Intro to Renaissance Literature

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• Leerjaar 5

Intro to the Renaissance

Why are the Ninja Turtles on the previous slide?

Which of the following works was not written in the Middle Ages?

1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
2. The Wanderer
3. Frankenstein
4. The Fox & the Wolf

What year is commonly used to describe the start of the global Renaissance?

1. 1453
2. 1521
3. 1408
4. 1066

Rebirth

- Fall of Constantinople to Mehmet II ( Ottoman Empire)

- (Re-)Establishment of contact with Islamic world

- Re-discovery of Classical Texts

- (Re-)Introduction of Science and Philosophy into religious way of thinking

Renaissance in England

What event kick-started the English Renaissance?

Three fields

- Society

- Literature

- Politics

Society

- Feudal system/ three estates on the way out.

- Traders on the way in

Society became more anthropocentric

Science vs. Religion

Literature

- Influence of Classical writings: ad fontes

- Shakespeare: comedies, tragedies, historical plays

- Italy  as birth place of many literary forms: sonnet

- Dante Alighieri: Divine Comedy

Which of the following is not a feature of the Renaissance?

1. Theocentrism
2. Romeo & Juliet
3. Wars of the Roses
4. Ad fontes

Describe the concept of Ad Fontes based on the passage shown here.

Who is the king in the picture?

1. William the Conqueror
2. James I
3. George III
4. Henry VIII

Politics

- Lots of confusion, conflict

Fascinating monarchs:

Henry VIII: 6 wives, Anglican Church

Elizabeth I (The Virgin Queen): Defeated the Spanish

- English Civil War (1642–1651): Parliament versus King

- England a republic until 1659

Middle Ages

Renaissance

Beowulf

Macbeth

William the Conqueror

Oliver Cromwell

Printing Press

Latin as the written language of choice