English Renaissance
Religion
Science
Society
Culture
Reformation: Catholicism VS Protestantism
Catholics were often persecuted; many kept practicing in secret
Protestants are not all the same: there are Lutherans, Calvinists and Puritans
Lutherans: Martin Luther | everyone is their own priest | individual communication w/God | Virgin Mary and saints not super important
Calvinists: theory of predestination to heaven or hell | you could see if someone was destined to heaven via their way of life: importance of hard work and frugality
Puritans: want to be (or believe they are) "purer" than other Protestants | no ceremonies, music, incense and kneeling | dislike of clergy
theory of microcosm and macrocosm > humans are worlds in their own right, they reflect the universe
Medicine
Galenic theory of sex: one-sex model | women and men have the same bodies with genitals arranged differently (inside for women, outside for men) b/c women are colder and men run warm
humoralism: everything in the universe if made up of 4 elements: in the human body these are the 4 "humours" that need to be balanced in order for the body to be healthy; imbalance of the humours brings illness
basic hygiene unknown > high rate of mortality also due to plagues | death is an everyday reality and not something unmentionable
Alchemy combination of chemistry and magic | philosopher's stone only discoverable by the pure of heart > alchemist must become so wise that he's not interested in the resulting wealth
highly hierarchical: monarch | aristocrats and clergy | citizens | "mob" (city) and "churls" (countryside)
social mobility possible through marriage, money (buying a coat of arms) or education
Family
much larger sense than now (distant relatives were acknowledged + no contraception methods)
husband as master/king | wife inferior to husband, must be silent, faithful and obedient | children are their parents' property and unquestioned obedience is expected
paranoia about female infidelity
servants were also part of the family
courtiers view citizens as vulgar; citizens view courtiers as spendthrifts | citizens associated to hard work and honesty, make wealth through trades (trade guilds; city councils), can be considered forerunners of middle class
visual art as morally suspicious (stands btw human and direct contemplation of divine > idolatry)
portraits are in vogue but the most energy goes into architecture and lavish gardens
Poetry
Satire
Pastoral
Epic
Prose
not "novels" | characters are often purely symbolic | elaborate style
Drama
Tragedies
Comedies
Mystery plays
Tragicomedies
Morality plays
Historical plays
Masques
centered on moral issues and choices | characters are man, vice and virtues
performed annually in the streets by trade guilds | short plays that together narrate a biblical story
performed at court by lords and ladies | very lavish | combined poetry music and elaborate scenes | revel when audience danced with actors | mostly adulatory of royal policy
Tournaments
Progresses (tours of the countryside by the monarch and their retinue)