THE RENAISSANCE

England was experiencing a profound change at the end of the 15 century:

•·         The wars of the Roses had come to an end in 1485

•·         Modern English was born as a new language

•·         Columbus discovered America in1492

•·         The globe was circumnavigated

•·         Copernicus denied the Earth and his central position within universe

•·         There was a shift away from an essentially  to an essentially secular world view

The renaissance in England was linked to the consolidation of Tudor dynasty with the reign of Elizabeth I, who provided to England a political stability. Elizabethan England was a divided nation of Catholics, Protestants and of Puritans.

Religion was a passing issue.tha reformation brought about by Henry VII in 1533, after the opposition of the Pope in Rome to the annulment of marriage, had changed England's religious life. England had thus become Protestant and independent.

Mary I brought Catholicism back to England, and hundreds of people were burned as heretics during her reign.

Elizabeth also had to face the serious economic problems caused both by the increase in population and price inflation. However Elizabeth's reign also saw prosperity, this period marked by the foreign exploration and the birth of scientific learning was one of the most interesting periods in English history.

The new faith also influenced literature, music, learning and culture, which were inspirited by Italian poets. Literature did not have a religious perspective on life anymore, but favoured individual expression. The central theme of Elizabethan literature, which found its greatest expression in drama, was the clash between the individual and social order. if medieval literature aimed at showing God's designs, drama in renaissance focused on man.

This was the golden age of drama with its most important poets: Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe and Shakespeare. He had no precedents, he drew from all kinds of sources and showed a deep knowledge of the human heart. The theatre was the most public literary form of that period. Poetry was more personal and private. John Donne and George Herbet were the most significant among the Metaphysical  poets: they were innovative because they talked about religion and love in a language that could be violent. This was also the age of questions: what was man? What was life, love good and evil, so what meant being a sovereign?  The ideal of courtier was a man devoted to both love and war, poetry and politics.