The greatest poet of the English Renaissance is. The English Monarchy and English Poetry in the Renaissance
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English Renaissance
The culture of the Renaissance with its ideological basis - the philosophy and aesthetics of humanism - arises primarily on Italian soil. It is not surprising that the influence of Italy can be seen in all English writers of the Renaissance. But much more noticeable than the influence of the Italian model is the original character of English culture of this time. The tragic fate of the free peasantry in the era of primitive accumulation, the rapid breakdown of medieval orders under the onslaught of the power of money, the development of the national state with its contradictions - all this gives social issues in England special urgency. The broad folk background of the English Renaissance is its main advantage, the source of such achievements of the 16th century as Thomas More's Utopia and Shakespeare's theater.
English humanism
The early English Renaissance dates back to the 14th century; its most prominent representatives were Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland. Feudal feuds of the 15th century. delayed the development of English humanism for a long time. The literary life of the period of the War of the Roses was dominated by theological works and epigonic knightly novels. Only oral folk poetry reaches a relatively high level. At the beginning of the 16th century, humanistic literature came to life again. Oxford University was a breeding ground for new humanistic ideas. True, these ideas often had a theological shell; in this respect England was like Germany. It is characteristic that Erasmus of Rotterdam, a recognized authority of German humanists, finds a grateful audience and loyal friends at Oxford University. The English humanists Grosin (1446-1519), Linecr (1460-1524) and John Colet (1467-1519), who traveled to Italy, were carried away there mainly by philological research, showing no interest in natural philosophical and aesthetic problems. They use their philological learning most often to study issues of religion and morality. Thus, John Colet lectures on the letters of the Apostle Paul. However, the real significance of Colet’s activities lies in the fact that he was an ardent defender of the humanistic system of education, spoke out against corporal punishment in school, and fought against scholasticism. Thanks to Colet, secular, so-called grammar schools arose in England. But the main figure among the Oxford humanists was Thomas More.
"Utopia" by Thomas More
Henry VIII's chancellor Thomas More (1478-1535) witnessed with his own eyes the beginning of a profound change in the position of the working classes of England, a picture of national disasters caused primarily by the system of enclosures. In his novel-treatise “The Golden Book, as useful as it is funny, on the best structure of the state and on the new island of Utopia” (Latin text - 1516, first English translation -- 1551) More portrays 16th-century England in a mercilessly harsh light. with the parasitism of its upper classes and bloody legislation against the expropriated, England, where “sheep eat people.” From his description of English reality, More concluded: “Where there is private property, where everything is measured by money, the correct and successful course of public affairs is hardly ever possible.” On behalf of the fictional traveler Raphael Hythloday, More talks about a happy country on the distant island of Utopia (in Greek, “a non-existent place”). There is no private property in this country. All the inhabitants of the island work, doing crafts, and, in turn, agriculture. Thanks to the labor of all members of society, there is an abundance of products that are distributed according to needs. Education, based on the combination of theoretical learning with labor, is available to all residents of Utopia. The society is governed by citizens elected for no more than a year (with the exception of the prince, whose title remains for life if there is no suspicion that he is striving for autocracy). Matters of importance are decided in the people's assembly. The Utopians express their contempt for money by the fact that in their state gold is used only for making chains for criminals and for chamber pots. Thomas More's idea of communism bears the imprint of the conditions of medieval life. Not imagining the organization of crafts other than in the form of an idealized medieval family-craft system, More connects the entire management system with patriarchal-parental authority. In his ideal state, where complete social and political equality of all citizens reigns, he retains an element of slavery (they become slaves in Utopia as punishment for a crime, slaves do hard, rough work). A man of his time, Thomas More did not know and could not yet know the real ways to eliminate the unjust social system based on private property. But the genius of his basic idea is quite clearly expressed in the principle of compulsory labor for all, in the anticipation of the destruction of the opposition between city and countryside, between mental and physical labor, in the denial of the exploitation of man by man. More's book was a living response to the development of capitalist relations in England and expressed the deepest aspirations of the English masses. More's communist ideal was, as it were, a fantastic anticipation of the future. In the Middle Ages, criticism of private property usually came out in religious garb. More cleared this criticism of its mystical shell and related it to political, economic, moral and philosophical issues. Henry VIII recruited Thomas More to government activities. For some time it seemed that More's ideas, such as establishing peaceful relations between states, reducing government spending, etc., were influencing the policy of the court. Nevertheless, the difference in goals was bound to lead to a sharp conflict between the king and his chancellor. More acted as a determined opponent of the English Reformation. At the request of the king, the Lord Chancellor was convicted. Obedient judges sentenced the former Lord Chancellor to a terrible execution, which the “merciful” Henry VIII replaced with beheading. Hence the legend of Thomas More as a Catholic martyr. In fact, he was a supporter of complete religious tolerance. In his utopian state, everyone believes what they want, and no religious persecution is allowed. Even atheists can express their views among educated people; they are not only allowed to publicly agitate against religion.
Late humanism
Subsequently, the influence of humanism continued to grow. The Reformation, carried out from above by the Tudor state, destroyed the monasteries and undermined the system of scholastic education. Following Oxford Cambridge university also opened its doors to new ideas. The second half of the 16th century (the so-called century of Elizabeth) was the heyday of humanistic enlightenment. The large number of translations into English of various authors of the ancient and modern world, from Homer to Ariosto, is indicative. Italian narrative literature enjoyed considerable popularity in this era - short stories by Boccaccio, Bandello, descriptions of geographical discoveries, books of a historical nature. In the second half of the century, secular culture was finally established. At the same time, church disputes of the 16th century. gave rise to a huge theological literature. Following the official reformation, a new wave of religious fanaticism rises - the movement of the Puritans, hostile to the cheerful, secular spirit of the Renaissance, humanistic literature, art, and poetry.
Art
The Renaissance in England, as in other countries, was marked by a flourishing of art and literature. The general character of English art of this time was national and realistic. Its best examples reflect the historical experience of the people, enriched by the great disruption of medieval orders, mass movements of the 14th-16th centuries, England’s participation in world trade and world politics, the development of agriculture, crafts, and manufacturing. Not all kinds and types of art flourish equally on the soil of the English Renaissance. In the architecture of the 16th century. the so-called Tudor style represents no more than the first step towards liberation from medieval Gothic. Its elements were preserved until the greatest architect - Ainigo Jones (1573-1651), who appeared at the end of this era (his architectural activity began in 1604). Inigo Jones's best work, the design of the Royal Palace of Whitehall, carried out only in a small part (the Banqueting House Pavilion), combines the High Renaissance style with architectural forms that have their national roots in England. As for painting, in the XV-XVI centuries. Many Flemish and French masters come to England. The brilliant German painter Hans Holbein the Younger worked at the court of Henry VIII, whose followers were the Englishmen Smith, Brown, Bossam, and the miniaturists brothers Oliver and Hillard. Genres of fine art in England are limited almost exclusively to portraiture. There is no national school of painting here that could be placed next to the Italian or German art of the Renaissance. The achievements in English music were great: distinguished by the intimacy of expression and subtle grace, she became famous for her chamber madrigals and church choirs.
Poetry and fiction
Theater and drama
The art that most fully embodied the social upsurge of the Renaissance was the English theater. The theater in England was like a place of public gatherings. This is a kind of democratic “parliament” of the 16th century. Among the theater spectators were peasants who came to the market, sailors, ship and rope masters from the port of London, weavers, wool beaters, and mechanics. Gentlemen, officials, and merchants also visited the theater (sometimes “Queen Bess” herself, Elizabeth, appeared, hiding her face under a mask). But most of all, the playwright had to reckon with the common people, who quickly reacted to the actors’ performances with either noisy approval or cries of indignation. And this public forced to serve it not only poorly educated writers - half-poets, half-artisans, but also writers like Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson, who belonged to the so-called university minds. Since the time of the ancient theater, there has not yet been such an organic connection between the play (which was not then considered an independent literary work) and the performance, between the performance and the viewer who perceives it. In a short time, starting from the 70s, a significant number of public and private theaters appeared in London (Swan, Globe, Red Bull, etc.). The difference between them was in the distribution of income: the first belonged to the shareholders of the acting group, the second - to private owners. Located by decision of the city authorities on the very outskirts of London, on the southern bank of the Thames, the theater looked like a huge barn-well, without a roof and basic comfort. The performances were given during the day, so there was no artificial lighting. The capacity of the auditorium in the so-called public theaters was significant - from 1500 to 1800 people. Around the “parterre” there were three tiers of boxes - more expensive places for the wealthy public. Around 1596, the custom arose of seating noble visitors on the sides of the stage area. This platform, the famous “Shakespearean stage,” was a simple platform raised above the level of the stalls. In some theatres, for example in the Swan, it jutted out into the auditorium. The stage was divided into front and back; in turn, the back stage was divided into lower and upper. Different parts of the stage had different purposes: the proscenium depicted any open place: a field, a square in front of a castle, a city street, a hall in a palace, etc.; the back of the stage, fenced off with curtains, indicated a closed space: a room, a cell, a crypt; the upper part of the back stage designated any place raised above ground level, including the bedroom, which was located in English houses on the second floor (hence the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet). Finally, in some cases, actors could also use the upper stage when it was necessary to depict a city wall, a watchman on a fortress tower or on a mast. There was no curtain, so a primitive props was placed in front of the audience: two artificial trees indicated that the action was taking place in the forest, gray quadrangles with a black cross indicated the windows and, therefore, the action taking place in the house. Everything was supplemented by the imagination of the audience, and the playwright had to help them by building the dialogue so that they could know the place and time of the action from the very beginning. The poet also had to take into account that even a spectator accustomed to the conventions of the theater would not tolerate it if the heroes of the tragedy who were killed and died before their eyes rose after the end of the performance and left the stage themselves. In such cases, it was necessary for the appearance of a person not connected with the course of the action, but giving the order to carry away the dead (such as Fortinbras in Hamlet). In the English theater of this time, female roles were played by men. All this shows that it was not the complexity and richness of the stage design that attracted the public. She went to the theater in order to hear the living word, since drama posed the pressing issues of our time. In the guise of legendary or historical characters, the viewer saw types taken from life itself, and in the collisions created by the playwright’s imagination - conflicts that were the order of the day. Mysteries, miracles, moralizing moralities of the medieval theater of the XIV-XV centuries. were gradually replaced by drama with exclusively secular, earthly content. At the same time, the English theater had to defend its right to exist both against the strict censorship of the state, the body of which was the reformed church, and against the ill will of the pious Puritans, who, condemning idleness and entertainment, rejected spectacles along with them. Many pamphlets were directed against this “sinful pastime.” In 1583, the court poet Sir Philip Sidney wrote his famous Defense of Poetry. James I himself, in his Book of Public Amusements, defends games and dances from the curse of the Puritans. National drama, which formed an era not only in English but also in world culture, turned out to be immeasurably higher than the “learned drama” in Latin according to the models of Plautus and Seneca, and the competition between the court theater, which approved mainly allegorical masquerade plays, and the theater of the London outskirts was crowned with complete triumph the last one. Characteristic feature There was an abundance of folk theater in its productions of historical plays about the past of England and dramatic works on subjects from the life of foreign peoples that the British encountered on the world stage. The Spaniards are Catholic opponents and trade competitors of the English, the French are their recent enemies, Dutch Protestants, Germans, Italians are often found in English plays of the Renaissance, forming truly a whole poetic world, unimaginable in the ancient Greek theater, where the hero of the drama was supposed to be predominantly Hellene. Unlike those humanists who strictly adhered to the cult of antiquity, the authors of plays for the folk theater show keen attention to the Middle Ages - this still largely unlived era when the English national state was created. "King John" by D. Bell (1495--1563), "James IV" and "Wakefield Warden" by Robert Greene (1560--1592), "Edward II" by Christopher Marlowe (1564--1593) - plays imbued with spirit of optimism and national pride, the first attempts at truly historical drama in England. Along with this, everyday comedies are being improved (“Gossip Girton’s Needle” by J. Still, “Ralph Royster Doyster” by N. Udall). A tragedy of human characters and passions arises; The best play of this type was The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd (1558-1594), despite the fact that the violent passions of its characters are often implausible. Even more significant are the works of Marlowe (“Tamerlane the Great”, “Doctor Faustus”. “The Jew of Malta”). Marlowe's heroes, thirsting for unlimited freedom, always enter into a titanic duel with the religious or class morality of medieval society, and although they are defeated, their struggle is a daring challenge to the entire old way of life, to all the outdated traditions of the feudal world. The mutual connection of historical chronicles, heroic dramas and everyday plays had a beneficial effect on all dramatic genres. Historical events and personal conflict, high and low, tragic and funny are combined on the stage of the theater, just as they were combined in the life of this controversial era.
William Shakespeare
Thus, the conditions gradually developed that made possible the emergence of the greatest English writer of the 16th century. William Shakespeare (1564--1616). Biographical information about Shakespeare is unusually scarce. It is known that he was born in Stratford (on the Avon River) in the family of a city dweller and studied at a “grammar school”. In 1585, Shakespeare came to London to seek fortune. He was an actor in the troupe of the Lord Admiral, then in the troupe of the Lord Chamberlain - an actor and shareholder. Updating the plays of other authors, Shakespeare soon began creating his own dramatizations of short stories and chronicles for the Globe Theater. Shakespeare's work as a playwright lasted from 1590 to 1612. Shakespeare was the son of the people, similar to those nameless masters who created cathedrals and town halls in the Middle Ages. In his 154 sonnets, details of his personal life are rarely glimpsed, and in 37 plays not a single character takes on the role of a direct mouthpiece for his thoughts and moods. They all speak as men of their position and character should have spoken under similar circumstances. The viewer can figure out the author's point of view only from the very development of the play. All the dramatic genres and techniques used by Shakespeare testify to his loyalty to the traditions of English folk theater and the achievements of his predecessor playwrights: in the staging of the chronicle, he is the successor of Greene and Marlowe, in the problematic-heroic tragedy - of Kyd and Marlowe, in the comedy splashing with joy - of Greene , Lodge and Heywood. Shakespeare does not disdain the techniques of farcical interludes with their jesters who violate all the rules of decency and taste. He only imperceptibly introduces an artistic measure into the usual techniques of the English stage and fills his work with deep philosophical and ethical problems that were most important for his era. Shakespeare also retains such features inherent in folk poetry as disdain for external plausibility, grandiosity artistic images , a combination of tragedy and comedy. To touch upon the problems of our time, he turns to a familiar historical legend, to the long-known plot of the novel. He does not invent plots, does not build intricate intrigues, which abound, for example, in the Spanish theater of that time or later English drama. The viewer of the Globe, as it was in the ancient Greek theater, knows in advance the characters, the course of action and the denouement of Shakespeare's plays; The playwright's interest is directed towards illuminating the theme, generalizing ideas, and the dynamics of individualized and truly vital characters. In historical dramas (“Henry VI”, “Richard III”, “Richard II”, “King John”, “Henry IV”, “Henry V”) Shakespeare strives to capture not only the events of the past, but also the attitude towards them, the assessment of them by the broad masses of the English people. With enormous power of imagination and amazing insight, which cannot be found in Hall and Golinshed (Shakespeare used their historical chronicles), he creates a grandiose picture of the development of medieval England, starting with King John (John) the Landless to the first Tudor - Henry VII. Shakespeare's drama is distinguished by its figurative embodiment of the “historical atmosphere” and a deep analysis of the political struggle. The influence of the people on the course of events or their attitude towards these events always appears in Shakespeare's plays with sufficient clarity. True, Shakespeare does not favor the rebellious crowd, tearing up charters, killing nobles and literate officials. He does not doubt the privileges of the nobility and prefers the monarchy to the republic. But, despite his monarchical illusions, Shakespeare remains a deep realist. If in his dramatic works the representatives of the upper classes are in the foreground, then behind them one can always feel a broad social background filled with heterogeneous elements, from degraded knights to peasants, from the “proud Shakespearean yeoman,” as Marx put it, to artisans, servants and soldiers. The spirit of subservience to monarchs and aristocracy is absent from Shakespeare. He does not spare either the title or the high rank of his heroes. Depicting the rise of the nation-state, he confronts those in power with historical necessity, paving its way through the struggle of interests, mistakes and crimes of individuals. Shakespeare's Chronicles reflect the history of the English people. In terms of historical drama, some addition to the national "Chronicles" is a group of plays from the history of ancient Rome ("Julius Caesar", "Coriolanus", "Antony and Cleopatra"), which in their nature are adjacent to the tragedies of the second period of Shakespeare's work (1601-- 1608). If the “Chronicles” show feudal feuds and the struggle of barons against kings - the yesterday of English history, then in the Roman tragedies the antagonism of the plebeians and the aristocracy, the clash of republican and monarchical tendencies is revealed, i.e. the living problems of the 16th century are interpreted. Capturing distant similarities between contemporary England and ancient Rome, Shakespeare does not at all seek to modernize the past. On the contrary, it retains a clear outline of Roman life. In characterizing statesmen and military leaders, patricians and plebeians, Shakespeare is in many ways more objective than Plutarch himself, from whom he draws his plots. Even the presence of such naive anachronisms as tower clocks, cannons, and the costumes of London apprentices in certain scenes do not in any way deprive Shakespeare's plays of a purely Roman flavor. That is why they are not at all similar to the conventional dramas with ancient plots of Ben Jonson, Chapman and others, and even less to the Roman tragedies of Corneille, Racine and Voltaire. Shakespeare's poetic historicism was appreciated and understood only in the 18th-19th centuries. Having rejected the medieval mystical point of view on the course of history, Shakespeare is not inclined to an exaggerated assessment of the individual, so characteristic of the historical literature of the Renaissance. The priority of the law and wisdom of the people over the mind, will, and fate of the individual, no matter how great his importance in society, is the basis any Shakespearean drama. His humanistic ideal found diverse expression in the works of the great English poet. In the early tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, in the comedies “Much Ado About Nothing”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “The Merchant of Venice”, a sense of confidence in the imminent victory of man over the dark forces dominates. Later, in the dramas of the early 17th century, the atmosphere of tragedy sharply deepens - a reflection of the growing contradictions of social reality. In his greatest tragedies (Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Timon of Athens), Shakespeare exposes the deep gulf between the hopes of the people of the Renaissance and reality. The corrupting power of money, the decline in the moral level of the individual under the influence of the free play of private interests is one of Shakespeare's main themes. He depicts the struggle of the feudal world order with the new world of monetary relations as an irreconcilable conflict, where the new side has material, but not always moral, advantages. Aware of this historical conflict, Shakespeare does not seek a compromise, like many humanists and court poets of the 16th century. Only in England, where the process of disintegration of feudal relations took place most rapidly, could a Shakespearean tragedy built on a truly popular basis could appear. At the end of the Renaissance, the hopes of humanists were seriously tested. The civilization that emerged from the depths of medieval society turned out to be fraught with deep internal conflicts. The great heart scientist and psychologist Shakespeare found the key to the spiritual world of a person standing on the verge of two eras - the Middle Ages and capitalism. He showed how the noblest natures become victims of rude, cruel forces born of the contradictory development of society. And yet, from Shakespeare’s point of view, this development, with all its forms hostile to man, is necessary and justified. The stories of Lear, Hamlet, Othello, despite their sad endings, strengthen faith in the ultimate triumph of man.
English drama after Shakespeare
Of the contemporaries and playwrights following Shakespeare, Ben Jonson (circa 1573-1637) ranks first. A supporter of imitation of ancient models, he created a “scientific”, “correct” tragedy (“The Fall of Sejanus”, “The Conspiracy of Catiline”), close to the humanistic historiography of his time. The spirit of the English folk Renaissance is much more fully expressed in the everyday comedies of Ben Jonson (“Everyone in his own character", "Volpone", "Bartholomew's Fair"). There is a moralizing tendency in these comedies. Final stage Elizabethan drama is represented by the names of John Fletcher, John Turner, John Webster and Messinger. While retaining some progressive features, these playwrights are already exponents of the deep internal crisis of Renaissance culture. They show excessive interest in the idea of the fatal doom of a person, freed from all moral standards. From a political point of view, late English drama bears the imprint of feudal reaction. The beginning of the decline of dramatic poetry in England serves as evidence of the degeneration of humanism and the gradual separation of the theater from the needs of the public audience.
Renaissance philosophy
renaissance shakespeare art philosophy
At the end of the Renaissance in England, as in other European countries, philosophical thought awakened. It is no coincidence that one of the first great figures of new philosophy was the Englishman Francis Bacon (1561-1626). Growing up in England - the country of the most developed trade and industry. Bacon became the founder of the materialist theory of scientific knowledge, built on observation and experiment. In his teaching, humanism and natural philosophy of the Renaissance take a new form, addressed to practice. Bacon's goal is to achieve the regnum hominis (“kingdom of man”) on earth, to fight nature, which people will be able to conquer if they obey its laws in order to direct their action in the right direction. The means to achieve this goal is the unlimited development of science, especially physics. Written a hundred years after Thomas More's Utopia, Bacon's New Atlantis also depicts an ideal future kingdom. But the difference between the two utopias is very big. More defends the interests of the people and is distrustful of the development of capitalism, which in his era took its first steps. Bacon has in mind the rise of national wealth and the strengthening of English statehood. He paints a grandiose prospect of man's conquest of nature, but in his utopian state money, private property, and class inequality are preserved. Only the abundance of technology and almost fabulous conditions for the development of science make life in “New Atlantis” wonderful. Bacon's utopia has nothing to do with socialism. Nevertheless, this work is wonderful. It reflects the best side of bourgeois civilization - its ability to develop productive forces on a scale unknown to previous social formations. Bacon belonged to a noble family that rose to prominence under the Tudors. James I favored him and made him his Lord Chancellor. In 1621, Parliament began to fight against the monetary abuses of the court when distributing patents for monopolies, and high patrons decided to sacrifice the chancellor, inviting him to take all the blame on himself. Bacon was convicted, but received a pension and the opportunity to live on his estate, pursuing natural sciences. He died after catching a cold during a physics experiment. In his last letter to one of his friends, already seriously ill, Bacon triumphantly informs his friend that the experiment was a success. Bacon's political views are set out in his essay "Essays" (1597 - 1625), written under the influence of Montaigne. Paying tribute to the republic, Bacon considered monarchy an inevitable form of development of the national state and judged methods of maintaining power with complete indifference to the moral side of the matter. Nevertheless, Bacon was not an unconditional supporter of absolutism. The philosopher's main idea is that the most brutal measures cannot save the state from shocks if the people are hungry. The causes of revolts are primarily material, although the reasons for them can be varied. The impoverishment of the masses cannot be avoided if there is too much unproductive population in the country, that is, nobles, clergy and officials. Elimination of the causes threatening revolution is achieved, according to Bacon, by opening trade routes, a favorable balance of trade, encouraging manufactures, improving agriculture, and reducing taxes and duties. These ideas of a purely bourgeois nature are joined by some medieval illusions. For example, Bacon attributes to the monarchy the ability to limit the negative aspects of the developing monetary economy. He demands the publication of laws aimed at preserving a strong peasantry, which, from his point of view, is the basis of the prosperity and military power of England. Having thus begun with the correct idea of the dependence of political life on material interests, Bacon retreats to a utopian attempt to merge two mutually exclusive principles - the free development of capitalist relations and the protection of small peasant property. Bacon's attitude towards the nobility was equally ambivalent. On the one hand, he makes it clear that the nobles are only eating up the country, but on the other hand, he recognizes the need for the nobility from a political point of view, as a class capable of limiting the absolute power of the monarch. The merchants are also, from his point of view, a useful part of the nation, although the source of their wealth is not entirely pure. In general, Bacon strives to find a scientific formula for reconciling the social contradictions of the Renaissance. Revolutionary storm of the 40s of the 17th century. overturned all these constructions. The merits of the great English thinker lie primarily in the field of the theory of knowledge and the philosophical doctrine of nature. Bacon wanted to create an encyclopedia of scientific knowledge. He succeeded in realizing this intention only partially in the works “On the Dignity and Multiplication of Sciences” (1605-1623) and “New Organon” (1612-1620). The most important part of Bacon's teaching is his criticism of the scholastic method, based on the authority of the church and Aristotle's logic, divorced from any real content. Unlike humanist philologists who worshiped antiquity, Bacon emphasized the importance of the great discoveries of his time, thanks to which humanity reached new horizons and surpassed the level of antiquity. To move forward with even greater success, it is necessary to discard the usual prejudices. Bacon divides these prejudices or superstitions into four groups: “ghosts of the race”, forcing people to judge everything by analogy with a person, “ghosts of the cave” - the habit of looking at the world from its narrow point of view, “market ghosts” are conventions created by communication with other people, especially through language, and, finally, “theater ghosts” are excessive reliance on accepted dogma. Instead of an empty game of syllogism, science must rely on experience, on the data of our senses. Bacon has no doubt that sensory knowledge gives us a correct picture of the world, we just need to abandon excessive flights of fancy, which force our mind to make unfounded generalizations. On the other hand, a scientist should not be like an ant, turning into a simple collector of facts. And Bacon offers a whole system of rational processing of the data of our experience through analysis and careful generalization. The method proposed by Bacon includes both an “ascending” movement from the individual to the universal, and a “descending” movement in the opposite direction, from general axioms to particular conclusions. However, the author of the New Organon failed to cope with more complex issues of the scientific method, which require a dialectical solution. In the face of these difficulties, he vacillates either towards one-sided empiricism or towards the fantastic conjectures typical of Renaissance natural philosophy. This duality runs through the entire system of views of the great English materialist. Bacon believed that philosophical materialism in itself is not able to explain the unity and internal harmony of the universe as a whole and needs to be supplemented in the form of “natural theology.” This theological inconsistency is supported by practical considerations. Bacon looks at religion from a purely political point of view. It is characteristic that the ideal utopian state of “New Atlantis,” the state of scientists, has an official Christian church. Considering religion as an instrument of political interests, in the spirit of Machiavelli, Bacon himself is forced to submit to its demands. He gets out of the difficulty using an old method known back in the Middle Ages - the theory of “two truths.” What is absurd in the world of science can be understood in the light of religious revelation. Any intervention of faith is unacceptable as long as we are talking about the study of nature, but beyond the boundaries of scientific knowledge, the dogmas of the state church should be recognized without reasoning. This point of view is characteristic of the beginning of the 17th century, when on both sides, Protestant and Catholic, the church again went on the offensive against free thought. Among such contradictions, the history of English culture of the Renaissance ends its path. Its last word was the philosophy of Francis Bacon, which heralded the beginning of the rapid development of technology and natural science.
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German Renaissance
Northern Renaissance
In the northern countries, humanism took shape later than in Italy. At the head of the humanists of the Northern Renaissance was the greatest humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam(1469-1536), outstanding philologist and writer. He owns the works “Praise of Stupidity”, “Adagia”. Erasmus played a large role in preparing the Reformation, but did not accept it.
In Germany, a humanistic culture began to take shape in the 15th century. Representatives of a wide variety of creative fields belonged to this culture - philosophers, naturalists, linguists, writers, poets, humanistic preachers. German humanists, as well as Italian ones, discussed the issue of creating a united Germany. The nature of Renaissance culture, and German culture in particular, required that the words and writings of humanists reach the general public and shape its consciousness in a humanistic way. The rewriting of the works of humanists was slow and ineffective in the matter of humanistic education of European society. And in 1440 Johannes Gutenberg(1397-1468) invents printing.
The greatest artist of the German Renaissance was Albrecht Durer(1471-1528). His series of engravings “Apocalypse” became especially famous.
A major representative of German humanism was Johann Reuchlin(1455-1522), philologist and philosopher. In philosophy, Reuchlin tried to conduct a kind of experiment: to reconcile Christian morality with humanism. The experiment ended in complete failure.
Among the German humanists and reformers of the first quarter of the 16th century. stands out Ulrich von Hutten(1488-1523), one of the compilers of a unique monument of German humanistic literature, the famous “Letters of Dark People”. In German humanistic literature, an accusatory genre has developed, a brilliant example of which is the satire “Ship of Fools.”
Humanistic culture in England developed in the 16th century. Its center was the Oxford circle of humanists, which included Grosin, Linacre, John Colet - enthusiastic admirers of antiquity and Italian humanists.
The head of the Oxford Circle was John Colet(1467-1519). In France and Italy, he studied theology and tried to combine the Holy Scriptures with the teachings of Plato and the Neoplatonists. He knew ancient literature and the works of Italian humanists. Dealing with educational issues. He opened a school with a humanistic education program, where ancient languages (Latin and Greek) and the works of ancient and Christian authors were studied. Colet contributed to the emergence of grammar schools in England.
Considered a brilliant English humanist Thomas More(1478-1535), Chancellor of England under King Henry VIII. Thomas More owns the famous essay “Utopia”, in which he developed a model of an ideal state. More opposed the Reformation and, in particular, the English Reformation. By order of the king, More was executed. In 1935 he was canonized.
In the "Age of Elizabeth" humanistic theatrical art flourished in England. The greatest representative of the English Renaissance was the playwright and poet William Shakespeare(1564-1616). His comedies “Much Ado About Nothing,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and others are imbued with a humanistic worldview. The tragedies “Hamlet”, “King Lear”, “Othello”, “Coriolanus” and others reflected the collapse of humanistic ideals in their clash with the moral and ethical values of the future capitalist society. From the glorification of man, his cult, Shakespeare, in the period of tragic humanism, the collapse of his ideals, moved away from the understanding of man as the crown of all living things and saw in him only the quintessence of dust. In the historical plays "Richard III", "Henry V" and others, Shakespeare turned to the past of England. They clearly express the state and political positions of the humanist. Shakespeare was a staunch supporter of absolutism.
In the 16th century Numerous theaters appeared in the cities of England. The Globe Theater, where Shakespeare was a playwright, actor and shareholder, was very popular in London. Dramaturgy of England in the 16th century. was introduced by Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and others.
The end of the English Renaissance was marked by the activities of an outstanding scientist and philosopher Francis Bacon(1561-1626). He owns the fundamental work “New Organon” and the essay “New Atlantis”.
The sixteenth century is the most dramatic in the annals of England, the most glorious in the history of its literature. Are there any more picturesque figures in the gallery of English monarchs than Henry VIII and great Elizabeth? Is there a victory more legendary than the defeat of the Spanish Invincible Armada? Is there a poet more famous than Shakespeare? In just a hundred years, a country on the outskirts of Europe, torn by civil strife, turned into a great power, ready to fight for its supremacy on all oceans, and went almost from nothing to England, which would soon rightfully be called the “Mistress of the Sea.”
The English Renaissance largely coincided with the Tudor era. The starting point should be considered the Battle of Botsworth (1485), in which the king fell Richard III, the notorious villain from Shakespeare's play of the same name. Thus ended the Wars of the Scarlet and White Roses. Both bushes, scarlet for the Yorks and white for the Lancasters, were plucked to the flower, and Henry VII (1485–1509), the founder of the new Tudor dynasty, ascended the throne. The country was drained of blood, noble lords were killed, French possessions were almost completely lost. Exactly seven years after the Battle of Botsworth, in 1492, Columbus would discover America and the great race for the lands and treasures of the New World would begin. Most of this fatty pie will initially be captured by Spain. But Henry Tudor (let’s give him his due), despite his proverbial stinginess, even then did not spare money for the development of the English fleet. And the results were felt - during the reign of his glorious daughter Elizabeth.
It was not the lust for power of the kings, but the very logic of things that pushed the country, tired of strife, towards an absolute monarchy. Henry VII was already guided by this, and even more so by his son Henry VIII Tudor(1509–1547). In the end, he established complete power not only over the state, but also over the English church, proclaiming himself its supreme head (1534). This meant a break with the Pope, but here the British were no longer the first; the anti-papal Restoration, begun by the Wittenberg doctor of theology Luther, had by that time already won in many German lands, as well as in Holland; over time, England will increasingly begin to focus on its Protestant allies in Europe.
Henry VIII went down in history as a despot and "Bluebeard" on the English throne. He was an imperious and stubborn king who strengthened and united the country, but at the same time split it along religious lines, which will still resonate a century later, in the era English Revolution and civil war. He was well educated and encouraged humanistic knowledge and Renaissance culture; It was under him that it became indecent for the young courtier not to play music, not to sing, not to write poetry. But this lover of the arts, without pity, sent the great Thomas More to the scaffold, executed Count Surry and a number of other court poets. A crowned knight who fought in tournaments for the honor of beautiful ladies and composed madrigals for them with his own hands, without much hesitation he handed over his wife Queen Anne Boleyn to the executioner, and then Queen Elizabeth Howard; It’s also good that the king did not execute all his wives (he had six of them), but only after one.
Henry's infant son Edward VI, crowned in 1547 (he is described in Mark Twain’s novel “The Prince and the Pauper”), was terminally ill and did not reign for long. After him, the throne was seized by Henry's daughter from his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Mary Tudor(1553–1558). Having married the Spanish Prince Philip, she sharply turned England back to Catholicism. If some ten years ago those who remained faithful to the Catholic faith and did not recognize the royal “Act of Supremacy” were executed, now tens and hundreds of those who did not want to return to the rule of the Roman Church went to the stake and under the executioner’s ax. It is not surprising that when Mary the Catholic died, many Englishmen breathed a sigh of relief. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, twenty-five-year-old Elizabeth Tudor (1558–1603), came to power and began one of the longest reigns in English history.
Time has shown what a “Machiavelli in a skirt” the new queen turned out to be. Seriously educated, fluent in several languages, she also possessed exceptional political and diplomatic talents. At that time there was prejudice against women on the throne; but Elizabeth managed to turn this “flaw” to her advantage, turning it into a trump card. She proposed an idea to the people virgin queens as a symbol of the mystical union between the monarch and the state. The calculation was precise: the woman is the sinful Eve, from whom all troubles come, but the virgin is the Most Holy Mary, from whom salvation comes. Elizabeth never married; the crown replaced her wedding crown. But at the same time - that’s what’s interesting! - remaining as if betrothed to the English people, the queen throughout her reign negotiated marriage with many European rulers, using herself as bait, and the proposed marriage as a powerful lever of politics, and skillfully, for years, led the applicants by the nose - in particular, the Spanish King Philip.
Gradually and without sudden movements, Elizabeth restored the Anglican Church, which, according to its dogmas and structure, carried out a kind of compromise between Catholicism and Lutheranism. At the same time, two wings of radicals were formed: Catholics, supporters of the pope, and Puritans, who stood for complete liberation from Roman rites - with each of which the state had to fight in the future. Particularly dangerous were the Catholics, who were supported not only by the continental powers, but also by Scotland, independent of England, and the northern counties adjacent to it. Elizabeth had to fear the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart, her cousin, whom the northerners expected to take the throne of England. Fortunately for Elizabeth, Mary became entangled in amorous intrigues and, accused of involvement in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley, was forced to flee to England, where she soon found herself in the position of a captive. In 1586, when Spain was actively preparing for an attack on England, Elizabeth's secret service developed and carried out an operation (one might say a provocation) to involve Mary Stuart in criminal correspondence with Spain and obtained all the evidence she needed. The Scottish queen was accused of plotting against England, tried and executed on February 8, 1587. The following year, the Spanish Invincible Armada of 134 ships with a huge expeditionary force on board sailed to the shores of England, intending to put an end to the “heretic queen” once and for all, but was decisively attacked by the English fleet in the English Channel, near the port of Calais. The defeat was completed by a storm that sank many Spanish ships; only the pitiful remnants of the Armada managed to return to their homeland.
The victory over the Invincible Armada inspired the British. The fight against the Spaniards at sea, which until then had been episodic in nature - let us remember the pirate exploits of Francis Drake, knighted by Elizabeth! - took on the character of a real naval war: raids on the Spanish colonies in America, seizures of “gold” and “silver flotillas” going from there to the metropolis, attacks on port cities in Spain itself (for example, the capture of Cadiz in 1596). English volunteers and regular units fought in the Netherlands, helping the young Dutch Republic resist the same Spaniards. At the same time, international trade expanded. Since 1554, there was a Moscow company, which sent its ships to Arkhangelsk every summer; in 1581 the Levant Company was founded to trade with the Middle East, and in 1600 the future famous East India Company was founded. The British tried to gain a foothold on the shores of the New World. Sir Walter Raleigh made an expedition to Guiana, on the banks of the Orinoco River, where he searched for the golden land of Eldorado. On his initiative, the first English colony was founded in North America, Virginia.
All this news, innovations and achievements became public knowledge - through royal and parliamentary decrees, travel reports, leaflets with ballads on topical topics, through theatrical performances, finally. The horizons of the average Englishman expanded dramatically, the country felt itself standing at a great historical and geographical crossroads; and it is no coincidence that precisely these years of patriotic upsurge coincided with the years of rapid flowering of English theater, poetry and drama.
The first English Renaissance poet, in essence, was already Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?-1400) - a contemporary of Boccaccio and Petrarch. His poem "Troilus and Cressida", along with the poems of the Italians, served as a direct model for the English poets of the 16th century from Wyatt to Shakespeare. But Chaucer's heirs failed to develop his achievements. The century after Chaucer's death was a time of poetic retreat, a prolonged pause. Perhaps this is due to the political instability of England in the 15th century? Judge for yourself. In the XIV century - the 50-year reign of Edward III - and the appearance of Chaucer. In the 15th century there was a leapfrog of kings, the War of the Roses - and not a single great poet. In the 16th century, the 38-year reign of Henry VIII and the first flowering of poetry, then the 45-year reign of Elizabeth and all highest achievements English Renaissance, including Shakespeare. It turns out that stability is what is important for poetry, even if it is tough power or despotism. There's a lot to think about here.
Of course, there were other reasons for the flourishing of English poetry. One, quite obvious, is the beginning of English printing, laid by William Caxton in 1477. Since then, the number of books published in England has grown exponentially, directly influencing the rise of national education- school and university. Among the first books printed by Caxton were Chaucer's half-forgotten poems, which thus became available to a wide readership.
However, even in the 16th century, the development of English poetry proceeded unevenly: after the execution of Count Surry in 1547, there was a delay for three decades - until such star names as Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser and Walter Raleigh appeared on the poetic horizon. Only in the 1580s did acceleration begin, and in the last decade of the Elizabethan era there was a sharp rise: Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, John Donne.
English Renaissance culture is literary-centric. Alas, it cannot boast of masterpieces of painting or sculpture. Whether this was due to the lack of sun or the predominance of imagination over observation, characteristic of the peoples of the northern forests - the Germans and Celts, we will not guess, but the fact remains: the cultural hero of the British was not an artist, but a poet. Poetry writing in England in the 16th century became a real mania. Not to mention the fact that the art of poetry was considered an indispensable part of knightly perfection and, as such, spread at court and in high society, the same poems - through schooling, theater, through books and ballads-leaflets - entered the life of almost all literate classes . It was rare that a London apprentice could not, if necessary, compose a sonnet or at least a couple of rhymed stanzas. Not only friendly messages and love notes were written in verse, but also scientific, edifying, historical, geographical, and so on.
The Age of Rhymers; they're swarming all around
Poems, rhymes... no, I’ll save you from rhymes, -
Ben Jonson remarked sarcastically. Of course, versification is not yet poetry, and quantity does not always translate into quality... although ultimately it does. “A Rhyming Age” turned out to be at its peak the century of poetic geniuses.
Poems, as we have already said, existed then at different levels. They could serve as a means of communication or as a tool for a court career - high nobles were not insensitive to poetic flattery; and at the same time, poetry was perceived as art, that is, service to beauty. But it was not appropriate for a poet-nobleman to publish his poems, that is, to make them available to outsiders. Neither Wyatt nor Sidney lifted a finger to publicize their poems; their ambition did not go beyond the confines of a narrow circle of experts, “initiates.”
The situation began to change only towards the end of the century, when a new generation of common writers entered literature. In an effort to gain support, they dedicated their books to nobles - patrons of the arts or to the monarch herself. A professional writer essentially cannot exist without material patronage - either a patron or the public. But the book trade was not yet developed enough for the poet to live (or simply survive) on his poems. Only the flourishing of theaters in Shakespeare's era gave the poet-playwright a similar opportunity. Writers such as Shakespeare and Jonson actually used both types of support - powerful patrons and theatrical crowds. Few people managed to pass between Scylla and Charybdis, writing only “for the soul”: among them we include, for example, the most talented student of John Donne, the priest George Herbert.
Renaissance poetry was closely connected with the monarchy, with the life of the royal court. First major poet of the Tudor era John Skelton was first the Latin teacher of Prince Henry (the future king), and then something of a court jester. Author of the first English sonnets Thomas Wyatt romantic legend associates with Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII; when the unfortunate queen fell, he only miraculously escaped death. George Gascoigne, the best poet of the mid-century, tried all his life to attract the attention of the court, to enter the favor of the ruling monarch - and died, barely achieving his desired goal. Philip Sidney, the “English Petrarch,” after his heroic death on the battlefield, was canonized as an exemplary knight and poet, and received state funeral pomp and posthumous honors. Walter Raleigh, widely known as a soldier, politician, scientist and navigator, also possessed a first-class literary gift; Raleigh's poems to the "Virgin Queen" belong to the best flowers of her poetic wreath. Elizabeth herself dedicated poems to her favorite, faithful “Sir Walter”. Alas, after the death of the old queen, the wheel of Fortune turned: the powerful favorite found himself a prisoner of the Tower, and “the smartest head in the kingdom” eventually fell, cut down by the hand of the executioner.
It is easy to multiply examples of how literary affairs were intertwined with state affairs. Many of these stories are tragic; but the main thing is different. Poems were given importance. Yes, sometimes denunciations were written against their authors, they could be arrested and even killed. And at the same time, princes and nobles considered it their duty to provide patronage to poets; their works were rewritten and carefully preserved. Without poets, the brilliance of the court, the life of the state as a whole, and the inner world of the individual were incomplete. When Charles I was executed, he took two books with him to the scaffold: a prayer book and the pastoral and lyrical “Arcadia” by Philip Sidney. With this symbolic gesture, an entire era ended: in Puritan, bourgeois England, poetry took a fundamentally different place. Only a century and a half later, the Romantic poets resurrected the age of Shakespeare and re-evaluated the rich heritage of their Renaissance poetry.
Today, peering through the thickness of translucent time, we see: this is the whole Atlantis, a huge continent that has sunk under the water. Hundreds of poets, thousands of books, hundreds of thousands of lines of poetry. The thirty or so authors presented here are only a small sampling of this amazing variety. It is inevitably subjective, although it includes all the main names of that era. Of the poets of the first rank only Edmund Spencer presented nominally, as one sonnet: if this were a well-balanced anthology, it would be necessary to give at least one excerpt from his famous "Fairy Queen" - an allegorical poem glorifying Queen Elizabeth.
Of the poets, relatively speaking, of the second rank, it was with particular regret that I had to omit John Davis, whose main works, the poems “Nosce Teipsum” and “Orchestra,” would hardly have been perceived in short passages, and there was simply no room for more in the book. Among the poetesses I would like to present, first of all, Isabella Whittney, who published the first book of poetry written by a woman in England in 1573. But her witty “Testament to Londoners,” in which she describes to her readers all her beloved London - a detailed guide to the streets, shops and markets of the city - would inevitably lose both its authenticity and charm in translation. In general, the final part of the work on this book was the most painful, because I had to voluntarily give up a lot and a lot - for the sake of compactness and harmony, constantly calling my wandering eyes to order. And yet I wanted to display the breadth and scope of the poetic era, the diversity of genres, themes and authorial personalities. Along with the classic works of Shakespeare and Donne, the reader will also find here masterpieces of lyric poetry written by lesser-known poets, for example, poems Chidika Tichborne, composed before execution () or Thomas Nash. The book also includes poems by royalty: Henry VIII, Elizabeth and James I, as well as untitled songs and ballads. Dramatic poetry is represented by two excerpts from little-known tragedies - “The Werewolf” Thomas Middleton And George Chapman, and the genre of epigram is half-forgotten Thomas the Bastard.
This book covers mainly the Tudor era - from Henry to Elizabeth. The poetry of the times of Jacob Stuart is reflected only by the works of authors already familiar, that is, “smoothly transitioned” into the new century and new reign (including Donne and Jonson), as well as the names of their students George Herbert And Robert Guerrick. The final section is devoted Andrew Marvell; this is a completely different era - the English Revolution and Cromwell’s protectorate. And yet (such is the inertia of style) Marvell’s poetry is still largely Renaissance; it represents the completion of the traditions of both the English Petrarchists and English metaphysicians - a kind of epilogue and drawing a line under what the poets of the 16th century did.
· heroic stories based on national stories. history of the times of the Gothic kings, the struggle with the Moors, the struggle of kings with rebellious feudal lords, the unification of Spain. monarchy (“Fuente Ovejuna”), discovery of America. Patriotism, idealization of antiquity, the power of Spain.
· “cloak and sword” according to a noble costume. These are everyday comedies, “comedies of manners.” (“Dog in the manger”, “Girl with a jug”). Here the play is a “mirror of life.” Shows personal and family conflicts generated by love > everything is based on the play of feelings. Traditional motives and conventional techniques (ex: secret dates, serenades, duels). Parallel intrigue between masters and servants. The plays are optimistic and witty. The driving force is chance, comedy is the result of misunderstandings. There are many grotesque characters; there are few about the people, but they express Lope’s socio-political views. In terms of intelligence and moral qualities, a peasant = an aristocrat (ex: “Wise in his home”). Social issues.
4. “Fuente Ovejuna” (=sheep key) · imbued with revolutionary pathos, the hero is not just one character, but the masses · under the influence of violence, social consciousness awakens in the peasant masses · the concept of honor is a non-class category, synonymous with the dignity of the human person · political issues are interpreted in historical perspective (marriage of Ferdinand with Isabella = annexation of the kingdom of Aragon to Castile = unification of Spain) 5. theater technique:
· ? XVI - scaffolding made of boards, in the village in the open air, in the city - in the courtyards of buildings · 2/2 XVI - special. theater buildings (1e1574). There is no curtain, but the costumes are luxurious · the court theater is cool the complex structure of the performance - before and after - dances, songs 6. Lope's followers:
· Tirso de Molina (XVI-XVII) – monk and historiographer. Everything is like Lope, he just invented the genre of religious and philosophical dramas. “The Mischief of Seville” is the first adaptation of the legend of Don Juan. The hero is still primitive - he conquers not with attractiveness, but with deception or the promise of marriage. "Pious Martha"
· Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (XVI-XVII) – few plays, but more carefully processed. “The Weaver of Segovia”, “Dubious Truth”.
· Guillen de Castro (XVI-XVII) - often took plots from folk romances “The Youth of Sid.”
38. Analysis of one of Lope de Vega's plays.
39. General hka of the English Renaissance.
The revival in England chronologically coincides with the period of Tudor rule, from the accession of Henry 7 to the death of Queen Elizabeth. Under the Tudors, England experienced a complete revolution in all areas of economic and social life , which transformed it from a feudal country into a classical one. During this period, England experienced an extraordinary flourishing in all areas of thought and creativity. The process of development of this new culture took place in England in specific conditions, which gave it a special character, throughout the 16th century. From the end of the 15th century, the impoverishment of the countryside began, caused by the capitalist manufacturing industry and trade. = new alignment of class forces in England. + the community of economic and political interests of the most powerful classes, which were equally interested in supporting the absolute monarchy of the Tudors, the landed nobility and the bourgeoisie. The reason for the unification was the consequences of the War of the Scarlet and White Roses - the almost complete destruction of the old feudal nobility, castles that passed into new bourgeois hands, the sale of very extensive church lands during the Reformation period, the introduction of capitalist methods into all areas of economic life in the countryside and in the city. Trade and navigation are developing, and communications with the rest of Europe are being established. However, at the same time, the poverty of the people increased rapidly. Many uprisings of the poor broke out in the village (of which the most striking was the uprising of Robert Ket). The disintegration of the bourgeoisie and the absolute monarchy, and the growth of political antagonism between them, also worsened. Following this comes a crisis of humanistic culture. The revival in England, spanning more than 100 years, went through several developments. Its early period coincided with the Reformation. This determined the fundamental features of English humanism. Issues of religion played an important role for all early humanists. In the second period the situation changes. By destroying the economic and political power of the church, royal power undermines its authority and its strong ideological influence. The fact that the Renaissance in England (along with the pan-European one) was a late historical phenomenon (+ language) was also significant. The greatest flowering of Renaissance ideas occurred in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). During this period, the bourgeoisie and Protestant England defeated the “invincible armada” of the feudal Catholic monarchy of Spain. England becomes the largest maritime power, sending its merchant ships to all countries and strengthening ties with all European states. This is also the period of greatest balance of power between the nobility and the bourgeoisie, national unification and high political upsurge. Court literature is receiving unprecedented development; along with the ancient classics, the works of Italian, French, and Spanish writers are being translated in England. The scientific and philosophical movement is expanding widely. Fiction is receiving unusually wide development. The English novel is developing rapidly: knightly, pastoral, adventurous and everyday, a rich dramaturgy is emerging with Shakespeare at the head. Late humanism is painted in pessimistic tones, the enemy of the humanists is the new society. Built on capitalist property and profit.
William Grosin, Thomas Linacre and John Colet were members of the circle of young scientists in the 15th century at Oxford University. They were united by an interest in the ancient world and new science. The most prominent place among them was taken by Thomas More.
(see No. 40. THOMAS MORE AND European UTOPISM) The largest English philosopher and scientist of the Renaissance was Francis Bacon (15611626). He belonged to the new nobility, studied at Cambridge University, and lived for some time in Paris. Studied law. He was elected to parliament, then retired to his estate, not far from London, and devoted himself to scientific work. After the accession of James1, Bacon returned to politics, but he was soon convicted by parliament for bribery and returned to his scientific work. In 1605, he published a treatise “On the Advancement of Sciences”, then wrote a number of philosophical works - on the classification of scientific disciplines, on ancient knowledge on issues of astronomy, natural science, etc. The most important of them was the “New Aragon”, so named in contrast to Aristotle’s “Organon”. In this work, Bacon severely criticized scholastic science and recommended a new method based on the empirical study of nature. Bacon is a materialist. Bacon also occupies an important place in the history of English prose, as the author of the Essays (English). This book consists of short essays or episodes in which Bacon expounds his views on various issues of philosophy, morality and social life. Bacon is also the author of a utopian novel in Latin, “New Atlantis,” in which he glorifies science, considering the progress of scientific technology as the basis for the future of a happy life for humanity.
40. Thomas More and European utopianism.
Thomas More (14781535). Born into the family of a poor London judge. Studied at Oxford University. There Thomas studied ancient writers and their works. After graduating from university, he wrote Latin epigrams, satires, translations of Greek anthology poets, etc. When Henry ascended the throne, Thomas began to quickly rise through the ranks. During a trip to Flanders, Thomas conceived and partially wrote the most famous of his works, “Utopia,” thanks to which he can safely be called the first representative of utopian socialism. Thomas dedicated his work to the friend of Erasmus, who published it - Peter Aegidius. More invented the word “Utopia” himself, which translated from Greek means “non-existent, unprecedented place.” More's book consists of conversations with a certain Raphael Hythloday, who was a companion of Amerigo Vespucci, and after that he traveled to many countries, including a visit to the island of Utopia. In the first part of the book there is a sharp criticism of the modern social structure, in the second, as an example, there is a description of the social structure on the island of Utopia. The form of More's work was not new in the literature of that time. Before and during its creation, late Greek adventure novels, travel stories and legends about the “earthly paradise” were already known. But in the era of humanism this form is transformed. Under More's pen, she receives new features and a completely different ideological aspiration. More used St. Augustine's treatise "On the City of God", built as a "Utopia" on the opposition of an ideal and sinful state structure + classical literature, especially the works of Plato + English reality, as sources of new ideas. More sees the main cause of the disaster that has engulfed England in private property, in the existence of which there can be neither justice nor public well-being. And of all forms of private property, the most terrible is money. Archaic features are visible in Utopia. More's subsequent work is not so interesting. His History of Richard3 remained unfinished, however, this work is one of the first examples of new English humanistic historiography. However, Mora's luck changed. When King Richard 3 embarked on the path of reformation, More refused to swear allegiance to him as the head of the Anglican Church, and did not support his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. For which he was arrested and executed.
41. General history of literature of Elizabethan times.
Before Elizabeth:
Throughout the 16th century, Italian literature was very popular in England. Under the influence of Italian models, many were reformed literary genres and new poetic forms were learned. First of all, the reform affected poetry. In the last years of Henry's reign, a circle of court poets transformed English lyric poetry into the Italian style. The most important figures in this reform were Wyeth and Serey.
Thomas Wyeth, famous for his education, having visited Italy and become acquainted with the culture of the Renaissance, became interested in Italian poetry and tried to imitate it in everything. In his early TV there are only motives of love, but in his later one one can feel disappointment in court life. His poetry has a bookish and artificial archetype. Most of all, Wyeth was fascinated by the poetry of Petrarch and, under his influence, introduced into English literature the form of the sonnet, until then unknown in England. Wyeth also imitated French and Old English poets.
Henry Howard, Earl of Serey. I was also in love with Italy. His early poetry is an imitation of Wyeth. Continued to improve the Italian sonnet in English. + Serey translated several songs of the Aeneid into English, here. Under Italian influence, blank verse is used.
Philip Sidney studied in Paris until St. Bartholomew's Night, then, having traveled to many countries, returned to his homeland. In the collection of sonnets “Astrophel and Stela” he sang Penelope Dever. + wrote the pastoral novel “Arcadia” and the treatise “Defense of Poetry”.
ELIZABETHANS 1. The greatest poet of the English Renaissance is Edmund Spenser. Focusing on foreign literature, he tried to create purely English, national poetry. Received a good classical education. His early works are “The Shepherd’s Calendar” (consists of 12 poetic eclogues) and the beginning of work on the poem “The Fairy Queen” (9 lines of poetry = “Spencer’s stanza”), the first three books of which are dedicated to Elizabeth, and they also brought him literary fame. Shortly before his death, he wrote a treatise “On current state Ireland." His first creations were 6 translations of Petrarch’s sonnets and a translation of the poetry “Pleiades”. + wrote many lyrical poems. His poem “The Return of Colin Clout” has satirical features.
The widespread development of lyrical and epic genres in 16th-century literature aroused interest in the theoretical problems of poetry at that time. In the last quarter of the 16th century, a number of English poetics appeared, discussing issues of English versification, poetic forms and style. Chief among these are George Puttenham's The Art of English Poetry and Philip Sidney's Defense of Poetry.
2. In the 17th century, the novel also developed in England. The first English novel of the Renaissance was John Lyly's Euphues. John Lyly, classically trained at Oxford University, was also known as a playwright (Sappho and Phaon, Endymion). Lily's novel consists of 2 parts: 1) “Euphues or the Anatomy of Wit” 2) “Euphues and His England.” The novel was interesting to contemporaries not for its plot, but for its style, which was called “eufuism”; this is 1) flowery, especially refined speech, which arose under strong Italian influence; 2) a tendency to rhythmize prosaic speech. Never in my life have I spoken such refined speech. She influenced Shakespeare, but he very soon freed himself from her.
The Renaissance (French - Renaissance), the paradigm of late feudalism and the beginning of modern times, determined all aspects of Western European life for three centuries. The cradle of the Renaissance was Italy, the birthplace ancient culture. The deep interest of Italian society in antiquity and attempts to revive it formed the basis of the Renaissance. The Italian Renaissance is divided into three periods: Early Renaissance (XIV-XV centuries), High Renaissance (late XV-XV1 centuries) and Late Renaissance (XVI centuries).
In almost all aspects of its manifestation, the phenomenon of the Renaissance causes numerous disputes and disagreements among researchers. First of all, there is no consensus on the nature of this culture - whether it was a product of late feudalism or early bourgeois relations.
The reasons for the Renaissance were profound changes in the field of economics. In the XIV century. In Italy, cities begin to develop rapidly, industry flourishes, and capitalist manufactories emerge. The country's trade with the countries of Western Europe and especially with the East is growing sharply. Italian banks conduct international foreign exchange transactions. Early capitalist relations emerge in Italy.
The figures of the Renaissance, humanists, were mainly philologists, historians, writers, lawyers, and artists. Humanists searched for works of ancient sculptors and manuscripts of ancient writers. The works of many ancient authors were found, in particular, Cicero and Titus Livy. Humanists revived the “golden Latin” of past centuries, clearing it of the serious transformation of the Middle Ages. The works of Aristotle, Plato, and Plutarch were translated into Latin. Greek manuscripts were imported from Byzantium to Florence (where the Renaissance began). An original and unique Italian Renaissance culture was formed.
Worldview as an ideology of the Renaissance was designated by the term humanism (from lat. humanus- human). Unlike the leaders of the Middle Ages, humanists placed man, not God, at the center of their interests. Humanists viewed man as the creator of all values and his own destiny, as a being who achieves success through reason, vital activity and optimism. For them, man is the crown of all living things.
The creators of the new culture were alien to the idea of human sinfulness and, in particular, the medieval idea of the sinfulness of the body. The ideal becomes harmony of body and soul, or even just a beautiful body, the example of which was the ancient Greek sculptures of Phidias and Praxiteles. The departure from the church-religious worldview led to the destruction of the foundations of medieval religious morality and ethics. Humanistic culture increasingly acquired a secular character. Humanist Lorenzo Balla(1407-1457) in the treatise “On the Forgery of the Gift of Constantine” wrote that the “Donation of Constantine” is a legend, a fiction, that this document came out of the papal office in the 8th century. Lorenzo Balla's writing undermined the theocratic policies of the papacy.
Having made man the central figure of Renaissance culture, humanists formalized one of the most important features of the new ideology - individualism: not birth, not noble origin, but only the personal, purely individual qualities of a person ensure his success in life.
From the very beginning, many outstanding scientists, writers, and artists took part in the formation of the new culture. The largest figure standing on the verge of the Middle Ages and humanism was Dante Alighieri(1265-1321), author of the famous “Divine Comedy”, which reflected the worldview of the transition period from the Middle Ages to the New Age, to the Renaissance. Dante's poem was one of the first works written not in Latin, but in Italian. The artistic excellence and emotional intensity of The Divine Comedy leave a lasting impression. Many concepts of the “Divine Comedy” (such as “nine circles of hell”, “last circle of hell”, etc.) have firmly entered into the cultural usage of mankind. No less than the Divine Comedy, Dante is famous for his love lyrics addressed to the Beautiful Lady Beatrice.
Dante's treatise "On the Monarchy" was written in Peru, which was widely used by humanists who dealt with the problems of the state and political structure of fragmented Italy. In his treatise, Dante wrote about the need to unite Italy, which he dreamed of seeing as the center of the revival of the ancient Roman Empire.
If Dante is called the last man of the Middle Ages and the first man of the Modern Age, then the first humanist of Italy was Francesco Petrarca(1304-
1374). Along with Giovanni Boccaccio, Petrarch was the creator of the Italian literary language. In Italian, he wrote beautiful sonnets addressed to his beloved Laura. Petrarch was not only an outstanding poet, but also a public figure. He had a negative attitude towards the Roman Curia, which he called “the center of ignorance.” “A stream of sorrows, an abode of wild malice, a temple of heresies and a school of error,” he addressed the Vatican. Concerned about the fate of Italy, in the canzone “My Italy” Petrarch writes with hope about its future unity. Almost all Italian humanists will address the problem of a united Italy.
Petrarch became famous as a philosopher who opposed the science of man to medieval scholasticism. He did not connect a person's dignity with his origin. According to him, all people have red blood. At the same time, Petrarch often experienced mental disharmony; his humanism is distinguished by ideological contradictions characteristic of the worldview of a person in the transitional era from the Middle Ages to the New Age.
Petrarch was famous during his lifetime. His contemporaries crowned him with a laurel wreath and officially recognized him as the greatest poet.
Humanistic ideals Giovanni Boccaccio(1313-1375) are reflected in his work “The Decameron”. Unlike Petrarch or Dante, Boccaccio's fame was somewhat scandalous. The Decameron was banned. Nevertheless, this work was extremely popular not only in Italy, but also in other countries. Just like the works of Petrarch, “The Decameron” (a collection of one hundred short stories) was written in Italian. Many of the collection's plots were borrowed by Boccaccio from the life of his native Florence. The author of the Decameron defended the human right to happiness, sensual joys and love. Boccaccio also pursues the idea of personal merit, knowledge, and human creativity, beloved by humanists. The Decameron mercilessly ridicules the Catholic clergy. It is not surprising that for its part the church brutally persecuted Boccaccio. Immediately after publication, The Decameron was included in the Index of Prohibited Books.
The interests of humanists were broad. They were of great interest in history, primarily the history of Italy, the Italian people. They also dealt with the periodization of history. The famous Italian humanist of the 15th century. Flavio Biondo belongs to the essay “History from the Decline of the Roman Empire”. He introduced a new periodization of history: antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times.
Humanists attached great importance to history not only in political and cultural terms, but also in educational terms. “... through the study of history, what is mortal in itself becomes immortal, what is absent becomes apparent,” wrote the Italian humanist Marsilio Ficino.
Italian humanists worked hard in the development of ethical teachings. New era developed new value guidelines. The ethics of humanists grew out of a new understanding of science not only as a body of knowledge, but also as a means of educating a person, educating the individual. First of all, this applied to the humanities - rhetoric, philosophy, ethics, history and literature. Famous humanist Coluccio Salutati(1331-1406) advocated an effective fight against evil in order to then create a kingdom of good. In his works, Salutati emphasized the presence and importance of free will in humans.
Leonardo Bruni(1369-1444) developed the theory of “civic humanism”. He argued that democracy and freedom are the only and natural form of human community. Speaking about democracy as a form of state, Bruni primarily meant Popolanian democracy, i.e. people's democracy. He believed that the highest happiness is human activity for the benefit of society and the homeland. Leonardo Bruni was the creator of the theory of humanistic pedagogy and the first advocate of women's education. Bruni highly valued ancient philosophy.
Art of the Early Renaissance. Painting. Sculpture. Architecture.
The first Italian painters of the early Renaissance preserved many of the canons of the Middle Ages in their works. This primarily applies to the famous Florentine artists Giotto(1266-1337) and Masaccio(1401-1428). They painted temples with frescoes and painted on religious subjects. With his work, Giotto freed painting from the canons and influence of Byzantine icon painting. By analogy with Dante, Giotto is considered the last painter of the Middle Ages and the first painter of the Renaissance. In the 15th century the laws of perspective were discovered. Masaccio was the first to apply these laws in painting. This allowed him to create three-dimensional figures and place them, as it were, in three-dimensional space.
He became famous in the field of early Renaissance sculpture Donatello(1386-1466), who meticulously studied ancient examples, the works of Phidias and Praxiteles, as well as Roman sculpture. His most famous works were the equestrian statue of the famous condottiere Gattamelata and the statue of David.
At this time, the canons of Italian humanistic architecture were formed and its first theorists, the authors of the concept of Renaissance architecture, appeared. One of them was Leon Battiste Alberti(1404-1472), who wrote “Ten Books on Architecture,” which outlined a new architectural theory based on the work of ancient architects. Alberti was also a theorist of Renaissance painting. He owns the treatise “On Painting,” where he formulated the theory of the art of painting, relying on the ancient heritage and the achievements of his contemporaries.
One of the greatest architects Brunelleschi(1377-1445) developed his own distinctive style from a fusion of ancient and Romanesque architecture. Brunelleschi erected the dome on the famous Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, and built church and civil buildings. He owns the famous Palazzo Pitti.
In the second half of the 15th century. In Italian humanism, the philosophical direction of the Renaissance took shape - Florentine Neoplatonism. Its largest representatives were Marsilio Ficino(1433-1499) and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola(1463-1494).
In the 15th century The humanist movement spreads from Florence throughout Italy. New centers of Renaissance culture appeared, such as Rome, Naples, Venice, Milan. The rulers decorated the cities with beautiful palazzos (palaces), temples, and chapels built according to Renaissance architectural concepts. They collected rich libraries, rare manuscripts, and antiques. The famous Medici, the rulers of Florence, were especially successful in this. During the reign Lorenzo Medici, nicknamed Lorenzo the Magnificent, the flowering of Renaissance culture in Florence reaches its apogee. Lorenzo the Magnificent invited famous writers, poets, artists, sculptors and architects from all over Italy to his court. For some time he had the famous Michelangelo Buonarotti.
The abbot of the Dominican monastery in Florence acted as an irreconcilable opponent of the Florentine humanists Girolamo Savonarola(1452-1498). He opposed the rule of the Medici, denounced the papacy, and called on the church to asceticism. Sharply condemning humanist culture, Savonarola organized public burnings of works of Italian art. Some paintings by an outstanding Italian artist burned in his fires Sandro Botticelli(1445-1510), who painted the world-famous paintings “The Birth of Venus”, “Spring”, etc. and created a series of drawings for Dante’s “Divine Comedy”.
After the expulsion of the Medici from Florence, Savonarola contributed to the establishment of the republic, in the service of which was a politician and historian Niccolo Machiavelli(1469-1527). His two main works are “The History of Florence” and “The Prince”
are devoted to a sore point for Italy: its fragmentation and ways to overcome it.
In 1498, Savonarola was excommunicated from the church and, according to the verdict of the priory, was burned at the stake.
Humanists everywhere were admired for their vast knowledge and unique creativity. They were invited to the court by many Italian rulers,
Roman popes. Under the influence of the new culture, the popes began to gradually humanize, to live according to the laws of the Renaissance culture, penetrating into all spheres of life.
Italian humanists were invited by the spiritual and temporal rulers of not only Italy, but also other European countries.
High and Late Renaissance in Italy
The High Renaissance in Italy (late 15th - first half of the 16th century) was the time of greatest flowering of its painting, architecture, and sculpture. The subsequent period from the 30s. until the end of the 16th century. falls on the late Renaissance.
At the end of the 15th century. there is a growing need to synthesize the achievements of the Early Renaissance. In the culture of the High Renaissance, the ideas of the greatness of man, his dignity and high purpose were especially evident.
The High Renaissance flourished during a difficult period in the country's life, during the Franco-Italian wars.
The largest and most prominent representative of the High Renaissance culture was Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519) - artist, sculptor, architect, art theorist, mathematician, physicist, anatomist, physiologist, biologist, astronomer. He was the creator of the first aircraft, hydraulic structures, and various machine tools. Leonardo enriched almost all areas of the sciences of his time with brilliant guesses that were developed by scientists of subsequent generations. Science and art were inseparable for Leonardo. In science he was an artist, in art he was a scientist. The fusion of science and art was for him a method of understanding the knowledge of the world.
His most famous painting is the fresco “The Last Supper” for the refectory of the Milan monastery. His famous La Gioconda is considered the pinnacle of portrait art and the greatest mystery in the field of portraiture. The history of the creation of this portrait and the unsolved mystery of its model still causes a lot of controversy.
No less famous artist of the High Renaissance was Rafael Santi(1483-1520). His “Sistine Madonna” gained worldwide fame. On behalf of the pope, Raphael painted the stanzas of the Vatican Palace. The most significant of his frescoes is the famous “School of Athens”, where Aristotle and Plato are depicted in the center of the composition.
The greatest phenomenon of the Italian Renaissance was Michelangelo Buonarotti(1475-1564) - sculptor, painter, architect, poet. The most famous of his monumental works is the statue of David, standing in the central square of Florence.
The last years of the late Renaissance were called tragic humanism, or tragic Renaissance. The tragic motif was already heard in the works of Michelangelo, who worked on the verge of two periods of the Renaissance. His sculptural works: images of slaves, allegorical figures of Morning, Evening, Day and Night, decorating the tomb in the Medici Chapel, make one feel with particular force the tragic hopelessness of the artist’s worldview.
The political weakness of Italy, disappointment in the ideals of humanism, the growth of Catholic reaction - all this caused a feeling of spiritual loneliness among the creators
new culture. This mood is expressed in Michelangelo's late fresco "The Last Judgment" on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace.
A major architect of the Late Renaissance was Andrea Palladio(1508-1580). He wrote the essay “Four Books on Architecture”.
Italian humanists of the Early, High and Late Renaissance periods wrote a lot about the forms of government of the future united Italy. They developed the concept of mixed government (monarchy, democracy, republic). Humanists believed that only a mixed form of government could ensure the well-being of their subjects.
The Venetian school of painting occupies a special place in the culture of the High Renaissance, the largest master of which was Titian Vecellio(1489/90-1576). His works such as “Danae” and “Venus in front of the Mirror” became widely known. Titian in the late period of his work is also characterized by a tragic mood (“Carrying the Cross”, “St. Sebastian”, etc.).
The most famous poet of the High Renaissance becomes Lodovico Ariosto, author of the poem "Furious Roland", which was an expression of the Renaissance worldview. Created at the junction of the periods of the High and Late Renaissance, this poem as a whole has a joyful and bright character, but tragic notes already break through when Ariosto speaks of Italy, suffering from wars, poverty and fragmentation, about the unrealized ideals of the Renaissance.
Northern Renaissance
In the northern countries, humanism took shape later than in Italy. At the head of the humanists of the Northern Renaissance was the greatest humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam(1469-1536), outstanding philologist and writer. He owns the works “Praise of Stupidity”, “Adagia”. Erasmus played a large role in preparing the Reformation, but did not accept it.
German Renaissance
In Germany, a humanistic culture began to take shape in the 15th century. Representatives of a wide variety of creative fields belonged to this culture - philosophers, naturalists, linguists, writers, poets, humanistic preachers. German humanists, as well as Italian ones, discussed the issue of creating a united Germany. The nature of Renaissance culture, and German culture in particular, required that the words and writings of humanists reach the general public and shape its consciousness in a humanistic way. The rewriting of the works of humanists was slow and ineffective in the matter of humanistic education of European society. And in 1440 Johannes Gutenberg(1397-1468) invents printing.
The greatest artist of the German Renaissance was Albrecht Durer(1471-1528). His series of engravings “Apocalypse” became especially famous.
A major representative of German humanism was Johann Reuchlin(1455-1522), philologist and philosopher. In philosophy, Reuchlin tried to conduct a kind of experiment: to reconcile Christian morality with humanism. The experiment ended in complete failure.
Among the German humanists and reformers of the first quarter of the 16th century. stands out Ulrich von Hutten(1488-1523), one of the compilers of a unique monument of German humanistic literature, the famous “Letters of Dark People”. In German humanistic literature, an accusatory genre has developed, a brilliant example of which is the satire “Ship of Fools.”
English Renaissance
Humanistic culture in England developed in the 16th century. Its center was the Oxford circle of humanists, which included Grosin, Linacre, John Colet - enthusiastic admirers of antiquity and Italian humanists.
The head of the Oxford Circle was John Colet(1467-1519). In France and Italy, he studied theology and tried to combine the Holy Scriptures with the teachings of Plato and the Neoplatonists. He knew ancient literature and the works of Italian humanists. Dealing with educational issues. He opened a school with a humanistic education program, where ancient languages (Latin and Greek) and the works of ancient and Christian authors were studied. Colet contributed to the emergence of grammar schools in England.
Considered a brilliant English humanist Thomas More(1478-1535), Chancellor of England under King Henry VIII. Thomas More owns the famous essay “Utopia”, in which he developed a model of an ideal state. More opposed the Reformation and, in particular, the English Reformation. By order of the king, More was executed. In 1935 he was canonized.
In the "Age of Elizabeth" humanistic theatrical art flourished in England. The greatest representative of the English Renaissance was the playwright and poet William Shakespeare(1564-1616). His comedies “Much Ado About Nothing,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and others are imbued with a humanistic worldview. The tragedies “Hamlet”, “King Lear”, “Othello”, “Coriolanus” and others reflected the collapse of humanistic ideals in their clash with the moral and ethical values of the future capitalist society. From the glorification of man, his cult, Shakespeare, in the period of tragic humanism, the collapse of his ideals, moved away from the understanding of man as the crown of all living things and saw in him only the quintessence of dust. In the historical plays "Richard III", "Henry V" and others, Shakespeare turned to the past of England. They clearly express the state and political positions of the humanist. Shakespeare was a staunch supporter of absolutism.
In the 16th century Numerous theaters appeared in the cities of England. The Globe Theater, where Shakespeare was a playwright, actor and shareholder, was very popular in London. Dramaturgy of England in the 16th century. was introduced by Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and others.
The end of the English Renaissance was marked by the activities of an outstanding scientist and philosopher Francis Bacon(1561-1626). He owns the fundamental work “New Organon” and the essay “New Atlantis”.
French Renaissance
The revival took shape in France at the end of the 15th century - beginning. XVI centuries The patron of the emerging French humanism was the king Francis I(1515-1547). He invited scientists, writers, and artists to the royal court. Under his patronage the famous French humanist Guillaume Budet, friend of Thomas More, founded a secular scientific center - the Collège de France. Budet was an outstanding philologist.
The patriarch of French humanism and the Reformation was Etienne d'Etaples, a prominent philologist. Etienne d'Etaples translated the Bible into French.
At the court of King Francis I, his sister Margaret of Navarre created a humanistic circle that united French humanists. One of the most prominent members of this circle was the great poet Clément Marot. In addition to his own poems, he also published a translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Bonaventure Deperrier, in his essay “The Cymbal of Peace,” denounced Catholicism and the Catholic clergy. His collection of stories “New Fun and Merry Adventures” is distinguished by its pronounced free-thinking. The Sorbonne began to persecute the writer; the king could not protect him. Deperrier committed suicide. A major publisher of works by ancient authors, Italian and French humanists, Etienne Dolet from Lyon, under pressure from the Sorbonne, was executed for freethinking
and anti-Catholic activities. The circle of Margaret of Navarre included the humanist John Calvin, who later followed the path of the Reformation.
The work of Margarita herself became a notable phenomenon in the culture of the French Renaissance. She owns a collection of short stories “Heptameron”, which immediately became widely known. "Heptameron" was written under the influence of "Decameron" by Boccaccio. The beginning of a tragic period in the humanism of France caused a deep spiritual tragedy for Margaret of Navarre. She withdraws into herself and turns to the Catholic faith. She wrote the work “The Sinful Mirror of the Soul” from this period.
The most prominent French humanist is Francois Rabelais(1494-1553). A doctor by profession, Rabelais became a famous writer. His most famous work is the novel “Gargantua and Pantagrule”. Written in a fairy-tale, folk style, Rabelais's novel is permeated with satire directed against the entire feudal society: against the policies of kings, catholic church, papal power, monasticism, scholasticism, feudal court. The novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" is included in the "Index of Prohibited Books."
Philosophy of the French Renaissance in the 2nd half. XVI century acquires a rationalistic character. Its prominent representative was Michel Montaigne(1533-1592). In his main work, Essays, Montaigne pursues the idea of the supremacy of reason.
Fine art of France of the 16th century. achieves great success in portraiture. As a portrait painter, the artist is widely known and popular Francois Clouet. The architecture of France of this time breaks with Gothic traditions. French architects imitate Italian models. Architect Pierre Lescaut The Louvre was rebuilt in the spirit of new architectural concepts.
The famous sculptor of humanistic France was Jean Goujon(1510-1568).
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