Historical background of renaissance period

Answer 1

The Renaissance

Historical Background. The Renaissance, or the Revival of Learning, which is

another English term for it, was the period when European culture was at its

height, a period unsurpassed by any other before or after it. The coming of this

great and glorious epoch, which lasted from the 14th century till the 17th, was

caused by complex economic and social conditions.

At that time the feudal system was being shattered by the bourgeoisie, which

was getting stronger and stronger. The old social order didn't answer the demands

of the new class that was rapidly gaining strength. The boundaries of different

duchies and counties hindered the development of trade. It was more profitable for

merchants to be united under a single ruler. In opposition to feudal discord

(['disko:d] - разногласие, раздор) , absolute monarchy came into being, and

feudal domains, once almost independent, came under one-man power. This led to

the forming of nations in the true sense of the word, and, as a natural consequence,

to the creation of national languages. The first stage in the appearance of the

bourgeoisie on the historical arena is called the period of the primary accumulation

of capital.

New social and economic conditions called for a new ideology, because the

Catholic dogmas (вероучение; символ веры, догма) did not correspond to the

new trend of life. For that reason in many European countries different varieties of

the Protestant religion sprang up and national Churches were established. Contrary

to medieval concepts, according to which man was but an insignificant grain of

sand whose every move was ordered by the will of God, the new ideology

proclaimed the value of human individuality, the value of individual initiative and

enterprise, the value of man as such, whatever his birth and social standing. Instead

of the blind faith ordered by the Catholic religion, great importance was assigned

to intellect, to experience, to scientific experiment. This new outlook was called

Humanism. It could not accept the old theological views, and took the art and

science of ancient Greece and Rome for its basis, hence the term "the Revival of

Learning". When in 1453 the Turks captured Constantinople and the Empire of Byzantium ceased to exist, a number of Byzantine scholars fled to Europe and

began teaching the Greek language and literature, which up to that time was

unknown there. The time demanded positive, rational knowledge, and the demand

was supplied in astronomy, by Copernicus; in medicine by Vesalius and Servetus;

in phylosophy by More, Montaigne [mon'tein] and Francis ['fra:nsis] Bacon; in

philology by Desiderius Erasmus [i'ræzmεs] of Rotterdam - to name but a few.

Great geographical discoveries were made by Columbus, Vasco da Gama,

Fernando Magellan and many others. Leonardo da vinci put forth a new theory

and practice of art.

In Italy, France and Germany a new literature arose, the first modern literature;

shortly afterwards came the classical epochs of English and Spanish literature.

"It was the greatest progressive revolution that mankind had so far experienced, a

time which called for giants and produced giants - giants in powder and thought,

passion and character, in universality (широта, всеобщность) and learning.

An example of a typical man of the Renaissance period was the famous

Englishman, Sir Walter Raleigh.

Sir Walter Raleigh ['ro:li] (1552?-1618).

Statesman (политик), courtier (придворный), soldier, sailor, explorer, pirate,

colonizer, historian, philosopher, poet, Walter Raleigh was born in Devonshire and

entered military service when a very young man. His brave deeds earned him great

fame, and Queen Elizabeth I raised him in her favour and made him a knight. At

that time England was at war with Spain, the most powerful defender of Catholic

reaction in Europe. Sir Walter fought the Spaniards at sea. He founded the colony

of Virginia in North America, where, unlike his successors, he tried to establish

friendly relations with the Indians. It was he who brought potatoes and tobacco to

Europe.

After the death of Queen Elizabeth, King James I made peace with Spain, and in

order to please the former enemies of England, he imprisoned Sir Walter. Raleigh

was accused of plotting (строить заговор) against the king and sentenced to death.

He spent thirteen years in the Tower of London, expecting execution every day.

While in prison he planned to write a "History of the World", but only one volume

of this vast project was completed. Besides that he wrote works on geography and

on ship-building and some beautiful poems. In 1616 Raleigh was allowed to lead

an expedition to South America to bring back gold and jewels. The expedition was

a failure; on the way back Raleigh fought a sea-battle against some Spaniards and

returned to face the protest of Spain, as a result of which he was rearrested and

beheaded by King James's orders.

Raleigh was much interested in science and literature. He organized an "academy",

a circle in which atheistic views were discussed. Its members included Sir Walters

friends: Thomas Harriot ['hæriet] (1560 - 1621), the most distinguished English

mathematician and astronomer before Newton; Christopher Marlowe ['ma:lou], the

greatest English dramatist before Shakespeare; Edmund Spenser, the foremost

(выдающийся) poet of the time (whom Raleigh helped to attain fame), and Ben

Jonson, the most influential playwright and poet of his period for several years was

the tutor of Raleigh's son). Sir Walter Raleigh was an outstanding poet himself.

Much of his poetry is lost, and we know only about thirty poems written by him.

They are full of profound wisdom, written with great elegance and simplicity of

style, and are remarkably expressive. His best poem is "The Lie", or "The Soul's

Errand" (поручение, задание), said to have been composed in prison; in it he

denounced (осуждать) the cruelty, hypocrisy and social inequality of his time.

Even if he had written nothing else, this poem alone would be sufficient for us to

consider him a major poet.

Some of his poems and his prose work "The Discovery of the Empire of

Guiana" [gi'a:nε] (1596) have been translated into Russian.