[CULTURE]

THE CONCEPT OF THE RENAISSANCE The French term Renaissance means ‘rebirth’ and it refers to the rebirth of classical (Greek and Latin) learning.  spirit of intellectual curiosity directed towards the past. Middle Ages: decay of classical culture, hence the necessity of a ‘rebirth’.

Printing press brought to England by William Caxton in  literacy extended beyond clerics and monks. Culture: not only an artistic purpose but also a social one. Good art and good government were thought to go together.

THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE (16 th century) Started later than other European renaissances, the Italian in particular spread by grammar schools and the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. Blend of Northern Humanism with the Reformation spirit

Northern Humanism expansion of knowledge in philosophical, literary, moral, social, scientific and religious field.  old medieval beliefs survived next to new progressive ideas. The etymological meaning of Humanism comes from humanae litterae: grammar, rhetoric, logic, philosophy, poetry.  The studies of these subjects was necessary for a free and complete man.

key figures: Erasmus of Rotterdam. Sir Thomas More.

Reformation spirit Humanists played a major role in shaping the new Church of England  translation of the Bible and the Psalms. following the example of Martin Luther, who had translated the Bible into German in 1522.

This process culminated in the Authorized Version of the Bible of 1611, it is also known as King James Bible. The Bible is the most influential book in English and American literature: its images, vocabulary, rhythms and rhetorical patterns are to be found in may English works.

The rise of modern science Ptolemaic universe: the earth was at the centre with the moon, the sun and the planets revolving around it.

During the Middle Ages it wasn’t just a scientific issue: it was the supreme example of order and hierarchy (“Thy will be done,/on earth as it is in heaven”). The Church, monarchy, the social system, paternal authority in the family, were all reflections of the order of the universe created by God.

a new model of the universe by Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler. The earth was just one of several planets revolving around the sun  it changed man’s central place in creation and challenged long-established concepts of order and hierarchy.

The new philosophers Important philosophers of the period: Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes. Like science, the new philosophy rejected the old deductive method (from general ideas to particular facts) in favour of the inductive method (from particular facts formed general truths).

This meant that personal sense experience was more important than traditionally accepted ideas.  Individual thinking vs. accepted authorities. Also in religion: rejection of the Church central authority in favour of individual conscience and the personal interpretation of the word of God through an individual reading of the Bible.