Humanism and new learning during the reign of Henry VII

Humanism and Henry VII

• 'Humanism and the new learning failed to make a significant impact during the reign of Henry VII'. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
• Humanism is linked to the renaissance - the rebirth of learning. Based on the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Latin texts. What they sought to do was to purify the ideas
• of religion from errors which had developed through translations.

Humanism in England

• First appeared in England during the reign of Henry VII but influence was only at the upper end of society - link to levels of literacy
• Key humanist scholar Erasmus visited England in 1499
• Other important humanist scholars were William
• Grocyn who began to lecture at Oxford on the ideas of Plato and Aristotle, and
• Thomas Linacre who was particularly influenced by the scientific thinking he
• acquired in Italy.

Importance of the printing press

• Key development - brought to England by William Caxton in 1476
• From this point onwards a steady stream of major
• English texts (such as Chaucer’s Canterbury
• Tales) and translations from French and Latin emerged. This led to the
• growth of a wider reading public, the beginnings of the standardisation of the
• English language and the circulation of the radical ideas of Erasmus

Role of Henry VII

• Henry patronised learning and encouraged
• artists, musicians, poets and men of letters. He established a royal library
• and commissioned Polydore Vergil to write a history of England. In the opinion
• of the modern historian Gordon Kipling ‘no previous English King had been so
• acutely aware of the political advantages of surrounding himself with literary
• servants’

Role of Henry VII

• It was the task of poets like John Skelton and
• historians like Vergil ‘to present Tudor policy in as forceful and impressive a
• manner as possible’.
• Taking as his model the court of the Dukes of Burgundy, which
• was acknowledged to be the most magnificent in Europe, Henry wanted the English
• court to become the principal focus of cultural activity in the kingdom

Humanism and education

• ‘Song schools’ and ‘reading schools’ provided
• elementary education for the very young and what we would now consider
• secondary education took place in grammar schools. While some of these had
• existed for centuries, 53 new grammar schools were founded between 1460 and
• 1509.
• The rich clearly had access to education – for
• the majority of the population it depended on where you lived. Latin was
• central to the grammar school curriculum

Humanism and education

• Most schools probably continued to
• teach in the traditional way but the 1480s saw the beginnings of a humanist
• approach, particularly at Magdalen College School in Oxford.
• Erasmus had been impressed with the high standards of
• classical teaching being fostered by John Colet, founder of St Paul’s School

Development of universities

• University education centred on the
• ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Oxford had experienced
• substantial growth in the first half of the 1400s but this had ground to a
• halt. Cambridge however, had several new colleges founded during this period.
• It benefitted from the generosity of Lady Margaret Beaufort who was responsible
• for the foundation of Christ’s College and St John’s College.

Development of the Arts

• Drama - most important art form of the period. Plays were often associated with church-ale festivals
• Troupes of players (often sponsored by the nobility) toured the country. Most famous plays were mystery plays.
• Performances were important festive occasions, delivering moral and religious messages
• BUT no great development of theatre took place during Henry VII's reign

Music

• This would have been enjoyed at a variety of different levels throughout the period
• Bands would entertain crowds on saint days; music was also an important part of worship
• This music underwent the beginnings of a
• ‘renaissance’ as single-line chants gave way to polyphonic choral music, where
• different parts of the choir sang independent melodic lines, which would be
• heard in cathedrals and other major churches

Music

• The two most important composers in
• the book:
• Thomas Browne – he
• was employed in the household of the Earl of Oxford
• Robert Faryfax –
• he benefitted from the patronage of Lady Margaret Beaufort and the King himself
• Music performed at court or in the
• homes of the wealthy (normally from the minstrels’ gallery) used instruments
• such as trumpets, shawms (like an oboe) and sackbuts (like a trombone). Softer
• music used instruments such as stringed instruments, recorders and lutes.
• Carols, not then exclusively associated with Christmas, were also popular.

Art and architecture

• There was a massive amount of
• building and rebuilding of parishes churches that occurred at this time. The
• vast number of churches were built in the Gothic perpendicular style (with an
• emphasis on vertical lines) and this is an indication of the scale of
• investment which took place. In 1502 Henry VII approved this architectural
• style for the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey. English culture still followed
• the Gothic traditions of north-western Europe, with an allegedly primitive
• visual style.

Conclusion

• Renaissance clearly had an impact on England during Henry's reign
• Improvements across a number of areas - give examples
• However, humanism made only a small impact. It would not be until the reign of Henry VIII that its influence would be felt.