevitably brought to the CIVIL WAR (1642-1649) between the ROYALISTS and the army of the PARLIAMENT, at the end of which the King was executed (beheaded).

The monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished and England was declared a COMMONWEALTH (the only Republic in English history).

1654: the commonwealth was replaced by a military Protectorate led by Oliver Cromwell assisted by a Council of State and parliaments elected every 3 years, which resulted in almost a dictatorship. When his son Richard Cromwell succeeded him in 1658, the weakness of the political structure was revealed. He withdrew from public life and the Parliament was recalled to deal with the crisis

Charles Stuart comes back from his exile in France and the monarchy is restored in 1660.

British Nations During the Renaissance

Wales

WALES: Under the Statue of Rhuddlan (1284), Edward I established political continuity between England and Wales by administration and governance; however, it continued to be considered as a culturally distinct realm in terms of language, traditions and history. With the Act of 1536, England and Wales were officially politically united.

Scotland

SCOTLAND: During the Tudor dynasty it was a distinct kingdom with its own government and legal system, and it became politically engaged with England with the union of the crowns in 1603. James attempted to pursue his project of an empire of Great Britain by the unification of all British Nation under one rule, but he only managed to restrain the Scottish ruling elite. His son, Charles I, proclaimed that a version of the English Book of Common Prayer should be used by Scottish churches, but this way he put the kingdom against him. The Scots secured military assistance in return for the imposition of Presbyterian structures in the Church of England, but the king failed to keep the promise and after his execution the Scottish forces marched south, but were defeated.

Ireland

IRELAND: Since the early 14th century, English control in Ireland was only limited around the city of Dublin, (outside, it had to treat with powerful noble families or clans). When Henry VIII broke with Rome, the Fitzgerald family led a revolt against him, their estates were confiscated and Irish (Catholic) monasteries were dissolved. In 1541, the Irish Parliament recognized Henry s King of Ireland. However, unrest continued on the island even more with Protestant Edward VI's reign, leading to the Nine Years' War (1594-1603) fought by an Irish confederation (led by Hugh O'Neill of Tyrone and Hugh Roe O'Donnell of Tyrconnell) against English rule. The situation was a little better with the Stuarts.

Politics, Culture and Society

Economic Situation

lana

• Small scale agriculture, mining, fishing and trade (major export = wool);
• Movement away from feudal economies based on land ownership to a system of private ownership and investment, profit-seeking and competition, leading the way to modern capitalism;
• Urban societies: markets for agricultural labor and the sale of produce > the wealth was spent in the towns: medical assistance, entertainment, training and education;
• Interest in overseas trade by granting royal charters for a number of different companies to have trading privileges (Spanish Company, Baltic Company, East India Company, Victoria Company etc.) > these new lands might furnish England with strategic power bases or allies against hostile European powers. But colonial settlement of any substance would not take place until the 1620s: religious persecution, economic hardship and political disaffection encouraged groups and individuals to seek a new life across the seas.
• Inadequate political response to a number of factors: demographic growth, unemployment and vagrancy, harvest failure, price inflation and low wages, while the cost of living continued to rise (price of corn doubled).
• Problems of crime, poverty and disease, with notable plague epidemies > the 1536 Poor Law distinguished "deserving" and "undeserving" poor, but there was a growing awareness that unemployment might not be a choice: in 1547 London brought in a compulsory Poor Rate for the wealthier inhabitants and the money would be distributed to poor people, and to avoid the critic that poor people were "good for nothing", the first workhouses were established to make them contribute to the community.

The Cultural Mindset

• The power relationships were firmly PATRIARCHAL in nature: women were considered as "the weaker vessel", in a way that even the female sovereigns (Elizabeth or Mary) often promoted themselves in terms of their "masculine" strengths and virtues to gain authority;
• The role of the COURT was key in the area of political decision-making, central arena for ceremonial, literary production and entertainment. The courtier was a potential source of wise advice, loyalty and knowledge about the needs of the nation, and it was the symbol for social order and decorum;
• SOCIAL MOBILITY: both ascent and decline were possible in this period. Communities were organized around concepts of rank, birthright, obligation and ownership rather than "class". Higher social station could be evident from the owned estates or the clothes ("sumptuary laws" = who is allowed to wear silk or velvet).

Religion and Belief

• The Church penetrated all aspects of people's lives: mass, sacraments, rituals, images, festivals and so on.
• Target of criticism: enormous wealth of the Church, poor education and violation of vows of celibacy by the clergy;
• The beginning of the 16th century is linked to the crises of faith and practices as indulgence-selling, which have been famously condemned by the Augustinian monk called Marthin Luther > he developed his ideas into 95 Theses and published them in 1517 on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg: he affirmed that salvation could not be bought, that the most important commitment of the Christian wishing to be saved was true faith and not good actions, and the Bible rather than the pope was the religious authority > excommunicated as heretic.
• Another important figure among the Reformist thinkers was John Calvin: like Luther, he affirmed the importance of biblical authority and the irrelevance of indulgences, but he insisted that the Church should serve God's will rather than make its followers believe that it could assist them on their journey to salvation. He affirmed that Christians should be purified by avoiding any distraction such as church music, decorations, devotion to saints etc., and he believed that human being were already predestined to be saved or damned since birth.
• Puritanism: a group of Protestants that arose in the 16th century within the Church of England, demanding the simplification of doctrine and worship, and greater strictness in religious discipline, by eradicating any traces of Catholicism and by asserting that the true Christian should pursue an individual path of faith governed by scripture.
• The conflict between Catholic and Reformist ideologies which raged across Europe was to have crucial influence upon the life and work of a host of Renaissance English writers.