THE RENAISSANCE

In the 14th century in Italy there was a rebirth

of art, literature and philosophy, that we

remember as HUMANISM. This arrived in England only in the 15th century

because here there were a lot of wars, like “the

Hundred Years’ War” and “the Wars of the Roses”.

The most important aspects of the Renaissance were: - the culture -the economy - the geographical expansions - the scientific innovations

THE CULTURE• The English scholars went

in Italy to attend the university to learn Greek and Latin. When they returned at home they founded classical schools and they translated a lot of Italian poems, so they introduced in the English literature the sonnet , a short text in verses. One of the most important author of this period was Thomas More with “L’utopia”.

The economy • In the Renaissance there

was the birth of a new social class: the merchants. They belonged to the middle-class and they were interested in trade, commerce and the economic development. This class became rich also thanks to protestant reforms because catholic monasteries were dissolved and the lauds were sold to this new class.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL EXPANSIONS

• Henry VIII founded the modern English Navy, he tripled the number of warships, he built new freights with headlight system that facilitated the navigation. In 1588 the royal navy defeated the Spanish armada.

• During the Elizabeth I’s reign Francis Drake circumnavigated the earth. He was the second to do this, only after Magellano. In 1579 arrived In California that he called nova albiom. The first colony was founded in Virginia in 1584, but it had a short life because there wasn’t food and the clime was the worst.

THE SCIENTIFIC INNOVATIONS

• In 1543 Niccolo Copernico, with his “ De Revolutionibus orbium coelestium” suggested the right vision of the solar system. Here Copernico did a new eliocentric teory that took the place of the tolemaic teory. So the sun, and not the earth, was the center of the solar system.

THE TUDORS

From the 1485 to 1568

Catherine of Aragon

Mary Tudor

Henry VII Elizabeth of York

Edward VI

Henry VIII

Jane Seymour

Anne Boleyn

Elizabeth I

HENRY VII (1485-1509)• A “treaty with France” going him

recognation.• A trade “treaty with the Netherlands” • Strengthned the monarchy and

tourned England in a modern state • Renforcing England’s trading position• Foundation of english naval power by

increased spending on shipbuilding.

England had its own merchant fleet and extended its military

power

HENRY VIII (1509-1547)

• Henry VII’s second son• A natural sportsman,

popular both with the english elite and the english pubblic

• Called the “Golden prince” both for his natural good look and chivarly and education

• Granted the title of “Defender of the faith” by Pope in Latin in 1521

HENRY VIII• Married Catherine of

Aragon who bore him a daugther: Mary I

• Asked the Pope for a divorced to marry Anne Boleyn

• Broke with Rome when the Pope refused and declared himself “Supreme head of the Church of England”

• Anna Boleyn gave him a second daughter, Elizabeth

• Henry went on to have four more wives and one son, Edward VI from Jane Seymour

MARY I (1547-1553)• The daugther of Henry

VII and Catherine of Aragon

• Refused to abandon the catholic faith

• Tried to restore England to papal obedience

• Married the catholic Philip of Spain

• Her nickname was “bloody mary”

• Died without an heir

EDWARD VI (1553-1558)

• The son of Jane Seymour and Henry VII

• Made protestant doctrine more fully accepted

• Used same of the confiscated wealth of convents

• Replaced the old latin with the book of common prayer in english

ELIZABETH I (1558-1603)• Henry VIII and Anne

Boleyn’s daughter • Became queen of a

divided nation, the majority of which was anti-catholic and anti-spanish

• She was 25 and had a strong personality,a lively intelligence and a passionate character

• She had received an excellent education: she could speak french, latin and italian

ELIZABETH I• Her church of england restored

the country firmly to protestantism

• Was unmarried and used this as a political weapon

• Said that the queen was married to her people and became the “virgin queen”

• Went on royal progresses to be seen and to get to know her people

• Inspired music,drama, poetry and literature with William Shakespeare

ELIZABETH I• Recognised spain as her main

trade rival and enemy • Expandend exploration and

overseas • Encouraged sea captains Francis

Drake and Walter Raleigh in their piracy against spanish ships and took a share of the profits

• Defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588

• Laid the basis of England’s empire chartering seven companies.

THE SONNETPetrarchan: octave + seset

Shakespearean: three quatrains + couplet Turning-point at the ens of the 8° lineFixed rhyme scheme

Language full of oxymora

Idealised figure of the woman

The psychology of love

• The sonnet came from Italy . the form reached its greatest expression with the italian poet Petrarch.

• The italian , or Petrarchan sonnet consist of an octave, usually rhyming ABBA ABBA, and a sestet, which may rhyme CDE CDE or CDC DCD.

• The English or shakespearean sonnet is divided into three quatrains and a couplet, it rhymes ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Shall I compare theeWilliam Shakespeare SONNET XVIII

“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date.Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,And often is his gold complexion dimmed,And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed;But thy eternal summer shall not fade,Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;Nor shall Death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,When in eternal lines to time thou grow rest. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.”

• This sonnet closes the sequence on the theme of increase devoted to the ‘fair youth’ and develops the theme of the awareness of the transience of beauty.

• In the first part we retrouve a question and the answer. The poet compares his beloved to summer, but realizes that she is more lovely than the violent winds that ruin ‘the darling buds’. Also the summer is shoter.

• In the second part we have a justification to the answer. In fact the heat of the sun does darken the skin, causing you to lose the beauty in anything.

• In the third part there is a promise. the summer will never end,not even the beaty, not even the death brag

• In the last part : the result of the promise.

« Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? A Thou art more lovely and more temperate. BRough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A

And summer's lease hath all too short a date. B

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, CAnd often is his gold complexion dimmed, DAnd every fair from fair sometime declines, CBy chance or nature's changing course untrimmed; D

But thy eternal summer shall not fade, ENor lose possession of that fair thou owest; FNor shall Death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, EWhen in eternal lines to time thou grow rest. F

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G So long lives this and this gives life to thee. » G

* thee= you Hath= has Try=your

*intensifier

* figure of speech about the sun

Sensory experience, something seen with the mind. A true comparison.

the heavenly effects

Earthly love

* Is a sinonym of beauty. Represente the lovely and temperate.

*represent the eternity

Last words. Does reflect about love and the effects that it causes

* The scheme of the rhyme

* the turning point