La storia dell'Inghilterra dal 1485 al 1625, Dispense di Inglese

Scarica La storia dell'Inghilterra dal 1485 al 1625 e più Dispense in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE RENAISSANCE (1485 – 1625) The years of revolution Following the Wars of the Roses in England, henry Tudor came to the throne as Henry VII (1485- 1509). From the beginning of his reign he was determined to bring order to an England that had suffered from many years of civil war. Thanks to the dynasty war, he realized that he couldn’t the barons. Henry VII increased the power of the monarchy and adopted measures to keep aristocracy under his control. He was managed to make England a wealthier country and his government was based on popular consent and it was conservative. He was a cautions and frugal king. With him, we have the absolute monarchy, Parliament had a secondary role: it was summoned only six times. Henry VIII Henry VIII (1509-47) can be regarded as a perfect product of the renaissance. He was the patron of the arts. He devoted himself to poetry, literature and music and was also famous for being an excellent sportsman, distinguishing himself in hunting and tennis. After obtaining a divorce from his first wife, the Spanish Catherine of Aragon, Henry married Anne Boleyn who bore him his second daughter, Elizabeth, later to become queen. In 1536 Henry had Anne Boleyn executed and he later married again another four times. Only his third wife, Jane Seymour, bore him the son he wanted: Edward VI. The breach with Rome (Church) One of his important contribution his reign was the breach with the Church of Rome (Catholicism) and the English Reformation. The king’s attitude towards Catholicism began to change as a result of the growing corruption amongst the clergy. When the Pope refused to grant him a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon he decided to take the matter into his own hands and to stop taking orders from the Pope thousands of miles away, breaking with Rome once and for all. He turned to the English clergy and the English Parliament to declare his marriage void. He established the church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, in 1534 with the Act of supremacy. From this moment on the king and all later monarchs became the formal head of the Church of England and the Anglican Church became Protestant (still Christian, but non-Catholic Christian). The English Reformation The Anglicanism and other Protestant movements of the time, like Lutheranism (which were begun in Germany by the monk Luther) all had a few important rules or principles in common. 1. The Bible was the only source of ‘revealed truth’. It was the real source of authority and not the Pope or the priest (they were not interpreters anymore, but they had just to read God’ word and look after the Church) 2. People could obtain salvation only through the will of God. Good works would not necessarily guarantee salvation, which depended exclusively on God’s choice 3. There was no hierarchical system in the Church 4. Priests could marry and have children These were the foundations of Protestantism and they are still valid today. Edward VI Only ten years old when he came to the throne, Edward VI ruled for just six years (1547-53) before dying prematurely of tuberculosis. His sister Mary succeeded him. Mary I Queen Mary or Mary Tudor (1553-58) was the daughter of Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon. A strong catholic, she re-introduced the Catholic religion in England and was known as ‘Bloody Mary’ because of the way she persecuted so many Protestants (name of the cocktails Bloody Mary); At the age of 37, she married Philip II of Spain, going against the wishes of Parliament and her subjects, who saw Spain as one of England’s enemies. She never had the son she wanted and left the throne to her half-sister Elizabeth when she died. (Spain and England had opposition to the colonies in America: south America spoke Spanish and the North spoke English. Mary married the Spanish king and made the people nasty) Elizabeth I Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) was daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She reintroduced the Protestantism, she was tolerant towards Catholicism. Much loved by her people, she was referred to as ‘Gloriana’, and because she never married she was also given the title of ‘The Virgin Queen’. She established a secure church of England by following a wise policy of compromise between the Catholics and the Anglicans. During her reign a Second Act of Supremacy was passed, confirming the independence of the Church of England and she proclaimed herself Governor (not Head of the Church as Henry VIII had been). During Elizabeth’s reign there were many voyages of ‘discovery’. Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh founded the first English colony in America, Virginia, named after his queen. These voyages paved the way for a period of colonization and overseas trade. The east India company was founded by the Queen (Columbus thought he’d come to India and not America. That’s why we have the Eastern Indies, India and the West Indies, America). It resulted in an English monopoly of all trade in the East Indies. Her reign, however, was full of danger and threats: - Mary Stuart: she was Catholic and married the King of France. She had become queen after Elizabeth but when her husband died in 1560 and she wanted to come back to Scotland and claim her throne, she made her executed in 1587 - Spain: the execution of Mary Stuart became a priority. Spain was a Catholic country so Philip II sent his powerful fleet “The Spanish Armada” to invade England to restore the Catholic faith, but it was unsuccessful James I He succeeded Elizabeth in 1603. She didn’t have any heirs so England called the son of Mary Stuart of Scotland (Elizabeth’s cousin) and her second husband Lord Darnley to reign in it. Under his reign the two reigns England and Scotland were unified.He became a fierce enemy of the Catholics. They had many political positions; many attempts on the king’s life, one of the most famous being