Renaissance and Reformation
Renaissance means rebirth. There was a renewed interest in the culture of ancient Greece and
Rome, which has its roots in the Middle Ages. In 1453 the renaissance officially started and the
Byzantine (Turkish) Empire was over, so a lot of Greek material came to the west. Renaissance could
affect society because of new developments in the 16 th century, like the printing press.
It was renewed, because at first classical culture was studied as product of pagan civilizations, but
now there was a more open mind, so they look upon Greek and Roman culture as an ideal and
example that they applied to their own times. Humanism came up, it was the study of classical
languages and the bible. Humanists like Erasmus and Thomas More read the bible as a classical text.
Their goal was to bring the church back to its source. Now, a humanist places people in the center.
Thomas More was a studied man in Oxford, who became monk. When he entered the parliament,
he got a high position as advisor of the king Henry VIII. Later he became Lord Chancellor, who did
something with money. Henry broke with Rome, but Thomas thought this was bad, so he was killed.
Erasmus dedicated the book “Lof der Zotheid” to Thomas.
In 1516 Thomas wrote Utopia in Latin. In 1551 an English edition was introduced. The story is a
description of ideal life. An imaginary country was described, because he wanted to show England
that the situation there was very bad. It was a social satire, so it mocks a lot. Utopia was modeled on
Plato’s Republic, which shows that Thomas used the ancients.
There were a few fundamental changes from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance:
1. Collective to individual attitude
2. Theocentric to anthropocentric outlook
3. Dogmatic belief to critical investigation
1. Collective to individual attitude
In the middle ages, people were members of a larger body, like a guild, church or family, In the 16th
century man became more self-aware, which was expressed through religion (reformation, personal
relation between man and God, no longer through a priest), capitalist system (private enterprise),
arts (growing self-confidence, so they wanted their own name attached to their work) and the
desire to develop talents (Ideal Renaissance Man should be a poet, soldier, hunter, scholar and a
musician).
2. Theocentric to anthropocentric
This means God-centered to man-centered. In the Middle Ages the church was very important, but
not good anymore. They saw life as a preparation for death and judgment: Memento Mori. The
conditions were bad so people didn’t live very long. In the 16 th century Humanism came up and the
idea of death shifted. It no longer prevented man from exploring and enjoying life, but they
remembered it very much: Carpe Diem.
There were a lot of new explorations and inventions: Francis Drake sails around the world (1580),
Walter Raleigh went to Virginia, which was named after Queen Elizabeth (1584), Kepler investigated
the thought of elliptical movement of planets (1609) and Isaac Newton lived (1642-1727). All
scientists were interested in language, it was the age of science.
The commercial aims were to find a quick way to India, find empty lands and trade peacefully.
The change is seen in the painting the Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger. It shows two
ambassadors, one from the church in black clothes and one secular man in an expensive coat.
Everything in the painting is symbolic. The skull represents Memento Mori, the science stuff (globe,
astronomy/astrology instruments, maps) shows knowledge, the musical instruments represent
, disharmony, which is seen in the broken string of the lute and the books show knowledge. They are
standing in Westminster Abbey.
Martin Luther was a monk who was critical towards the church, but didn’t want to leave. He wanted
to bring the church back to the source by translating the bible in vernacular. He also wanted a
personal relation with God. He befriended Tyndale and Erasmus.
There were religious changes because the religious reformers (Hus, Luther, Tyndale) wanted to purify
Christian faith of excrescences, but they had disagreements on certain things: What had to be
reformed and how should the truth be interpreted?
Meanwhile, it was all about the power of the church vs king, so Henry VIII declared himself head of
the church. He abolished monasteries and encouraged the translation of the bible into English. He
remained Roman-Catholic, but chose for Reformation because he didn’t want an invasion of France
in which the pope had a lot of influence.
Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, wrote an English form of Church Liturgy: the book of
Common Prayer. The rituals and doctrines are based on the bible. A communion service was thought
of: they started commemorating Last Supper. The basis of the Anglican church was protestant.
The reformers were still not happy. They defaced images of saints and covered holy paintings on
walls. The public was indignant and started protesting. It was a question for the Anglican church:
They could choose between a compromise and a character of its own.
3. , Dogmatic belief to critical investigation
The medieval ideas were static, there were religious explanations for everything. People didn’t
question the official doctrines (purgatory, creation of the Earth). In the 16 th century there was a
growing desire for intellectual independence. Peoples views were based on investigations, not on the
bible.
In the Middle Ages they had a geocentric view on the universe. Man was in the center of the Chain
of Being and everything was influenced by spheres and stars. The earth was in the middle with seven
spheres around it, which were rotating. The rotation of the spheres caused music. Everything had a
fixed place, changes would mean the apocalypse. The four elements played an important role. Stars
were holes in the sky, you could see the heavenly light shining through those holes.
In the Renaissance they had a heliocentric view, the sun was in the middle. Galilei thought this so he
was seen as a heretic which lead to inquisition by the church. He invented the telescope. Copernicus
wrote “On the Revolution of Spheres”.
In 1454 the Printing Press was invented. In 1476 it was introduced in England by Claxton. Thanks to
the printing press it was possible to spread ideas faster over a larger area at a low cost. Galilei and
Luther had their ideas printed and spread, which led to conflicts with the church, but made them
very famous later on. The church didn’t want the bible to be translated to English, because people
wouldn’t need the clergy anymore.
Caxton had to choose between foreign or English words, several dialects and a literary style, a
spelling and a punctuation. He wanted everyone to read his books, so he chose the East-Midland
dialect, which was the best option. However, there were three great problems:
1. Recognition of vernacular
Latin was the universal language of science, so new words were invented. Richard Mulcaster
defended the English language and made a dictionary called “The Elementary” where the
hard words from Latin were explained.
2. Uniform Orthography
No generally accepted system for orthography, so the way the chancery wrote became the
standard orthography. There became new rules and systems. Letters were inserted but not
pronounced, to beautify English to make it look more like a classical language. Pronunciation
stayed the same and in 1650 spelling was established. Then the Great Vowel Shift happened
in England, people started pronouncing the letters differently. The e at the end of words
became silent. This all happened in 100 years of time.
Renaissance means rebirth. There was a renewed interest in the culture of ancient Greece and
Rome, which has its roots in the Middle Ages. In 1453 the renaissance officially started and the
Byzantine (Turkish) Empire was over, so a lot of Greek material came to the west. Renaissance could
affect society because of new developments in the 16 th century, like the printing press.
It was renewed, because at first classical culture was studied as product of pagan civilizations, but
now there was a more open mind, so they look upon Greek and Roman culture as an ideal and
example that they applied to their own times. Humanism came up, it was the study of classical
languages and the bible. Humanists like Erasmus and Thomas More read the bible as a classical text.
Their goal was to bring the church back to its source. Now, a humanist places people in the center.
Thomas More was a studied man in Oxford, who became monk. When he entered the parliament,
he got a high position as advisor of the king Henry VIII. Later he became Lord Chancellor, who did
something with money. Henry broke with Rome, but Thomas thought this was bad, so he was killed.
Erasmus dedicated the book “Lof der Zotheid” to Thomas.
In 1516 Thomas wrote Utopia in Latin. In 1551 an English edition was introduced. The story is a
description of ideal life. An imaginary country was described, because he wanted to show England
that the situation there was very bad. It was a social satire, so it mocks a lot. Utopia was modeled on
Plato’s Republic, which shows that Thomas used the ancients.
There were a few fundamental changes from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance:
1. Collective to individual attitude
2. Theocentric to anthropocentric outlook
3. Dogmatic belief to critical investigation
1. Collective to individual attitude
In the middle ages, people were members of a larger body, like a guild, church or family, In the 16th
century man became more self-aware, which was expressed through religion (reformation, personal
relation between man and God, no longer through a priest), capitalist system (private enterprise),
arts (growing self-confidence, so they wanted their own name attached to their work) and the
desire to develop talents (Ideal Renaissance Man should be a poet, soldier, hunter, scholar and a
musician).
2. Theocentric to anthropocentric
This means God-centered to man-centered. In the Middle Ages the church was very important, but
not good anymore. They saw life as a preparation for death and judgment: Memento Mori. The
conditions were bad so people didn’t live very long. In the 16 th century Humanism came up and the
idea of death shifted. It no longer prevented man from exploring and enjoying life, but they
remembered it very much: Carpe Diem.
There were a lot of new explorations and inventions: Francis Drake sails around the world (1580),
Walter Raleigh went to Virginia, which was named after Queen Elizabeth (1584), Kepler investigated
the thought of elliptical movement of planets (1609) and Isaac Newton lived (1642-1727). All
scientists were interested in language, it was the age of science.
The commercial aims were to find a quick way to India, find empty lands and trade peacefully.
The change is seen in the painting the Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger. It shows two
ambassadors, one from the church in black clothes and one secular man in an expensive coat.
Everything in the painting is symbolic. The skull represents Memento Mori, the science stuff (globe,
astronomy/astrology instruments, maps) shows knowledge, the musical instruments represent
, disharmony, which is seen in the broken string of the lute and the books show knowledge. They are
standing in Westminster Abbey.
Martin Luther was a monk who was critical towards the church, but didn’t want to leave. He wanted
to bring the church back to the source by translating the bible in vernacular. He also wanted a
personal relation with God. He befriended Tyndale and Erasmus.
There were religious changes because the religious reformers (Hus, Luther, Tyndale) wanted to purify
Christian faith of excrescences, but they had disagreements on certain things: What had to be
reformed and how should the truth be interpreted?
Meanwhile, it was all about the power of the church vs king, so Henry VIII declared himself head of
the church. He abolished monasteries and encouraged the translation of the bible into English. He
remained Roman-Catholic, but chose for Reformation because he didn’t want an invasion of France
in which the pope had a lot of influence.
Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, wrote an English form of Church Liturgy: the book of
Common Prayer. The rituals and doctrines are based on the bible. A communion service was thought
of: they started commemorating Last Supper. The basis of the Anglican church was protestant.
The reformers were still not happy. They defaced images of saints and covered holy paintings on
walls. The public was indignant and started protesting. It was a question for the Anglican church:
They could choose between a compromise and a character of its own.
3. , Dogmatic belief to critical investigation
The medieval ideas were static, there were religious explanations for everything. People didn’t
question the official doctrines (purgatory, creation of the Earth). In the 16 th century there was a
growing desire for intellectual independence. Peoples views were based on investigations, not on the
bible.
In the Middle Ages they had a geocentric view on the universe. Man was in the center of the Chain
of Being and everything was influenced by spheres and stars. The earth was in the middle with seven
spheres around it, which were rotating. The rotation of the spheres caused music. Everything had a
fixed place, changes would mean the apocalypse. The four elements played an important role. Stars
were holes in the sky, you could see the heavenly light shining through those holes.
In the Renaissance they had a heliocentric view, the sun was in the middle. Galilei thought this so he
was seen as a heretic which lead to inquisition by the church. He invented the telescope. Copernicus
wrote “On the Revolution of Spheres”.
In 1454 the Printing Press was invented. In 1476 it was introduced in England by Claxton. Thanks to
the printing press it was possible to spread ideas faster over a larger area at a low cost. Galilei and
Luther had their ideas printed and spread, which led to conflicts with the church, but made them
very famous later on. The church didn’t want the bible to be translated to English, because people
wouldn’t need the clergy anymore.
Caxton had to choose between foreign or English words, several dialects and a literary style, a
spelling and a punctuation. He wanted everyone to read his books, so he chose the East-Midland
dialect, which was the best option. However, there were three great problems:
1. Recognition of vernacular
Latin was the universal language of science, so new words were invented. Richard Mulcaster
defended the English language and made a dictionary called “The Elementary” where the
hard words from Latin were explained.
2. Uniform Orthography
No generally accepted system for orthography, so the way the chancery wrote became the
standard orthography. There became new rules and systems. Letters were inserted but not
pronounced, to beautify English to make it look more like a classical language. Pronunciation
stayed the same and in 1650 spelling was established. Then the Great Vowel Shift happened
in England, people started pronouncing the letters differently. The e at the end of words
became silent. This all happened in 100 years of time.
