The English Renaissance – Notes (PowerPoint)

At the end of England’s Middle Ages, a series of ______over the throne called the Wars of the Roses left neither house (York or Lancaster) in power. ______defeated the last York ruler, Richard III, in the battle of Bosworth in 1485. Henry was a Tudor, and his crowning as King Henry VII began a new dynasty in England – the Tudor Dynasty. As King, Henry built a ______state (strong sense of national unity). He avoided conflicts with ______and ______. Since he was good with money, he laid a strong ______base for England, building a powerful ______fleet and sending England to the top of the world’s ______trade.

When Henry VII died, his only son ______took the throne. He was a brilliant ______and ambitious ______whose only problem was that he did not have a male ______. When his first wife did not give him a son, he asked the Pope in Rome to grant him a divorce. The pope refused, and Henry split from the ______Church and created the Church of England (the first Protestant church).

Henry’s Wives, Their Fates, and Their Children:

Wife / Catherine of Aragon / Anne Boleyn / Jane Seymour / Anne of Cleves / Catherine Howard / Catherine Parr
Children
Fate
Reason

When Henry VIII died, his successor was ______, who was only 9. He died when he was only 15, and his oldest half-sister ______succeeded him. She had been raised Catholic by her mother, Catherine of Aragon, and tried to restore Catholicism to England. This did not make her popular with the English people. When Mary died, her half sister ______took the throne and ruled for nearly 45 years. Some of her achievements were: making peace with France and Spain, building a large military ______, encouraging establishment of ______in the New World, and essentially creating Great Britain by adding ______and ______as English colonies. Elizabeth supported the arts, and the Renaissance thrived under her rule. Elizabeth never married, so she left no heir when she died in 1603. Henry VIII’s (Elizabeth’s father) sister, ______, had a son who had been serving as king of Scotland since he was one year old (when his mother died). He became King James I of England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland (Great Britain). James had been raised Catholic in Scotland and he was hard on British ______. Many of them left for America to escape this religious persecution on a ship called the ______and settled in ______.

Rulers during this time period:

Ruler / Henry VIII
Relation to Henry VIII / Self
Relation to previous ruler / Son

During Elizabeth’s and James’s reign, ______and ______flourished. The time period was later called the ______, which means “rebirth.” It was a rebirth of the ancient Roman and Greek classics, full of joy, life, and beauty. An important scientific development was ______, which allowed books to be published. This resulted in grammar ______and expanded literacy. Drama also thrived, with public theaters and acting companies. ______was one of the greatest English Renaissance writers, composing dozens of comedies, tragedies, and historical plays, and hundreds of ______. We will begin with Shakespeare’s sonnets.