Fiche de révision : The Renaissance in England

📋 Plan du Cours

1. Sens et délimitation de la Renaissance
2. Les transformations de la Renaissance
3. Humanisme et éducation
4. La chute de Constantinople
5. Les périodes Tudor et Stuart
6. La Renaissance dans la littérature anglaise

📖 1. Sens et délimitation de la Renaissance

🔑 Notions clés & Définitions

• Renaissance : French for rebirth or revival

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• The Renaissance began in Italy, particularly in Florence and Venice, before spreading to other parts of Europe.

📌 The Elizabethan Age refers specifically to Elizabeth I’s reign, whereas the Renaissance covers a broader period.

Compléments

• The name Renaissance became popular much later, especially in the 19th century, when people contrasted it positively with the Middle Ages.

📌 Historians have reconsidered the Renaissance as a simple rebirth after an age of ignorance because that interpretation creates an overly positive contrast with the Middle Ages.

• The Renaissance is also referred to as the Early Modern Period.

• In English literary history, the Renaissance is associated with these names :

  • The Golden Age of English Literature
  • The Elizabethan Age
  • The Age of Shakespeare

📖 2. Les transformations de la Renaissance

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• The Renaissance was characterised by the rediscovery of classical Greek and Roman culture, a more optimistic view of human potential, and a new spirit of curiosity.

• The Renaissance saw tremendous religious changes, the development of printing, and an artistic and linguistic explosion.

Compléments

• The Renaissance brought developments in these fields :

  • science
  • astronomy
  • geography

• The Renaissance brought a new vision of the world, giving increasing attention to human life alongside traditional religious concerns.

• Change is the key word for the Renaissance.

📖 3. Humanisme et éducation

🔑 Notions clés & Définitions

• Humanism : focused on Man and the classical humanities

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• Humanist study encouraged these subjects :
  • philosophy
  • history
  • drama
  • poetry
  • classical texts

📌 Unlike the dominant religious focus of much medieval thought, humanism placed greater emphasis on human beings, their abilities and their place in the world, without religion disappearing from Renaissance life.

Compléments

• Humanist scholars studied Latin and Greek to read ancient works in their original languages rather than relying only on later translations.

• Education became increasingly important, with the development of schools and universities.

• Humanist ideas influenced these areas :

  • education
  • literature
  • the understanding of human potential

• Access to education remained unequal, and women generally had fewer educational opportunities than men.

💡 Astuce mémo

Humanisme : l’humain au premier plan, sans disparition de la religion.

📖 4. La chute de Constantinople

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• The fall of Constantinople in 1453 occurred when the Ottoman Empire, under Sultan Mehmed II, conquered the Byzantine capital.

📌 The Renaissance had already begun in Italy before 1453, so the fall of Constantinople did not initiate the movement by itself.

Compléments

• The movement of Greek scholars and manuscripts after the fall of Constantinople contributed to renewed study of classical Greek culture in Western Europe.

💡 Astuce mémo

Déplacement des savants et manuscrits grecs → regain d’étude des classiques.

📖 5. Les périodes Tudor et Stuart

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• The English Renaissance can be studied through two broad political periods: the Tudor period and the Stuart period.

• The Tudor period began in 1485, when Henry VII came to the throne after the Battle of Bosworth and established the Tudor dynasty.

Compléments

• The Stuart period followed the Tudor dynasty and included major political, religious and cultural changes.

• The period 1485–1660s covers a broad stretch of English history, including the development of Renaissance literature and the rise of Shakespearean drama.

📖 6. La Renaissance dans la littérature anglaise

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📌 Italian Renaissance culture is strongly associated with visual arts, architecture and painting, whereas the English Renaissance is especially associated with literature, theatre and the development of the English language.

📌 Medieval drama was mainly religious and educational, whereas Renaissance English drama developed further under the influence of classical Greek and Roman literature.

• The development of English drama contributed to the emergence of major playwrights, particularly William Shakespeare, and to the Renaissance’s reputation as a golden age of English literature.

Compléments

• The English Renaissance saw the growth of printing, the circulation of literary works and new forms of artistic expression.

• Classical Greek and Roman literature influenced the development of Renaissance English tragedy and comedy.

💡 Astuce mémo

Italie : arts visuels ; Angleterre : littérature et théâtre.