CHAPTER 8
THE RENAISSANCE AND THE REFORMATION
Sovereign-Henry VII 1485-J509, Henry VIll 1S09-1547, Edward VI 1S47.
1553, Mary 1553-15$8, Elizabeth 1558-1603.
The meaging of Renaissance-Its begianing in Ialy with Petrarch and
Boccacio in the 14th CenturyThe discovery of classical Latia literature of
Vingil, Ovid, and CiceroThe capture of Constantinople, the last stronghold
of Greek culture by the Turks, and the fight of Greek scholars Westward
Their welcome in Italy and the spread of 'humanism'-Assisted by the ioven
tion of printing in Germany, and later by the discovery of America-Reforma
tion: Its begianing in Germany with
The split in the Christian Church intoMartin Luther's revolt against the Pops
Protestant and Catholic-Refornation
in Englaand: Henry VIIl's divorce of Anoe Boleyn and
led to his becoming indepeadent head of the EnglishhisChurch-Reformation
break with the Pope
furthered under Edward VI, checked under bloody Mary, and restored under
Elizabeth-Renaissance late in England-Its advance under Heory VII nd
climax under Elizabeth.
The end of the ifteenth century marks the end of the Middle
Ages. We now enter upon a new era-that of the Renaissance. Before
considering the literature of Renaissance England, we must first try
to understand the new tendencies in the life and thought of the
English people that the Renaissance brought in.
THE RENAISSANGE
The word Renaissance means ebirth (Re: again, naissance:
birth). Who was reborn? It was the human spirit that was roborn
or awakened after the long slumber of the Middle
or awakening was brought about by a revival Ages. of
This rebirth
culture and civilisation of ancieot Greece and Rome. interest
The
in the
study of
classical Greek and Roman art and literature came to be called
Humanism and its devotees
the religiou of bumaoity or Humanists. Humanism simply means
devotion to human or secular interests,
as opposed to divinity. As diviaity or dogmatic religion had beeD
the chief concera io the Middle Ages, the new learning of
humaoism
brought about a revolutionary chaDge in the life and outlook
tbe people in that it was a change of emphasis from the of
religious to
THE ReNAISSANCB AND THB REPORMATION $7
the secular. From now on, people began to value life for its owa
sake and not merely as a preparation ground for that in the next
world. This secular spirit marked the end of the Middle Ages and
the beginning ofa new epoch-the age of Renaissance.
Italy was the home of the Renaissauce. Dante (1265-1321) is tbe
last representative of the Middle Ages. ID his Divine Conmedy he
roams through heaven and hell and purgatory. The poet who camne
after him, Petrarch (1304-74) changed al! tbat. He turned away
from such gloomy subjects and wrote of more agreeable thiogs of
love, of pature, and of the glories of ancient Rome. The people
were delighted and thbey crowned bim with the laurel wreath of the
poet laureate. He was soon joined by his young friend Boccacio
(1313-75) who deligbted his countrymen with rollicking stories of
love and laughter and poems of romance and passion.
Both these Italians were immeosely interested in the past achieve
ments of their country, the relics of ancient buildings, the beautiful
statues and vases dug up here and there, the old and forgot ten
manuscripts of Virgil, Ovid or Cicero fisbed out from some musty
library. These reminded them of the mighty Roman Empire that
had ruled the world a thousand years. So Petrarch and Boccacio
were among the earliest of the humanists and their work marks the
dawn of the Reoaissance. The Italians were thrilled with the newly
discovered beauties of ancient Rome. Soon the craze spread to
westera Europe. The scholar who studied the Roman antiquities,
art and literature became a highly respecied igure.
ln the midst of this intellectual revolution, an eveot took place
wbicb gave a further fillip to the new scholarsbip. The Turks who
were îrmly establisbed in Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt and had
extended their conquests to the castern Mediterranean, Greece and
tbe Balkans, even to the gates of Vieona, Were now pressing bard
on Constantinople, the capital of the Byzaptine or the eastern halr
of the origioal Roman Empire. la 1453, this last stronghold of
Greek culture fell to the Turks. Loog before this the Greek scholars
alarmed by the Turkish pressure had been lecing West along ith
their precious libraries. They had found welcome in Italy, parti.
cularly in Florence under the patronage of the great family of
Medici who ruled there. With the fall of Constantinople, the fow
of Greek scholars became a steady stream. The Italians who had
only heard of the great names of Homer, of Plato and Aristotle,
and were anxious to know them at frst hand, now satisied their
Curiosity at the feet of the refugee scholars. Their joy knew no
bounds. To the treasure of ancient Rome was added the new and
richer treasure of ancient Greece that had been the nurse of ancient
Rome. The uoiversities were alarmed, for the students locked
round thbe Greek scholars, the humanists, leaving their own teachers,
the schoolmea, who were still teaching the antiquated scholastic
philosophy, an abstruse mixture of the Bible and Aristotle's logic
iltered tbrough Arabic scholars. The schoolmen fought agaiost
the new learning in vain. A last stand was made in Floreoce, the
58 HISTORY OP ENGLISH LITERATURE
centre of the renaissance, by the monk Savanarola, Wao denounced
the artistic licence and craze for beauty that had seized the people.
As a result of his frenzied eloquence, the people were frightened and
promised to repent for their sinful ove of beauty and pleasure.
They made a bonire of their books, statues, and paintings, to the
great satisfaction of the fanatic. His joy, however, was short-lived;
for the people realizing what they had done in a moment of weak
ness, turned against him. He was dragged through the streets,
hanged and burnt. Nobody could save him, not even the Pope,
for Popes themselves bad turned humanists, filliog the V atican with
the most precious treasures of Greek and Roman art. The renais
sance was in full tide in Italy at the end of the 15th century and
marked the end of the Middle Ages. Excluding the era of classical
Latin, the Renaissance is the most glorious period of Italy in art
and literature. n literature the most famous productions were: in
poetry (1) Ariosto's Orlande Furioso, 1 romantic poem and (2)
Tasso 's Jerusalem Delivered a romantic epic; in Prose: Castiglione's
The Courtier, presenting "the Renaissance ideal of living as a fine
art', the Autobiograply of Benvenuto Cellini, the famous sculptor
and lover, Machiavelli's The Prince, a book of political philosophy
which has given us the word 'Machiavellian' meaning unscrupulous,
Bandelio's Tales and Cinthio's Hndred Tales (or Hecatommithi).
In the sphere of art Italian artists, more particularly Italian painters
of Renaissance, remain supreme to this day. The most' famous are:
() Leonardo da Vinci, painter, sculptor and engincer--the most
gifted of all.
(2) Michaclangelo, painter and sculptor, famous, among other
things, for his frescoes of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
(3) Raphael, painier, famous specially for the Madoneas.
(4) Andrea del Sarto, painter, celebrated in Browning's poem of
that name.
(5) Correggio, vainter
(6) Tintoretto, pairter, glorified by Ruskia in his Modern
Painters.
While the fall of Constantinople 'as the most important eveat in
producing and spreading the spirit of humanism, there were other
events and infiuences which contributed to the new awakening of
the Renaissance. About the middle of the 1Sth century, Jobann
Gutenberg of Germany invented printing. This led to the multi
plication of books which could now be acquired easily and cheaply.
There was a general increase inthe number of readers and in the
thirst for knowledge. And knowledge meant broad-mindedness,
freedom fron prejuaice, individualism and free thinking.
As a climax to this intellectual ferment came the discovery of
America by Columbus in 1492. This further widened the people's
mental horizon and fired their imagination. Other discoveries
followed, which revealed a world of new and unheard-of riches.
The vision of a new world witb abundant riches to be acquired by
THE RENAISSANCE AND THE RErORMATION 59
tbe amb1tious illed the people with a spirit of adventure. Adven
turers like Jobn Hawkios apd Fraccis Drake who were traders as
well as pirates on the high seas brought immense treasure to EGg
land in the reign of Elizabeth.
The spir1t of inquiry and free thioking fostered by the new
learning and the Dew discoveries led to scientihc theorics iu various
fieiás. Of these the astronomical theories of Copernicus (1473
1543), Galileo (1564-1642), and Kepler (1571-1630) had the effect of
chapging entirely the medieval conception of the universe and of
man's place in it.
THE REFORMMATION
The most notable result of the Renaissance in the sphere of
religion was the revolution known as the Reformation. Tbe
quesuoning spirit cogendered by the Renaissance combined with
the people's disgust at the evils of the Church and the clergy.
which ultimately led to the repudiation of papal authority and
the formation of national states. We have seen how as early as
the fourteenth century Johuo Wycliff had attacked the corruption
in the Church. Johann Huss in Bohemia (modern Czechoslovakia)
who had read Wycliff's writings led a similar moveaeot carly ia
the ifteenth century against the Church in his own country and was
condemned and burnt at the stake. Inthe l6th century Martin
Luther (1483-1 546) provoked by the infamous sale of lodulgences
(or pardons of sins), posted upon the door of the church at Witten
berg a list of 95 theses protesting against papal induigences and
other evils of the church. This was thc beginning of tbe split of the
Church between Protestant and Catholic. A great part of Germany
became Protestaot and repudiated the authority of tbe Pope. The
movement was not conined to Germany only. lo Switzerland the
reform movement was taken up by a Zurich priest, Zwiogli, and
later on by a Frenchman, John Calvin. Calvinism, a stricter form
of Protestantism soon spread to England, Scotland, the Netherlaods,
Germany and Huagary.
This movement received further support from the humanists.
The most important of these was Erasmus (1466-1536) a Dutchman
of Rotterdam. He travelled over most of Europe and lived for a
time in Englaod, beiog the zssociate of such English humanists as
Colet, More and Grocyn. He lectured at Cambridge for three
years early io the 16tb century. Almost all Erasmus's works are
in Latio, the most inportant beingEncomium Moriae or the Praise
of Folly, a scatbiog satire aimed at folly in general, but particu
larly at the follics of the Church
Henry VII (1485-1509) crusbed tbe nobles, amassed mopey and
important marriages. He married his daughter Marga ret to
made James
Kirg IV of Scotlaod and his son Henry to a Spanish princess,
Catherine of Aragon. These marriages had far-reaching conse
quences. Henry VIll tiring of liis Spaoish wife who had given bim
60 HISTORY OP ENGLISH LITEATURE
a daughter and no male heir, desired a divorce in order to marry
the beautiful Anne Boleyn. The Pope refused to grant the divorce
because he could not afford to offead Charles V, King of Spain and
Emperor of Germany, who was Catherine's nephew. Henry wasa
beadstrong man and decided to break off with the Pope and get the
divorce in his own courts The Parliament supported him in this
move and passed in 1529 the Act of Supiemacy making Henry the
head of the Church in England. He did not change
the Protestants were doing. On the contrary he burnt athisthe faith as
stake
those who held Protestant belicfs. But he was not a Catholic
either, for he beheaded those Catholics who denied his headship of
the Church. Sir Thomas More, the most learned man of
and the author of Utopia, was beheaded for this very reason.his time
Heory tben proceeded to dissolve the monasteries and shared their
vast lands and property with the nobles. The
supported the Reformation, for they did not want nobles,
Roman
therefore,
Catholi
cism to come back for fear of losing monastic lands.
Another important event that helped the Reformation was a
fresh translatioa of the Bible by Miles
Bible were ordered to be placed in theCoverdale.
churches
Copies of the
and soon after
anyone could possess a Bible. Luther and other reformers
up the Bible and not tbe Pope as the final authority io had held
religious beliefs. Bibles becoming common, more and more matters of
read the scripture for themselves and repudiated the Pope and people
Roman Catholic doctrines. the
Henry left three children: two daughters and a son. Of the
daughters, Mary was by his first wife Catherine and Elizabeth by
his second, Anne Boleyn, while the son, Edward, was by his
wife Jane Seymour. Edward (1547-53) succeeded to the throne third
Edward VI, but as he was only a boy nioe years old, the kingdom as
was looked after by regents. They pushed the Reformation
but in a hasty and bungling way that angered the devout further
There were sporadic rebellions, but these were put down people.
force. Edward being a sickly boy died in 1553 and was by main
by Mary. Mary (1553-1558) I... her mother was a succeeded
Catholic
least half a Spaaiard. She married her cousin, Philip ll, and at
Spaio, and attempted to restore the Roman Catholic religion.kingThe of
Protestants were burnt at the stake. About three hundred
were thus burnt during her reigo. These included people
Cranmer and four bishops. On accouot of these cruelties, Archbishop
known in history as 'bloody Mary'. But she did not she is
These barbarities only served to confirm the English succeed.
reformed religion. people in the
With the comiog of Elizabeth (1558-1603) to the
throne, the Pro
testant religion was restored. But she was not a fanatic.
not care wbat people believed. All she wanted was She did
that
acknowledge her a9 head of the national Church and should they should
about their work and worship peaceably. But the religious go
troubles
RENAISSANCE AND THE REFORMATION 61
THE
Puritans,
did not come to an end. The extreme Protestants, the
needed any head, remained
who did not believe that the Church Stuart period.
and caused a great deal of trouble in the absolute ruler. Like her
an
Like her ancestors, Elizabeth was cooperation
the of Parliament in
ancestors, too, she wisely sought Her reign was marked by intense
her government of England. achievements. The proitable
patriotism and pride in English climaxed by the defeat of the Spanish
exploits of the buccancers were
sea-power, the rival of
Armada in 1588. England became a great
Spain, France, and the Netherlands.
The Renaissance was rather late inHeoryréaching England, but it was
already far advanced iu the reigo of VII. Literature, art,
advance in spite
and music flourished under him and continuedandto Mary, until they
of Edward VI
of the troubles in the reign under
reached glorious flowering Elizabeth. Under her patronage
there was a flood of writings of all sorts: prose, poetry apd drama.
Shakespeare at the
The monumental works of the dramatists with in the Elizabethan
top testify to the vigour of the artistic impulse
period.
