Citizendia


Elizabethan Era

1558–1603

Preceded byTudor period
Followed byJacobean era
MonarchQueen Elizabeth I

The Elizabethan Era is the period associated with Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558–1603) and is often considered to be the golden age in English history. Social and economic revolution Following the Black Death Plagues and the agricultural depression of the late 14th century population growth Highlights of the Jacobean Era The practical if not formal unification of England and Scotland under one ruler was a development of the first order of importance for both The term Golden age is best known from Greek mythology and legend but can also be found in other ancient cultures (see below The history of England is similar to the history of Britain until the arrival of the Saxons It was the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry and literature. The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th century The history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day The term English literature refers to Literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by Writers not necessarily from This was also the time during which Elizabethan theatre flourished and William Shakespeare and many others, composed plays that broke free of England's past style of plays and theatre. English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. William Shakespeare ( baptised It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant Reformation became the national mindset of all the people. The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time

The Elizabethan Age is viewed so highly because of the contrasts with the periods before and after. It was a brief period of largely internal peace between the English Reformation and the battles between Protestants and Catholics and the battles between parliament and the monarchy that engulfed the seventeenth century. The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described The Parliament of England was the Legislature of the Kingdom of England. A monarchy is a Form of government in which supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in an individual who is the Head of state, often for life or The Protestant/Catholic divide was settled, for a time, by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, and parliament was not yet strong enough to challenge royal absolutism. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement was Elizabeth I ’s response to the religious divisions created over the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary England was also well-off compared to the other nations of Europe. The Italian Renaissance had come to an end under the weight of foreign domination of the peninsula. The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th France was embroiled in its own religious battles that would only be settled in 1598 with the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes was issued on April 13, 1598 by Henry IV of France to grant the Calvinist Protestants of In part because of this, but also because the English had been expelled from their last outposts on the continent, the centuries long conflict between France and England was largely suspended for most of Elizabeth's reign.

The one great rival was Spain, with which England conflicted both in Europe and the Americas in skirmishes that exploded into the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America The Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604 was an intermittent conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England, which was never formally declared An attempt by Philip II of Spain to invade England with the Spanish Armada in 1588 was famously defeated, but the tide of war turned against England with a disastrously unsuccessful attack upon Spain, the Drake-Norris Expedition of 1589. Philip II (Felipe II de España Filipe I ( May 21, 1527 &ndash September 13 1598) was King of Spain from 1556 until 1598 The Spanish Armada ( Spanish: Grande y Felicísima Armada, "Great and Most Fortunate Navy" or Armada Invencible, "Invincible The English Armada (also known as the Counter Armada, or the Drake-Norris Expedition) was a fleet of warships sent to the Iberian coast by Queen Elizabeth Thereafter Spain provided some support for Irish Catholics in a draining guerilla war against England, and Spanish naval and land forces inflicted a series of defeats upon English forces. Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc This badly damaged both the English Exchequer and economy that had been so carefully restored under Elizabeth's prudent guidance. English colonisation and trade would be frustrated until the signing of the Treaty of London the year following Elizabeth's death. The Treaty of London, signed in 1604, concluded the twenty year Anglo-Spanish War.

England during this period had a centralised, well-organised, and effective government, largely a result of the reforms of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of Economically, the country began to benefit greatly from the new era of trans-Atlantic trade.

Contents

Romance and reality

Elizabeth ushers in Peace and Plenty. Detail from The Family of Henry VIII: An Allegory of the Tudor Succession, c.1572, attributed to Lucas de Heere.
Elizabeth ushers in Peace and Plenty. Detail from The Family of Henry VIII: An Allegory of the Tudor Succession, c.1572, attributed to Lucas de Heere. Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of Circa (often abbreviated c, ca, ca or cca and sometimes Italicized to show it is Latin) means "about" Lucas de Heere ( Ghent, 1534 &ndash Paris, 1584 was a Flemish portrait painter, poet and writer

The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities The Encyclopædia Britannica still maintains that "The long reign of Elizabeth I, 1533-1603, was England's Golden Age. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc . . 'Merry England,' in love with life, expressed itself in music and literature, in architecture, and in adventurous seafaring. " Merry England " sometimes archaised as " Merrie England " refers to a Utopian conception of English society and culture based on an Idyllic "[1] This idealising tendency was shared by Britain and an Anglophilic America. (In popular culture, the image of those adventurous Elizabethan seafarers was embodied in the films of Errol Flynn. Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn ( June 20, 1909 &ndash October 14, 1959) was an Australian Film Actor, most )[2]

In response and reaction to this hyperbole, modern historians and biographers in pro-imperial Europe have tended to take a far more literal-minded and dispassionate view of the Tudor period. Elizabethan England was not particularly successful in a military sense during the period. The grinding poverty of the rural working class, which comprised 90% of the population, has also received more attention than in previous generations. The Elizabethan role in the slave trade and the repression of Catholic Ireland—notably the Desmond Rebellions and the Nine Years' War—have also drawn historians' attention. The Desmond Rebellions occurred in between 1569-1573 and 1579-1583 in Munster in southern Ireland ('Desmond' is the English language name given to the Gaelic 'Deasmumhain' The Nine Years War (Cogadh na Naoi mBliana in Ireland took place from 1594 to 1603 and is also known as Tyrone's Rebellion. Despite the heights achieved during the era, the country descended into the English Civil War less than 40 years after the death of Elizabeth. The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists.

On balance, it can be said that Elizabeth provided the country with a long period of general if not total peace, and generally increasing prosperity. Having inherited a virtually bankrupt state from previous reigns, her frugal policies restored fiscal responsibility. Her fiscal restraint cleared the regime of debt by 1574, and ten years later the Crown enjoyed a surplus of £300,000. [3] Economically, Sir Thomas Gresham's founding of the Royal Exchange (1565), the first stock exchange in England and one of the earliest in Europe, proved to be a development of the first importance, for the economic development of England and soon for the world as a whole. With taxes lower than other European countries of the period, the economy expanded; though the wealth was distributed with wild unevenness, there was clearly more wealth to go around at the end of Elizabeth's reign than at the beginning. [4] This general peace and prosperity allowed the attractive developments that "Golden Age" advocates have stressed. [5]

Both from an anachronistic modern perspective and from that of 19th century humanism, England in this era had some positive aspects that set it apart from contemporaneous continental European societies. Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing to universal Torture was rare, since the English legal system reserved torture only for capital crimes like treason[6]—though forms of corporal punishment, some of them extreme, were practised. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally The persecution of witches was also comparatively rare; while some persecutions did occur, they did not reach the hysterical proportions that disfigured some European societies so severely in this period. [7] The role of women in society was, for the historical era, relatively unconstrained; Spanish and Italian visitors to England commented regularly, and sometimes caustically, on the freedom that women enjoyed in England, in contrast to their home cultures.

Elizabeth's determination not to "look into the hearts" of her subjects, to moderate the religious persecutions of previous Tudor reigns—the persecution of Catholics under Henry VIII and Edward VI, and of Protestants under Mary—appears to have had a moderating effect on English society in general. Mary I (18 February 1516 &ndash 17 November 1558 was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death While Elizabethan England has been characterised by one sceptic as a "brutal dictatorship,"[8] it was, as brutal dictatorships go, one of the more benign.

Science, technology, exploration

Lacking a dominant genius or a formal structure for research (the following century had both Sir Isaac Newton and the Royal Society), the Elizabethan era nonetheless saw significant scientific progress. Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (ˈnjuːtən 4 January 1643 31 March 1727) Biography Early years See also Isaac Newton's early life and achievements The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 The astronomers Thomas Digges and Thomas Harriot made important contributions; William Gilbert published his seminal study of magnetism, De Magnete, in 1600. Thomas Digges (1546 &ndash 24 August 1595) was an English Astronomer, son of Leonard Digges, and great populariser of Science Thomas Harriot ( c 1560 – 2 July 1621) was an English astronomer, Mathematician, Ethnographer, and Translator William Gilbert, also known as Gilbard ( Colchester, England, May 24, 1544 &ndash London, England, November 30 Substantial advancements were made in the fields of cartography and surveying. The eccentric but influential John Dee also merits mention. John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609 was a noted English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, occultist

Much of this scientific and technological progress related to the practical skill of navigation. English achievements in exploration were noteworthy in the Elizabethan era. Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1581, and Martin Frobisher explored the Arctic. Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral, (c 1540 &ndash 27 January 1595 was an English Privateer, navigator, Slaver, and politician Sir Martin Frobisher (c 1535 or 1539 &ndash November 22, 1594) was an English seaman (from Wakefield, Yorkshire) who made three The Arctic is the Region around the Earth 's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. The first attempt at English settlement of the eastern seaboard of North America occurred in this era—the abortive colony at Roanoke Island in 1587. Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County near the coast of North Carolina, United States.

While Elizabethan England is not thought of as an age of technological innovation, some progress did occur. In 1564 Guilliam Boonen came from the Netherlands to be Queen Elizabeth's first coach-builder—thus introducing the new European invention of the spring-suspension coach to England, as a replacement for the litters and carts of an earlier transportation mode. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Coaches quickly became as fashionable as sports cars in a later century; social critics, especially Puritan commentators, noted the "diverse great ladies" who rode "up and down the countryside" in their new coaches. A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, [9]

Fine arts

It has often been said that the Renaissance came late to England, in contrast to Italy and the other states of continental Europe; the fine arts in England during the Tudor and Stuart eras were dominated by foreign and imported talent—from Hans Holbein the Younger under Henry VIII to Anthony van Dyck under Charles I. Yet within this general trend, a native school of painting was developing. In Elizabeth's reign, Nicholas Hilliard, the Queen's "limner and goldsmith," is the most widely recognized figure in this native development; but George Gower has begun to attract greater notice and appreciation as knowledge of him and his art and career has improved. Nicholas Hilliard (c 1547&ndash January 7, 1619) was an English Goldsmith and limner best known for his Portrait miniatures George Gower, (born c 1540 - died London 1596) was an English portrait painter who became Serjeant Painter to Queen Elizabeth [10]

Sports and entertainment

Main article: Elizabethan leisure

There were many different types of Elizabethan sports and entertainment:

Feasts 
A large, elaborately prepared meal, usually for many persons and often accompanied by court entertainment. In the Elizabethan era (1558-1603 there were a wide range of leisure activities entertaining both the nobility and the common classes Often celebrated religious festivals
Banquets 
A ceremonial dinner honouring a particular guest
Fairs 
The Annual Summer Fair was often a bawdy affair
Plays 
Started as plays enacted in town squares followed by the actors using the courtyards of taverns or inns (referred to as Inn-yards) followed by the first theatres (great open air amphitheatres built in the same style as the Roman Coliseum) and then the introduction of indoor theatres called Playhouses
Miracle Plays 
Re-enactment of stories from the Bible
Festivals 
Celebrating Church festivals
Jousts / Tournaments 
A series of tilted matches between knights
Games and Sports 
Sports and games which included archery, bowling, cards, dice, hammer-throwing, quarter-staff contests, quoits, skittles, wrestling and mob football
Animal Sports 
Included Bear and Bull baiting, and Dog and Cock fighting
Hunting 
Sport followed by the nobility often using dogs
Hawking 
Sport followed by the nobility with hawks (otherwise known as falconry)

Elizabethan festivals, holidays, and celebrations

A wedding feast, c.1569.
A wedding feast, c.1569. An amphitheatre (alternatively amphitheater) is an open-air venue for spectator sports concerts rallies or theatrical performances The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre ( Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Quoits (koits kwoits (Pronunciation "k-waits" is a traditional Lawn game involving the throwing of a metal or rubber ring over a set distance to land over a pin Skittles is an old European target sport, a variety of Bowling, from which Ten-pin bowling, Duckpin bowling, and Candlepin bowling Mob football is the name given to some varieties of Medieval football, which emerged in Europe during the Middle Ages. Bear-baiting is a Blood sport involving the baiting of Bears. Falconry or hawking is an Art or Sport which involves the use of trained raptors (birds of prey to hunt or pursue game for humans Circa (often abbreviated c, ca, ca or cca and sometimes Italicized to show it is Latin) means "about"

During the Elizabethan era, people looked forward to holidays because opportunities for leisure were limited, with time away from hard work being restricted to periods after church on Sundays. For the most part, leisure and festivities took place on a public church holy day. Every month had its own holiday, some of which are listed below:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Britannica Online.
  2. ^ See The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) and The Sea Hawk (1940). Social and economic revolution Following the Black Death Plagues and the agricultural depression of the late 14th century population growth The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th century English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. Elizabethan architecture is the term given to early Renaissance architecture in England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. England under Queen Elizabeth I's reign the Elizabethan Era, was ruled by the very structured and complicated Elizabethan government. Music in the Elizabethan Era, or Elizabethan Music, refers to music during the sixteenth century The Tudor style in architecture is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period (1485&ndash1603 and even beyond for conservative college England during the Elizabethan era (1558 - 1603 though frequently regarded as the zenith of Renaissance, did not give its people a high standard of health The artists of the Tudor court are the painters and limners engaged by the Monarchs of England's Tudor dynasty and their Courtiers The Accession Day tilts were a series of elaborate festivities held annually at the court of Elizabeth I of England to celebrate her Accession Day, November 17 Jacobethan is the style designation coined in 1933 by John Betjeman to describe the English Revival style made popular from the 1830s which derived most of its inspiration The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex ( 1939) is a romantic Drama film based on the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I, portrayed The Sea Hawk is a novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1915
  3. ^ Melissa D. Aaron, Global Economics, Newark, DE, University of Delaware Press, 2005; p. 25. In the later decades of the reign, the costs of warfare—the English Armada of 1589 and the campaigns in the Netherlands—obliterated the surplus; England had a debt of £350,000 at Elizabeth's death in 1603. The English Armada (also known as the Counter Armada, or the Drake-Norris Expedition) was a fleet of warships sent to the Iberian coast by Queen Elizabeth
  4. ^ Ann Jennalie Cook, The Privileged Playgoers of Shakespeare's London, 1576–1642, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1981; pp. 49-96.
  5. ^ Christopher Hibbert, The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius of the Golden Age, Reading, MA, Perseus, 1991.
  6. ^ George Macaulay Trevelyan, England Under the Stuarts, London, Methuen, 1949; p. 25.
  7. ^ Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, London, Richard Bentley, 1841; reprinted New York, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1974; pp. 462-564.
  8. ^ Alfred Hart, Shakespeare and the Homilies, Melbourne, 1934; reprinted New York, AMS Press, 1971.
  9. ^ Ann Jennalie Cook, Privileged Playgoers of Shakespeare's London' pp. 81-82.
  10. ^ Ellis Waterhouse, Painting in Britain 1530 to 1790, fourth edition, New York, Viking Penguin, 1978; pp. 34-39.
  11. ^ Hutton 1994, p. 146-151

References

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