THE RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION

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• C. THE RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION (c. 1485-1660 CE) 

•  TheRenaissance English Literature
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• I. Historical background
• At the end of the 1400s，the world changed. In 1485，the Wars of the Roses came to an end. In 1492，Christopher Columbus's voyage to the America opened European eyes to the existence of the New World. New Worlds，both geographical and spiritual，are the key to the Renaissance，the “rebirth” of learning and culture，which reached the peak in Britain during the reign of Queen Elizabeth from 1558 to 1603.
•     England emerged from the Wars of the Roses(1453-85)with a new dynasty in power，the Tudors. The greatest of the Tudor monarchs was Henry VIII，he had direct conflict with Catholic Church，and with the Pope in particular. In reaction to the Catholic Church’s rulings against remarriage, Henry took a decisive step which was to influence every aspect of English life and culture from that time onwards. He ended the rule of the Catholic Church in England, closed (and largely destroyed) the monasteries --- which had for centuries been the depositors of learning, history, and culture --- and established himself as both the head of Church and the head of state.
• The importance of this move, known as the Reformation, is huge. In a very short period of time，centuries of religious faith，attitudes and beliefs were replaced by a new way of thinking. Now，for example，the king as “Defender of the Faith” was the closest human being to God --- a role previously given to the Pope in Rome. Now England became Protestant，and the nation's political and religious identity had to be redefined. Protestantism，which had originated with Martin Luther's 95 Theses（1517），became the official national religion. All the Catholic tenets were questioned. It was the most radical revolution in beliefs ever to affect the nation.
• After the Reformation，the relationship between man and god，and consequently the place of man in the world，had to be re-examined. Neo-Platonic Philosophy，from the great age of classical Greece，became dominant in the Renaissance. Its ideal of the harmony of the universe，and the perfectibility of mankind formulated before the birth of Christianity，opened up the humanist ways of thinking.
•    Politically，it was an unsettled time. Although Henry's daughter Elizabeth reigned for some forty-five years，there were constant threats, plots and potential rebellions against her. Protestant (Puritans) were a constant presence：many people left the country for religious reasons，in order to set up the first colony in Virginia and Pennsylvania，the beginnings of another New World. However，Elizabeth’s reign did give the nations some sense of stability，and a considerable sense of national and religious triumph when，in 1588，the Spanish Armada，the fleet of the Catholic King Philip of Spain，was defeated. England had sovereignty over the seas，and her seamen plundered the gold of the Spanish Empire to make their own Queen the richest and most powerful monarch on the world. With this growth in wealth and political importance of the nation，London developed in size and importance as the nation’s capital，and from the foundation of the first public theatre in London，the stage became the forum of debate，spectacle，and entertainment. It was the place where the writer took his work to an audience which might include the Queen herself and the lowliest of the subjects. Hand in hand with the growth in theatrical expression went the growth of Modern English as a national language.
• During this period, the increasing of cloth industry stimulated the greed of the moneyed classes to seize more and more land out of the hands of the peasants. This is known as the Enclosure Movement. As a result of the movement, thousands upon thousands of peasants lost their land and became hired labourers for the merchants. It was a time when, according to Thomas More, “sheep devoured men.”
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• III. English Renaissance
• The Renaissance was a European phenomenon. It had its origin in north Italy in the fourteenth century, and spread northward to other European countries-to France, to Germany, to the Low Countries, and lastly to England. It revived the study of Roman and Greek classics and marked the beginning of bourgeois revolution. During the period of English Renaissance England enjoyed stability and prosperity. The English Renaissance encouraged the Reformation of the Church. English King, Henry VIII, who started the Reformation, declared the break with Rome and became head of the English Church. Thus Catholicism was got rid of in England. Protestantism was established. 
• In the Renaissance Period, scholars and educators who called themselves Humanists began to emphasize the capacities of the human mind and the achievements of human culture, in contrast to the medieval emphasis on God and contempt for the things of this world. So humanism became the keynote of English Renaissance. English Renaissance is usually divided into three periods: 
• 1) The first period called the beginning of the Renaissance started in 1485 and came to an end in 1558. 
• 2) The second period known as the flowering time of the Renaissance was from 1558 to 1603.
• 3) The third period between 1603 and 1625 is the epilogue of the Renaissance.
• In the second period, Queen Elizabeth ruled the country. For this reason it is also called Elizabethan Period. William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright of England, lived in the Elizabethan Period. So in the history of English literature, this period is often referred to as the Age of William Shakespeare.
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• Ⅳ. English Literature in the Renaissance Period
• English literature in the Renaissance Period is usually regarded as the highlight in this history of English literature. In the second period of English Renaissance, that is, in Elizabethan Period, English literature developed with a great speed and made a magnificent achievement. The greatest and most distinctive achievement of Elizabethan literature is the drama. Thus appeared a group of excellent dramatists. They are John Lyly, Thomas Kyd, George Peele, Robert Greene, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. Next to the drama is the Lyrical Poetry. Elizabethan Poetry is remarkable for its variety, its freshness, its youthfulness and its romantic feeling. A group of great poets appeared, and a large number of noble poetry was produced. In that period, writing poetry became a fashion. Queen Elizabeth herself was a poet. She suggested subjects and rewarded poets. Her ministers and courtiers obeyed her example and tried to rival each other in shaping beautiful verses. The gentry, as a matter of fact, also followed the example; and after the gentry, all educated people. The universities made themselves particularly busy with poetry. England then became " a nest of singing birds". The famous poets of that period were Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser. 
• Since English Renaissance Period was an age of poetry and drama, and was not an age of prose, there were not so many prose writers. In the beginning period, the great humanist, Thomas More, wrote his famous prose work "Utopia", which may be thought as the first literary masterpiece of the English Renaissance. In Elizabethan Period, Francis Bacon wrote more than fifty excellent essays, which make him one of the best essayists in English literature.
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• I. Early Tudor Period (1485-1558)
• : The War of the Roses ends in England with Henry Tudor (Henry VII) claiming the throne. Martin Luther's split with Rome marks the emergence of Protestantism, followed by Henry VIII's Anglican schism, which creates the first Protestant church in England. Edmund Spenser is a sample poet. 
• Edmund Spenser
• Which of the following works is a
• collection of sonnets ?
• (A) Epithalamion
• (B) Amoretti
• (C) The Shepherd’s Calendar
• (D) Colin Clout’s Come home again
• Ans;(B) Amoretti
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• In relation to Spenser’s Faerie
• Queene which of the following
• character virtue link is rightly matched ?
• (A) Justice-Artegall; Courtsey-
• Guyan; Temperance-Calidore
• (B) Chasity-Britomart; Justice-
• Guyan; Temperance-Talus
• (C) Courtsey-Calidore; Temperance-
• Guyon; Justice-Artegall
• (D) Courtsey-Calidore; Temperance-
• Artegall; Justice-Britomart
• Ans; C) Courtsey-Calidore; Temperance-Guyon; Justice-Artegall
• In its present form, The Faerie Queene consists of six books and a fragment (known as the “Mutabilitie Cantos”). According to Spenser's introductory letter in the first edition (1590) of his great poem, it was to contain 12 books, each telling the adventure of one of Gloriana's knights. Like other poets, Spenser must have modified his general plan many times, yet this letter, inconsistent though it is with various plot details in the books that are extant, is probably a faithful mirror of his thinking at one stage. The stories actually published were those of Holiness (the Red Cross Knight), Temperance (Sir Guyon), Chastity (Britomart, a female knight), Friendship (ostensibly concerning Triamond and Cambello, although these play a small part), Justice (Artegall), and Courtesy (Calidore). As a setting Spenser invented the land of Faerie and its queen, Gloriana. To express himself he invented a nine-line stanza, the first eight of five stresses and the last of six, whose rhyme pattern is ababbcbcc.