The English Renaissance

The 16th century was indeed a great century. It was marked by great changes and

great events: the discovery of new lands and of the Pacific ocean, the circumnavigation of the world and more precise evaluation of its real size, the Copernican theory which revolutionized planetary astronomy, the achievements of Galileo..., just to mention the most important.

Europe was shaken by a religious revolution, the Reformation, and by an intellectual revolution, the Renaissance.

The Reformation gave England a Church independent of the Pope, which

gradually became more Protestant and during Elizabeth’s reign reached a balance between Catholic and Protestant elements.

Martin Luther (1483-1546) Priest, professor and theologian. His teachings inspired the Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines and culture of the Lutheran and Protestants as well as the course of Western civilization.

The Luther rose is a Widely-recognised symbol for Lutheranism.

It was against this background of religious reformation that the spirit of the Renaissance developed in England. The Renaissance had started in Italy in the late 14th century (peaking in the late 15th century), and the new ideas spread across Europe in millions of printed books, which had now replaced handwriting.

The influence of this rebirth of intellectual curiosity was manifold: literary, scientific, artistic. There was the discovery of the mental and physical potential of man, who was assumed to be interested in all kinds of knowledge and to possess the power to create his fortunes and control the world. People felt free from the constrictions of the mediaeval spirit, and had not yet become enslaved to the machines; it looked as if human nature was free to express itself to the best.

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Elizabethan culture was greatly fascinated by the occult, and one of the most important personalities in this field was John Dee (1527-1608), mathematician, astrologer, alchemist and spiritualist, who was even consulted by Queen Elizabeth about a propitious day for her coronation. He also gave advice and instruction to pilots and navigators, and greatly stimulated scientific thought. Shakespeare himself was not exempt from the charm of the occult.

Literature flourished: the rich middle-class had more time to dedicate to reading and writing, and the courts encouraged the arts. In England, in particular, the national language had become a subtle and powerful instrument of expression, suitable for the highest forms of writing. John Dee devoted

much of his life to alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy.

The second half of the century –the age of Elizabeth or the age of Shakespeare-

was a magnificent period in English history. It was fostered by the growth of trade, social achievements and political organization that developed during the Middle Ages. The discovery of America in 1492 had shifted the centre of interest to the west, and England received gret advantage from its geographical position.

The English skilfully exploited this fact, and soon challenged the naval

supremacy of Spain. Riches were brought home from the voyage, and many went to explore new territories in the hope of finding gold. The defeat of the Armada, the beginning of colonization in the New Continent and the commercial expansion to various parts of the world contributed to the consolidation of the maritime power of England, which was destined to develop so successfully in the next centuries.

The age was characterized by intense national feeling –or even national

pride- dominated by the personality of Elizabeth, the erudite and multi-lingual sovereign, who inspired poets and was the beloved queen of adoring subjects. It was not by chance that the dramatist and poet John Lyly wrote: “The living God is only the English God.

Autograph of Queen Elizabeth I.

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It is interesting to note that the attitude to Italy was dual. It was seen as thecradle of culture and the country of Dante and Petrarch; the stories of Boccaccio were widely translated. But Italy was also the land of papal Rome and of the Borgias, and the misunderstanding of Machiavelli’s The Prince contributed to re-inforce these prejudices.

An elderly witch feeding her satanic “familiars”. (woodcut, 1579)

In spite of the domestic peace and prosperity which characterized the Elizabethan period, cruelty still survived. The slave trade, the witch hunt, the religious persecutions, the massacres in Ireland demonstrated that this golden age was not all gold. But it is a fact that this period, with all its contradictions, its enthusiasm and cruelty and love for life was the extraordinary period that produced William Shakespeare.

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This is how a foreign merchant living in London saw the condition of married women in England, in the second half of the 16th century.

Wives in England are entirely in the power of their husbands, yet they

are not kept so strictly as in Spain. Nor ar they shut up... They go to the market to buy what they like best to eat. They are well-dressed, fond of taking it easy and leave the care of the household to their stewards. They sit in front of their doors, dressed in fine clothes, to see and be seen by passers-by. In all banquets and feasts they are shown the highest honour... All the rest of the time they spend in walking and riding, in playing at cards, in visiting thir friends, conversing with their neighbours and making merry with them and childbirths and christenings. And all this with the permission of their husbands. This is why England is called the paradise of married women.

(Extract from a book published in 1575 and written by a Dutch merchant, Van Meteren, living in London).

La Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea, known as La Celestina, was written by Fernando de Rojas in 1499 and is regarded as the first modern novel.