English Renaissance

This article is about the cultural movement known as the English Renaissance. For more general historical information about Britain in this period, please see the article on Early Modern Britain.

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"English Renaissance" is a term often used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the mid-17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century. This era in English cultural history is sometimes referred to as "the age of Shakespeare" or "the Elizabethan era," taking the name of the English Renaissance's most famous author and most important monarch, respectively; however it is worth remembering that these names are rather misleading: Shakespeare was not an especially famous writer in his own time, and the English Renaissance covers a period both before and after Elizabeth's reign.

Related Topics:
Cultural - Artistic movement - England - 16th century - 17th century - Renaissance - Italy - Fourteenth century - Shakespeare - Elizabethan era

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Poets such as Edmund Spenser and John Milton produced works that demonstrated an increased interest in understanding English Christian beliefs, such as the allegorical representation of the Tudor Dynasty in The Faerie Queen and the retelling of mankind’s fall from paradise in Paradise Lost; playwrights, such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, composed theatrical representations of the English take on life, death, and history. Nearing the end of the Tudor Dynasty, philosophers like Sir Thomas More and Sir Francis Bacon published their own ideas about humanity and the aspects of a perfect society, pushing the limits of metacognition at that time. As England abolished its astrologers and alchemists, it came closer to reaching modern science with the Baconian Method, a forerunner of the Scientific Method.

Related Topics:
Edmund Spenser - John Milton - Tudor Dynasty - The Faerie Queen - Paradise Lost - Christopher Marlowe - William Shakespeare - Thomas More - Francis Bacon - Baconian Method - Scientific Method

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