07/02/2021

WRITE AN ESSAY ON: THE CULTURAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF THE RENAISSANCE AND THE PURITAN AGER. DISCUSS.

Oliver Cromwell was a despot who beheaded the king, and established the Republic. Throughout the history of England, there was always a king or queen. In this period Oliver Cromwell was a Puritan leader being Hadid the king, destabilized republic "The Commonwealth": common wealth. Today if we speak of the commonwealth, we mean a series of states that are still linked to England for economic or other reasons. Cromwell is a Puritan, that is, a citizen who had embraced the Calvinist confession, which was part of Protestantism. Calvinists believe that one is saved if he succeeds in progressing on the social ladder, that is, if he improves the class to which he belongs. If this does not happen, it means that he has not been blessed by God. This idea comes from the idea from the parable of the talents. The latter says that God has given each of us talents, and these are things we are suited to, compared to others, and the task of the Christian-Puritan is to make the most of the talents that are granted to him by God. So in this period everyone was trying to progress. Puritans criticize the corruption of the Anglican church, that is, the church created by Henry VIII. The latter asked the Pope to grant him a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragon, because he had not granted him a son, but the Pope did not allow him. In reality he used the pretext of divorce, to detach himself from the church of Rome and become the head of the church, in fact he established the Anglican church, of which he became the absolute head (1534) and passed the Act of supremacy, in which he says he becomes the head of the Roman church. The church of Rome had the monasteries, so he strips all the monasteries to fill the state coffers. This church is called the Anglican church. Moreover, it forces everyone to vote of supremacy, so they all had to become Anglicans, otherwise they were killed. Calvinism believes in predestination (which Catholics do not do). The Puritans had the motto "Ora et labora", and these annoyed the aristocrats, so they were persecuted and had to flee to America (1520). Henry VIII fell in love with Anna Boleyn, so much so that Catherine was killed. Anna gives him a daughter, Elizabeth I, the first female queen. She was a very cultured, refined woman, she inherited a nation in good condition, and through a fleet she defeated the Spaniards. Elizabeth, takes a white horse and goes to Hastings, due to a terrible storm, the Spanish boats cannot see them. In all this, Spain, Catholic, loses power. Catherine of Aragon had had Mary (Catholic), who gets into conflict with her cousin Elizabeth (Protestant). When there are religious conflicts, Mary, for Elizabeth, was an obstacle. So everyone tells her to kill him, but she, being caught, doesn't do it, and locks her up in a tower, until the religious battles become unmanageable and Elizabeth is forced to have her killed. Therefore the established power is a power of a Protestant character. The deed of union is signed, where Scotland is included in the United Kingdom. When Elizabeth died, the Tudor dynasty ended and the Stuart dynasty developed and for a period, before the act of union, King James I himself was king of England and Scotland.