monarchs (1500-1558), the height o f the Renaissance under
Elizabeth I (1558-1603), and the decline ofthe Renaissance under
the Stuart monarchs (1603-1649). .
The Rise o f the Renaissance
The invention o f printing press and improved methods of
manufacturing paper made possible the rapid spread of knowledge.
In 1476, during the Wars o f the Roses, William Caxton set up
the first printing press in London. Before that time, books and
other literary works were slowly and laboriously copied by hand.
Printing made it possible to produce far more books at lo wer costs.
By 1640 Caxton’s and other presses had printed more than 216,000
different works and editions. It is estimated that by 1 530 more
than half the population o f England was literate. Learning at that
time flourished not only at Oxford and Cambridge, but at the lower
educational levels too.
At that period new types o f literature were imported from the
European continent. Chief among these were the sonnet, imported
by Wyatt and Surrey from Italy, where it had been perfected'by
Francis Petrarch; and the essay, imported by Sir Francis Bacon
from France. Other verse forms were also borrowed from Italian
and French. The native drama continued to develop and gain
popularity.
The H eight o f the Renaissance
Under the reign o f Elizabeth I ( 1558-1603), order was; restored,
and England entered upon her most glorious age. Elizabeth was
only twenty-five when she assumed the throne, never married,
and ruled wisely and well for forty-five years.
Interested in education, Queen Elizabeth established one
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
