THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND TO THE ENGLISH AND EUROPEAN RENAISSANCES

M CARMEN VALERO SALES

ndice de contenido
INTRODUCTION: THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE (1300-1600). .1 (1300-1600). .1 PAINTING IN RENAISSANCE..................................................3 RENAISSANCE..................................................3 ARCHITECTURE IN RENAISSANCE..........................................3 RENAISSANCE..........................................3 LITERATURE IN RENAISSANCE..............................................5 RENAISSANCE..............................................5 HUMANISM.........................................................................9 .........................................................................9 HUMANISM

SCIENCE IN RENAISSANCE..................................................11 RENAISSANCE..................................................11 MUSIC IN RENAISSANCE.....................................................11 RENAISSANCE.....................................................11 DANCE IN RENAISSANCE....................................................13 RENAISSANCE....................................................13 WITCHES IN RENAISSANCE.................................................15 RENAISSANCE.................................................15 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................17 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................17 ELECTRONICAL RESOURCES................................................17 RESOURCES................................................17

INTRODUCTION: THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE (1300-1600)

The
received significance: a world.

economic and political changes which Renaissance was ripple into areas of science, literature a cultural and philosophy. It also witnessed the discovery and exploration of new movement

beginning in Italy in the late Middle continents, the substitution of the Ages and later spreading to the rest of Copernican for the Ptolemaic system Europe, the term Renaissance means of astronomy, the decline of the feudal rebirth although so many years later system and the growth of commerce, more revival of extended and the invention or application of learning, such potentially powerful innovations paper, printing, the mariner's

used to denote the whole transition as

from the Middle Ages to the modern compass, and gunpowder. The English Renaissance was a cultural

The Renaissance was a period of and artistic movement in England that European history, a period of new began from the early 16th century to inventions and beliefs started by so the early 17th century. many rich Italian cities because they were very wealthy, many merchants started to spend money on different things, such as painting, learning, new banking techniques, and new systems of government. These things brought with them Humanism that was subjects concerned with humankind and culture. The English period began far later than the Italian and it differs from the Italian Renaissance in several ways, the dominant art forms of the English Renaissance were literature and music, and the Visual arts were much Italian less significant than in the Both musical Renaissance. shared a specific

Renaissances were similar because

The Renaissance brought a new form they embraced a series of religious,

of painting, art and sculpture and aesthetic.

PAINTING IN RENAISSANCE
The early Renaissance painting was a bridge between the period of European art history , the art of the Middle ages and the art of the Renaissance. The themes that were treated in this period were mainly religious but also some purely figurative ones. Some more mundane themes were treated, but they were often treated via a religious or mythological representations. Painters used the technique of the perspective and Giotto di Bondone worked on the painting as a window into space in order to give a more realistic presentation of art. It was relevant the prominence of the use of airy, bright colors and proper sizes; on the other hand, the human anatomy wasnt so idealized as during the ancient times.

ARCHITECTURE IN RENAISSANCE
In different regions of Europe there was a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Classical Greek and Roman thought and material culture.

In this period were emphasized styles as symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts as they are demonstrated in the architecture of the Ancient Rome. The earliest buildings were churches and the plans of these buildings have a square and a symmetrical appearance in which proportions are usually based on a module which is often the width of an aisle. Roman style columns and pilasters, arches, vaults, domes ceilings, doors, windows and details were the basis of Renaissance architecture. The reign of Elizabeth I was the period in which architecture arrived in England having first spread through the Low Countries where it acquired versions of the Dutch gable and Flemish strapwork in geometric designs adorning the walls. The new style manifested itself in large square tall houses. Inigo Jones studied architecture in Italy and was the first great exponent in England. His works contain clean lines and symmetry were revolutionary in a country still enamoured with million windows, crenelations and turrets, as the Queens House at Greenwitch and the Banqueting House at Whitehall.

LITERATURE IN

RENAISSANCE
Renaissance literary movement produced Latin and vernacular poetry, history and prose fiction inspired by classical models. The sonnet was a new form spread by this movement. In this period women began to write and male writers attacked them with satires although many of them wrote defenses of women. The first feminist pamphlet in England was written in 1589 under the name Jane Anger. Although the name may be a pseudonym, Anger was a common

surname in parts of England, and there are records of women by that name who lived around the time the pamphlet was published. Literate women had the activity translating devotional literature into English to make it more readily available for the improvement off the minds of other English women.

The printing press was invented in 1445 by Gutenberg, this gadget changed the lives of people in Europe and all over the world.
In Renaissance, the educated middle classes, who could now afford books, demanded works in their own languages. Furthermore, readers wanted a greater variety of books. Almanacs, travel books, chivalry romances, and poetry were all published at this time. Simultaneously, a means of printing music was also invented, making music available at a reasonable cost. As the demand for books grew, the book trade began to flourish throughout Europe, and industries related to it, such as papermaking, thrived as well. The result of all of this was a more literate populace and a stronger economy.

HUMANISM
Humanism was the great intellectual movement of Renaissance. The humanists believed that the Greek and Latin classics contained both all the lessons one needed to lead a moral and effective life and the best models for a powerful Latin style.

Renaissance scholars were known as humanists and they returned to the works of ancient writers books also helped to spread awareness of a new emerged philosophy. During the Middle Ages scholars had been guided by the teachings of the church, and people had concerned themselves with actions leading to heavenly rewards. The writings of ancient, pagan Greece and Rome, called the "classics," had been greatly ignored. The Humanist were influenced by the knowledge of these ancient civilizations and by the emphasis placed on man, his intellect, and his life on Earth.

SCIENCE IN RENAISSANCE
Renaissance is usually seen as one of scientific backwardness. When
the Black Death came, it sealed a sudden end to the previous period of massive scientific change. The plague killed 2550% of the people in Europe, especially in the crowded conditions of the towns, where the heart of innovations lay. Recurrences of the plague and other disasters caused a continuing decline of population for a century. Alchemy, Astronomy and Geography were the most important developments of that period.

MUSIC IN RENAISSANCE
Music acquired Renaissance characteristics gradually. The Italian humanist movement, rediscovering and reinterpreting the aesthetics of ancient Greece and Rome, influenced the development of musical style during the period. To produce high-level music to entertain the rich and powerful there were many schools of music that identified talent early on and proceeded to nurture the craftsmanship until they were masters of their particular instrument and style.

Music printing had a major effect on how music spread for not only did a
printed piece of music reach a larger audience then any manuscript ever could,

it did it far cheaper as well. Also during this century a tradition of famous makers began for many instruments. These makers were masters of their craft. Some examples are Stradivarius for violins or Meuschel for trumpets. Many instruments originated during the Renaissance; others were variations of instruments that had existed previously: Brass: - Slide trumpet - Cornetto - Trumpet - Sackbut - Viol - Lyre - Violin - Irish Harp - Hurdy gurdy - Tambourine - Jews harp - Shawm - Reed pipe - Hornpipe - Bagpipe - Panpipe - Transverse flute - Recorder

Strings:

Percussion:

Woodwinds:

DANCE IN RENAISSANCE
Renaissance dances belong to the broad group of historical dances. The first detailed dance manuals that survive today were written in 1450 and 1455 in Italy. These manuals, and later manuals from France, England, and other European countries, give us a peek at what was a very important social activity in the Renaissance. The dances were very varied: slow, stately dances to fast, lively dances choreographed or improvised on the spot. Dances for couples or for many people in a circle or line.

WITCHES IN RENAISSANCE
In Elizabethan period in England many people believed in the occult, magic and astrology and one of the most common fears of this time is the fear of witches. An estimated account of women were burned alive for being perceived as witches. This was the darker side of Renaissance. The practice of witchcraft was seen to subvert the stablished order of religion and society and this was not tolerated. Although witch hunting was a respetable, moral and highly intellectual pursuit, not all of Shakespeare contemporaries agreed with witch hunters as they thought that those persecuted and supposed witches were ill, foolish, deluded or senil women.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gran Historia Universal El Renacimiento. Apuntes de la asignatura H de la Msica de 2 curso del

conservatorio superior de Msica de Crdoba.

ELECTRONICAL RESOURCES
http://www.uh.edu/~djudkins/life_in_renaissance_englan d.htm