1500-1700 England

Nic NootensLi Wu

Bao Zhang

Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth’s Life• “A woman who brought the European country from the

bottom of the barrel to the summit of the great powers (Axelrod).”

• Elizabeth was born on September 7, 1533• Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Henry’s

second wife Anne Boleyn• Elizabeth was extremely intelligent and well educated

– Scholars from Cambridge were chosen to teach her as a child– Fluent in six languages other than English– She translated Katherine Parr’s prayers (Henry VIII’s sixth wife who

brought stability to Elizabeth’s life and was an important model of an able Queen for Elizabeth) into French, Italian, Latin, and Greek.

• Her mother was executed due to false charges of adultery on May 19, 1536– Elizabeth was then declared illegitimate

Line of Succession to Throne• In 1543, Parliament reinstated Mary (Elizabeth’s Roman

Catholic half-sister) and Elizabeth in the succession• Before Henry VIII’s death he stated in his will the

succession line to the throne, thus securing Elizabeth’s position

• Edward (Son of Henry VIII’s 3rd wife) Mary (daughter of Henry VIII’s 1st wife, Catherine of Aragon) Elizabeth (daughter of Henry VIII’s 2nd wife Anne Boleyn)

• After Edward died in July 1553, Mary succeeded to the throne. – Mary was very anxious to restore English Protestants to Roman

Catholicism

• Elizabeth became Queen in November 1558 after Mary’s death

Elizabeth’s Reign• Elizabeth chose a Latin motto “Semper Eadem” to represent her

reign, which means “Always the same”– It is ironic she said that because her reign is often referred to as

The Golden Age in English history– Her reign was one of the most influential, and changes she made in

England led to changes throughout Europe• Age of Exploration marked Elizabeth reign

– Many brave explorers such as Walter Raleigh, Francis Drake, and Humphrey Gilbert made important discoveries in America

• These expeditions led to the age of colonization and trade expansions

• They also brought great wealth and power to England (East India Trading Company established in 1600)

• England’s cultural development flourished– Writers such as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spencer, and

Christopher Marlowe’s writing bloomed, making them very popular • Elizabeth attended the first performance of Shakespeare’s “A

Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Protestant Reformation• This event took place from early 1500s-1600s and it caused

major division between Catholics and Protestants in Europe• Major issue during Elizabeth's reign was religion

– England was torn internally by religious dissension– Elizabeth was a Protestant and eventually England became a

Protestant nation under her rule – She helped other Protestants in Europe fight Catholicism– At the end of her reign, England was involved in war with

Catholic Spain• The fear of witchcraft was heightened during this time due to

the promotion of the idea of personal piety (an individual’s devout fulfillment of religious obligations)– This provoked the rigid characterization of people as either

“good” or “bad”

Rise of England Under the Rule of Queen Elizabeth

• Philip II, king of Spain (husband of the former Queen Mary) wanted the English throne and fought in war with the English

• Philip sent the Spanish Armada to fight the English, and under the rule of Elizabeth, the English defeated the Armada– Spanish Armada was a symbol of Spanish decline for sea power and

rise of England– This victory proved to other people that a female Queen could also

be skilled in politics

• Elizabeth emphasized national unity– Because of the unification of England, Elizabeth was able to build

both a powerful economy and country– She also encouraged old industries to grow to develop new

industries

The Virgin Queen• Queen Elizabeth I never married even though she had

many suitors – Archduke of Charles, Scottish Earl of Arran, Eric XIV of Sweden

• She never married because of how she saw her father with his numerous wives– This resulted in Elizabeth’s lack of confidence with men– She was afraid of childbirth and that her son/daughter would

have to go through a childhood like hers– During her reign, politics were male dominated, so if she married

she would have to give her royal powers to her husband

• Elizabeth was so smart she was able to use her marriage as a tool to succeed in politics– She helped England by using the bait of marriage to either draw

in enemies, or frighten them by suggesting she would marry one of their foes

Humanism

• Emphasizes logic and science over old beliefs

• Asks about life without focusing on God or religion– Why do humans exist?

• Searches for and defines the potential and worth of all humans

Humanism in the 1500-1600s

• More scholars started to write in their own language rather than Latin

• Instead of recognizing the works of ancient Greeks and Latins as the knowledge of the world, humanists of the later renaissance placed more emphasis on the human mind

• A secular approach towards one’s existence – Elizabethans like Francis Bacon, William

Shakespeare and John Locke freed themselves from God in their ideas

Humanism 1500s-1600s

• One controls his own spirits and is an “inventor and enforcer of his own ideals (Grant 207).”

• God does not have full power over one’s mind, he himself does

• God is an example of human power because his existence is created from people’s imagination

William Shakespeare

Shakespeare (1564-1616)

• His plays are “aesthetically and intellectually sophisticated (Hadfield 102).”– He wrote every type of play: history, comedy,

tragedy

• In his plays, he wanted to show his audiences the importance of the present rather than the afterlife or the past

• He challenged his audiences to think about their existence

Hamlet (Act II, Scene2)

• “What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And, yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights no me, nor woman neither, by smiling you seem to say so.”

Shakespeare cont…• Shakespeare wrote the tragic play Macbeth

around 1603-1606, at the end of the Elizabethan Era

• Some of the themes in the book are ambition, betrayal, evilness, power, murder and the struggle of one’s conscience

• All the themes are dealing with people and their thoughts/interactions, which relates back to Humanism

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon

• He separated science from religion by stating that facts are based on reasoning while religion is all about faith

• Steps of reasoning: 1. what one thinks

2. self-evident truth

3. law that everyone follows

John Locke

John Locke• He thought that everyone is born with a

blank mind, and facts come from the images one’s senses generate

• The discourse of these facts justifies its truthfulness

Political Timeline• 1603-1625 King James • 1605 Gunpowder Plot – When James didn’t reunite

with Roman Catholic church some Catholics tried to blow up Parliament

• 1611 King James version of the Bible was published and liked by most Christian denominations

• 1620 People sailed from England to America where they would be free from English oppression/problems

• 1625-1649 Charles I• 1629-1640 Financial disagreements with

Parliament led to Charles ceasing connection with them (Personal Rule)

• 1642-1651 English Civil War between Charles I and Parliament raged until Charles was beheaded in 1649

• 1649-1653 After the King’s death England became a republic known as the Commonwealth of England

• 1653-1658 Oliver Cromwell, a former military leader against Charles I, was Lord Protector of England (did not want there to be a “King”)

• 1658-1660 Oliver’s son Richard ruled after his father’s passing until the Restoration and Charles II was seated as King

• 1660-1685 Charles II ruled and most of England was happy to have a fun and partying king

• 1685-1688 James II was king until he fled, due to his religious [Catholic] policies, to Louis XIV in France

• 1688-1689 Glorious (Bloodless) Revolution when James II’s daughter Mary II and her husband William III of Orange became joint rulers of England

• 1689 English Bill of Rights was written, giving England’s citizens more power against The Crown, and only allowing a constitutional (elected) monarch, which is basically how England is still ruled today

Cultural Timeline• 1628 William Harvey discovered how blood

circulates around the body, pumped by the heart• 1665 The Bubonic Plague, known as The Great

Plague, infected London from April to December, killing over 110,000 people

• 1666 The Great Fire of London burned for four days and destroyed hundreds of famous churches and halls

• 1670 Dom Pérignon invented champagne• 1675 Christian Huygens patented the pocket watch• 1682 Edmond Halley predicted the path of a

recurring comet that was later named after him• 1694 Bank of England was set up to raise money

for foreign wars

The Arts• The English Renaissance from 1500-1660 was a period

in which English literature, theatre, and poetry flourished• William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote plays that are

still performed today the world over• Anthony van Dyck (1618-1641) and William Dobson

(1611-1646) were famous English painters who painted members of the aristocracy

• 1649-1660 Theatres were closed by the Puritans for religious and ideological reasons

• 1660 The Restoration re-opened the theatre and Charles II supported its flourishing

• 1668 The Poet Laureate became an official position• 1670 Aphra Behn’s first play, The First Marriage, was

produced, making her the first professional English woman playwright

17th Century Women

Roles Women Played 1500s-1600s• A woman was to be a wife and mother

– If she failed to become one or the other, she was viewed as a “freak” (Plowden 164) and would have to expect a tough life in a relative’s house

– A wife would prepare food, preserve the meat, have some knowledge of medicines, care for her children and clean the house

• After marriage, a woman’s belongings would become the husband’s

• She would only have ownership of the estate(s) if her husband died

• On average, a woman gave birth to eight to fifteen children

Roles Women Played 1500s-1600s

• Women were barely educated and not able to vote

• The common jobs that women took were: tailors, upholsterers, milliners, embroiderers, inn keepers, laundresses, fishwives, street vendors, bakers and shoe makers

Roles Women Played 1500s-1600s• However, as the century developed women got to play

bigger roles– Women were starting to write plays and other forms of literature– After The Restoration women could even act on the public

stage– Due to the unrest of the Civil War some aristocratic women

even became military leaders• 1643 In Lord Arundell's absence his 60-year-old wife Blanche –

with the help of 25 soldiers – held out in Old Wardour Castle against a Parliamentary army of 1,300

• Women were also protesting for rights and equality, of which they were beginning to have– Marriage was beginning to be looked at as an equal partnership

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Doran, Susan. Queen Elizabeth I. New York: New York University Press, 2003.

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