ALQUIN LITERATURE
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THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY (1485-1603)
Era of Tudor dynasty, great economic and cultural growth, theatre became prominent.
Population growth stimulated development and innovation.
Lower classes had very hard lives, benefits only felt by upper classes
Official religion changed a few times, tussles for the throne.
KINGS AND QUEENS
1485: King Henry VII secured throne (house of Lancaster) his wife Elizabeth
(house of York) end of the Wars of the Roses white and red combined after.
Wars of the Roses: a series of power struggles between House of Lancaster (red) and
House of York (white)
1509: Henry VII Henry VIII (splitting from the church of Rome and 6 wives).
Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, the ex of his older brother Arthur who died
at the age of 16. The pope had to declare the marriage invalid, in order to let Henry
VIII marry Catherine, after he did that, they had one child: a girl. Henry VIII wanted a
male heir, so he wanted a divorce.
The pope didn’t want to annul the divorce, so Henry VIII declared himself head of the
Church of England in 1533.
As head of Church: dissolved all monasteries (took away their property) growth of
royal treasury. Church had to become essentially Catholic.
Cultural: the break with Rome lead to destruction of many works of art, buildings and
books.
After the death of Henry VIII (1547), the Church became very Protestant due to
Martin Luther. Henry VIII got succeeded by Edward VI (9 years old). He was king for
8 years. The kingdom was controlled by a council of regents because of his age. He
died in 1553 of tuberculosis.
During the time of Edward VI there was a strict Protestant policy.
Lady Jane Grey got the throne (great granddaughter of Henry VII), she was orthodox
protestant and in favour to Elizabeth (Henry VIII’s daughter) because of that. She was
queen for 9 days.
Mary (the eldest of Henry VIII’s, daughter Catherine of Aragon) was Catholic and
people thought she would reverse the Reformation. Mary pressed her claim to the
throne and threw Lady Jane Grey in the Tower, where she was kept for 6 months
before executing her.
When Mary was in power, she began to reverse the reformation. An alliance with
Spain was formed by her marriage to Crown Prince Philip, but she was unable to
repair the relations between England and Rome.
Her reign was only 5 years, nevertheless she got the nickname Bloody Mary, because
she persecuted many Protestants. She was childless, so her half-sister Elizabeth
reigned for 44 years after that. 1558-1603.
THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY VIII
1. Catherine of Aragon
, 2. Anne Boleyn, married in 1533, she was already pregnant then. That baby Queen
Elizabeth I. Henry was mad that it was a girl, and he didn’t get a girl with Anne after
that. Anne Boleyn got accused of adultery, incest, witchcraft and treason beheaded.
3. Jane Seymour, she gave him a son (Edward VI), but she died shortly after of puerperal
fever.
4. Anne of Cleves, short marriage. He only saw her on a portrait, and when he saw her in
real life, she disappointed him, so he filed for divorce immediately after the wedding.
5. Catherine of Howard, accused of adultery and beheaded.
6. Catherine Parr, had been married twice and became widow twice. She outlived Henry,
she remarried for the 4th time. She provided a home for his 3 children.
So: Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
In 1588, 30 years into the reign of Elizabeth I, the English navy defeated a large
Spanish invasion fleet, sent by the Spanish King Philip II. He was Mary’s widower
and Elizabeth’s brother-in-law.
The victory was seen as a victory of the Protestants, because Spain was Catholic.
Armanda’s defeat (Armanda = fleet) gave the country self-confidence and patriotism.
Creative figures during the Elizabethan era: Nicholas Hilliard, William Byrd, Francis
Bacon, Cristopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare.
During Elizabethan era lower classes were still oppressed, strict censorship and court
culture. The religious tolerance from the early era didn’t last long, an uprise by
Catholic nobles and the excommunication with the Pope led to a persecution of
religious and other opponents.
Elizabeth never married The Virgin Queen, the only claimant to the throne was the
son of Mary Stuart, King James VI of Scotland and later England.
ELIZABETH AND MARY STUART
Elizabeth wasn’t popular, there were plots to remove her from the throne. One rival
for the throne was Mary Stuart (great-granddaughter of Henry VII). Mary tried to get
the throne with help from France, she was already Queen of Scotland.
This plan failed, so she had to give up the throne of Scotland in 1567, her son got the
throne, and she went to prison.
After escaping Scottish jail, she went for help to England, but Elizabeth imprisoned
her again. She got sentenced to death for plotting against Elizabeth and executed in
1587.
THE START OF THE RENAISSANCE
The renaissance started in Italy in the 14th century, art and science were greatly valued
and encouraged. Cities got rich by trading, and with trading they also got knowledge
and ideas.
In 1453, Constantinople fell and many people fled to Italy, bringing knowledge and
books with them.
Influential writers: Boccaccio, Petrarca and Dante, who were known to Geoffrey
Chaucer who first introduced the Renaissance ideas to English Literature.
Time lag Italian and English Renaissance: economical factors, the country was not
stable enough until the reign of Elizabeth. It also took time to get the ideas here
because of the limited ways of communicating between communities.