Kent-Drury
ENG 202
For the purposes of our class, we will not go as deeply into the history and thought of the English Renaissance as you probably will should you decide to take a course in Shakespeare later in your college career. There are a few concepts, however, that will make your experience of the literature of the period more enjoyable and will assist you in comment on the cultural context aspects of quotations that may appear on the second exam.
Historical/Political Overview
We have not covered material pertaining to the succession of the monarchy in England, except as it connected with our study of major literary works. As we enter the English Renaissance Period (roughly 1500-1620), however, political and religious ideas merged. Consequently, we will start from just before Henry VIII's break with the Roman Catholic Church to understand how this happened.
The founder of the Tudor line of the English monarchy, Henry VII became king when he defeated Richard III (the last of the Plantagenets) in battle. (An interesting sidelight is the fact that Richard III's remains were recently located under a parking lot in England. See link 1, link 2.)
Henry VII's son, Arthur, was originally heir to his throne and so was married to Katherine of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. (Ferdinand and Isabella were the financiers of Columbus on his voyages that led to his "discovery" of the Americas.) Arthur died before he could succeed to the throne. Subsequently, the Pope was asked to annul the marriage, based on the claim that it was never consummated, so that Katherine could marry another of Henry's sons, who became Henry VIII. (Annulment on these grounds was necessary because, at this time, marrying the wife of one's brother was considered incest.)
Henry & Katherine were married, and on the death of Henry VII, they became King Henry VIII and Queen Katherine. At one point, the Pope named Henry VIII Defender of the Faith. They were married 24 years and attempted to bear a son as heir, but none of their children survived except a daughter, Mary (later Queen Mary I). Eventually, with the hope that he might still have a son, Henry asked the Pope to annul the marriage, claiming that Katherine had, in fact, consummated her marriage with Arthur, and that for this reason God would not give him a son. The Pope refused, and eventually Henry decided to break with the Roman Catholic Church, to create the Anglican Church, and to declare himself the head of that church. Then, he granted himself an annulment from Katherine.
Almost immediately he married Anne Boleyn, a lady in waiting to Katherine, and made her queen. They were married only three years, during which she produced a daughter (later Queen Elizabeth I), as well as a stillborn son. Amid rumors (probably manufactured) that Anne was an adulteress (variously, it was said, with her brother, a court musicians, and others), Anne was arrested, tried, and ultimately executed by beheading. (Note that if one is married to the king, adultery is treason.)
Almost immediately, Henry married Jane Seymour, who was successful in bearing Henry a son (later King Edward VI). Unfortunately, she died through complications relating to childbirth. Henry married three more times--a political marriage to Anne of Cleves, a love match with Catherine Howard, and a final marriage to Catherine Parr. Anne of Cleves was represented to him through an inaccurate portrait by court painter Hans Holbein; when she arrived, Henry was repulsed by her, calling her a "Flanders mare." She agreed to an annulment and lived out her life in England with a household and income. Catherine Howard committed adultery and, like Anne Boleyn, was beheaded. Catherine Parr succeeded in surviving Henry's death.
Henry's son, Edward VI, was an Anglican and succeeded him as king at age 9; however, he died six years later. In his name, an attempt was made to disinherit his sisters, and a distant cousin, Lady Jane Grey, was named heir. She was queen for nine days before she was dethroned and executed. Edward's Catholic sister, Mary, succeeded him and earned the nickname "Bloody Mary" as she burned nearly 300 dissenters as heretics against her Roman Catholic beliefs. She married Philip of Spain and attempted to produce an heir; instead, she had two false pregnancies and died at age 42. Speculated causes of death are influenza or uterine cancer.
Mary's sister, Elizabeth, succeed to the English throne as Elizabeth I and reversed the state religion, naming the Church of England (Anglicanism) as the legitimate church. Elizabeth had many suitors and was encouraged by the men in her Privy Council to marry. The idea of having a woman on the throne without marriage was considered frightening (remember from the Medieval-Renaissance World View presentation that men were supposed to be inherently rational and fit to rule, whereas women were supposed to be irrational, ruled by the passions, and so unfit to be queen without a husband. Elizabeth succeeded in pretending to entertain marriage offers, while she solidified her power. She became one of England's longest reigning monarchs, never married, and never produced an heir. She was the last of the Tudor line, and after her death, the throne passed to her cousin, James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England, beginning the Stuart line.
Christian World View (a simplified view)
The Christian world view we encountered in the later medieval literature we read earlier continued to dominate in England during the Renaissance in England. To refresh your memory about what beliefs about the universe and the position of people in God's universe, you might think about viewing that presentation again at some point.
Most of the literature we will read, however, was written either simultaneous with or after Henry VIII decided to break with the Roman Catholic Church. Consequently, the religion in England during the Renaissance was, for the most part, the Church of England, or Anglican (in the United States, this same branch of Christianity became known as the Episcopalian church). Henry VIII's break with the Roman Catholic Church is known as the English Reformation. A separate Protestant Reformation had taken place in Europe, some aspects of which came to influence the Anglican church; however, the church in England was relatively distinct from it. The European protestant religions that emerged from the Protestant Reformation include Lutheranism and Calvinism (which later influenced the emergence of many sects, including the Baptists).
From the perspective of our brief dip into the literature of the English Renaissance, we will assume that the primary religious influence is Anglicanism, which has much in common with Roman Catholicism.
Christian Humanism (a simplified view)
During Henry VIII's reign, a new philosophy arose in Europe that focused on the need for the enlightened person, whether king or courtier, to focus on perfecting himself/herself through education within the confines of Christian belief. Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were educated along these lines. Christian Humanism focused on the body of knowledge we still know today as the "liberal arts," though these "arts" were not separated out into different disciplines as they are today in our contemporary universities.
revised 10/11/2015