‘Renaissance’

(meaning ‘rebirth’) describes the movement which saw renewed European interest in classical culture between the late fourteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries

Having initially sought to emulate the achievements of:

1-the Greek

2-Roman empires

Giorgio Vasari

Was first used term renaissance

only in the twentieth century did the term come to be a standard label for the era.

Some modern scholars have questioned the use of the term ‘Renaissance why??

1-arguing that it overstates the break with the past

2- downplays Medieval knowledge of classical learning.

Such scholars often prefer to describe the period as ‘early modern’; but this label has its drawbacks why??

potentially overemphasising the similarities between Renaissance and modern culture.

Religion was central to life in Renaissance England. Officially, everyone was Christian

religion was:

1-not simply an ideology

2-ideology it was a way of life

Martin Luther:

1-nailed ninety-five theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg that questioned the authority and doctrines of the Catholic Church

2-Luther and his fellow campaigners sought the reformation of the Church from within

At first Protestantism was a fringe religion but it grew in power as a number of Northern European states became Protestant

Henry VIII:

1-declared himself ‘Supreme Head’ of the Church of England

2-Henry’s reasons for challenging the authority of the Pope and the Catholic Church were political and personal, rather than doctrinal

3-the Pope had awarded him the title of Defender of the Faith after he attacked Luther’s views

4- 1527 Henry was considering divorcing his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, so that he might marry Anne Boleyn.

James:

1-did not grant Catholics greater tolerance

2- encouraged the preparation of anew English translation of the Bible

Such would-be reformers came to be known as ‘Puritans’ why??

because of their desire to further ‘purify’ the Church and their favouring of an ascetic religious culture

. Jews are associated with

1-avarice

2-usury

Islamic figures are:

stereotyped as barbaric1-

2-untrustworthy

3-lustful pagans

Opposition to Islam and the countries associated with it was deep-rooted, finding its origins in the Medieval Crusades to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims, but Western antipathy was fuelled in the sixteenth century by the growing power of the Ottoman (or Turkish) Empire and its extension westwards with the Turks laying ‘claim to pivotal territory in the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa

1-the association of the Jews with the death of Jesus

2-and with money lending (which the Bible condemned)

had long encouraged European Christians to look down on the Jews as an ungodly sect

Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta

Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice