Some periods of history are so appealing, so beautiful, that they inspire the imagination long after they are over. Such was the case with the ancient Roman and Greek civilisations. Rather than letting these periods of history die, later eras have tried to resurrect them, study them, and learn from them. This is especially true of the period of European history known as the Renaissance. The renaissance period in English history marked a new flourishing in the arts. In this article we'll explore some of the characteristics of the renaissance.
Renaissance meaning
The word Renaissance literally means ‘new birth’. It was an era spanning the 15th and 16th centuries and a bridge between the Middle Ages and the modern world, which arguably started in the 18th century. The reason it is called ‘rebirth’ is that it was a conscious effort to bring back to life the ideals, art, and accomplishments of the ancient or classical civilisations of Greece and Rome. This ancient era is sometimes called ‘classical antiquity’.
Some historians think of the Renaissance as a far longer period. They date it from the 14th to the 17th centuries. See the discussion below about dating the Renaissance.
Renaissance history
Before the Renaissance, there were several situations that historians believe led either directly or indirectly to the new era. In the 14th and 15th centuries, two severe problems confronted Europe. The first was the Great Famine (1315-1317). The second was the Black Death (1347-1351).
The Great Famine ended a time of wealth and prosperity in Europe. There were several reasons for the famine, including unusually warm weather, which caused crops to fail and disease and death among livestock populations.
The Black Death (also known as the Bubonic Plague) was a European pandemic which affected a vast area as far south as North Africa and as far east as parts of the modern Middle East. In total, it is estimated to have killed around 75-200 million people. No one knows exactly where the Bubonic plague came from, but it was first found in Crimea in 1347, from where it may have travelled via carriers such as fleas and black rats into Europe.
As a philosophical movement, the Renaissance is associated with the term humanism. This is not to be confused with the modern idea of secularist humanism. It is, rather, related to Greek and Roman ideas about human beings being at the centre of life.
Secularist humanism is the idea that people can do very well on their own without the need for a God.
Renaissance period in England
Taking the longer date range in the Deep Dive above about the ‘long Renaissance’ as a starting point, the English Renaissance is normally dated between the 16th and 17th centuries, long after its origins in Italy in the late 14th century.
Because of the geographical distance between Italy and England, the developments which happened a century earlier in Italy took a while to reach England. The period of English history associated with the Renaissance is known as the Elizabethan era (during the reign of Elizabeth I). However, some historians consider the Renaissance to have started under the reign of Henry 8th in the previous century.
There are some notable differences between the Italian and the English Renaissance. For one thing, it was literature and music which dominated the cultural landscape of the English Renaissance rather than the visual arts, which were a more prominent feature of the Italian Renaissance.
Literature was at the centre of the development of Renaissance ideas in England in this period, especially since the invention and widespread use of the printing press and the translation of the Bible into vernacular English in 1611 (the so-called King James Bible) and the advent of the Reformation.
The Reformation was a split between the Catholic Church and what became known as the Protestant Church. The Protestants wanted to be able to read and interpret the Bible for themselves rather than follow the Catholic interpretation.
Two of the most important contributors to English Renaissance literature were Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) and William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queen, which was an important influence, while Shakespeare wrote numerous plays and poems which became the most popular texts of the era.
Although it was English Literature which dominated during the Renaissance in England, the visual arts were not unimportant. Most artists of the period painted portraits. In particular, portraits of Elizabeth I became very popular, and numerous versions were produced.
Renaissance causes and effects
We looked briefly at the causes of the Renaissance in a previous section. Let’s look at these in more detail now.
It is clear to historians that the Renaissance originated in Florence, Italy. What is less clear is why it started there. There are several reasons given.
The first and most important is the role played by the famous Medici family, who were based in the city. Their importance for the Renaissance is related to their generous patronage of the arts (this means support given to artists in the form of commissions for works of art). Some of the famous artists who benefitted from the patronage of the Medici family included Michelangelo (1475-1564), Botticelli (unknown-1510), and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
Although the role played by the Medici family appears to have been central to the flourishing of the arts in Florence, it may be argued that it was more likely that the artists themselves were the reason the arts flourished. So many great artists living at the same time and in the same place is by itself sufficient to explain the phenomenon of an arts explosion in the city and its immediate surroundings. No doubt this was a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Artists needed patronage; patrons needed great artists to commission. One could not have existed without the other.
The other area which needs further explanation is the term humanism. In Renaissance thought, this term did not relate to an abstract idea but to an approach to learning.
Before the Renaissance, another approach to learning had been the norm. It was known as scholasticism. Scholasticism came from the monasteries and emphasised the use of reason to resolve contradictions. As a method of learning, it used argumentation.
By contrast, humanism was preoccupied with ‘the humanities’: poetry, history, philosophy, and grammar. In its purest form, humanism was about recovering and understanding the world of ancient Greece and Rome. One of the most significant thinkers of this movement in England was Thomas More (1478-1535). He had been against the Reformation but was a proponent of the Renaissance project.
Renaissance characteristics
In addition to the characteristics already mentioned (an emphasis on the ancient/classical world, the development of the humanities and the centrality of the human being), the Renaissance had a number of other facets.
As a result of the importance of literature during the Renaissance, libraries were made available to the general public for the first time. People from all walks of life were able to gather, debate, share ideas, read and improve themselves at the public library. Even some of the very rich, who had private libraries, made these available to the public. The Church followed suit, often housing their libraries in impressive buildings designed and built for the purpose. The Renaissance was the era of the democratisation of learning.
In the domain of scientific enquiry, the Renaissance merged art with science. Artists like Da Vinci drew careful and precise depictions of the human body and anatomy. Scientific experimentation was taken up by ordinary people across Europe. So much so, in fact, that the later scientific revolution of the 18th century can be traced to the Renaissance. The likes of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) were scientific radicals of the period, challenging accepted and long-held beliefs about the world and the solar system.
The Renaissance was also a period of exploration and geographical discovery. Europeans explored the whole world between the mid-14th to the mid-17th centuries, mapping it as they went.
Fig. 1 - Early world map.
Finally, in the area of religion, the Renaissance led towards secularism, even though it flourished in a religious environment. Martin Luther (1483-1546) published his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, which he wrote to challenge the Catholic Church. The Theses took aim at the corruption of the Church and the idea of the Pope’s authority as God’s representative on Earth. This led directly to the Protestant split from the Catholic Church.
Renaissance (1500-1660) - Key takeaways
- The word Renaissance literally means ‘new birth’.
- It was a conscious effort to bring back to life the ideals, art, and accomplishments of the ancient or classical civilisations of Greece and Rome.
- Two crises led to the Renaissance: the first was the Great Famine (1315-1317) and the second was the Black Death (1347-1351).
- Two of the most important contributors to English Renaissance literature were Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) and William Shakespeare (1564-1616).
- In the domain of scientific enquiry, the Renaissance merged art with science. Artists like Da Vinci drew careful and precise depictions of the human body and anatomy.
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