The Renaissance

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The Renaissance

English IV notes

(preparing to read Hamlet)

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The Printing Press

Gutenberg's Press: 1439

Printing brought standardization to English

Spelling and grammar became fixed

First English dictionary was published

Increase in book production

More people read

Key Characteristics

Religious devotion of the Middle Ages gave way to interest in the human beings's place on Earth

Universities introduced new curriculum, the humanities (including history, geography, poetry, and languages)

Invention of printing made more books available

More writers began using the *vernacular

*dialect spoken by ordinary people

Protestant Reformation

People didn't like the catholic church anymore

Complaints: the sale of indulgences, payment to the church (like taxes), church leaders favored Mediterranean powers over northerly countries (felt left out, because they thought the church liked them better), and the educated questioned the church teaches and hierarchy.

Martin Luther

Did not like the Catholic church.

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Tudor England

The Tudor's were the ruling family of England

Ruled from 1485-1603

Time of stability and economic expansion

London a metropolis of 180,000 people

Many saw changes as a threat to the old familiar way

Feared new outbreaks of civil strife (War of the Roses - Tudors vs All the other important families)

Henry VII:

First Tudor monarch. Inherited an England depleted by civil war. Before his death, in 1509, he rebuilt the treasury and established law and order.

Henry VIII:

Catholic (Even wrote a book against Martin Luther (Anti-catholic). Relationship with the Pope, did not last. Produced no male heir while Married to Catherine of Aragon. Henry tried to obtain an annulment to marry Anne Boleyn.

Edward VI:

Became king at 9. died at 15 (1553).

Mary I (Bloody Mary):

Edward's half sister. Restored Catholic practices and papal authority to the Church of England. Married her Spanish cousin, Phillip II. (Made England a part of the powerful Spanish state.

**Bloody Mary: because she was killed by members of her family.

Elizabeth I:

Came to the throne. Last of the Tudors. Died unmarried and childless. Received a Renaissance education, became a patron of the arts, and Elizabethan came to describe the English Renaissance at its height.

Ended religious turmoil.

Reestablished the monarch's supremacy in the Church of England. Restored the Book of Common Prayer.