A Celebration Of Human Achievement

Welcome to Liz's Blog (:

Hey all! My name's Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz. A fortune teller came to a party of mine and told me all about the future of my family and country.

So, I decided to make a blog about me and my family, and here it is.

History .

The Tudors .

• Henry Tudor took the English throne as Henry VII in 1485.
• He did a lot to establish English claims in the Americas .
• He died unexpectedly and the pope arranged for his second son to marry Catherine of Aragon .

The Reformation .

• The Roman Catholic Church grew very corrupt during the reign of Henry VIII .
• Martin Luther was a German Monk who, in 1517, wrote 95 theses against the church and nailed them to a church door .

• People began to split from the Roman Catholic Church and into reformed Protestant churches .

The Church of England .

• Henry VIII wanted to take another wife because Catherine only gave him a daughter, Mary .
• The pope wouldn't let him take another wife, so, in 1521, Henry split from Rome and declared himself head of the Church of England .
• Henry married six women in all, but only one gave him a son .

• Edward VI succeeded his father, Henry, at the age of 9, and died himself at just 15 .
• The Puritan movement began during Edward's reign .
• The Puritans wanted to "purify" the Church of England from all Roman Catholic practices .
• Catherine's daughter , Mary , took the thrown after Edward died .
• She became known as "Bloody Mary" because she brought back Roman Catholicism and persecuted protestants in an attempt to avenge her mother .

• I, Liz, her half-sister, succeeded her in 1558 .

The Elizabethan Era .

• I'm Elizabeth I, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn , his second wife .
• I am to have a long reign and England will enjoy a time of prosperity during my reign . (How exciting!)
  
• At my encouragement , Sir Francis Drake completed a circumnavigation of the globe and Sir Walter Raleigh established a colony in Virginia .
• I allow both Catholicism and the Church of England , which is good , right ?
• Catholics consider my cousin, Mary Stuart, who's the queen of Scotland, the rightful heir to the English throne .

• l0l @ them , because I had her beheaded in 1587 !
• In response, Catholic Spain's Phillip II sent his Armada to challenge the English navy .
• Aided by a violent storm, England won . England FTW !

The Rise of the Stuarts .
This is where the fortune teller comes in...

• The Tudor dynasty is to come to an end with my death in 1603 (I'll be 70 years old, not bad . Every day after 70 is a blessing, after all.).
• My half-sister, Mary's son, James the VI of Scotland will succeed me, and take the throne as James I of England .
• There will be an unsuccessful attempt to kill James and to blow up Parliament in 1605 . It will be known as the Gun Powder Plot of 1605 .
• James will be a supporter of the Church of England .
• Charles I will take the throne in 1625 .

• The fortune teller shared that James and Charles would both arouse opposition in the Puritan-dominated House of Commons with their contempt for Parliament and preference for Catholic-style "high-church."
• Charles I will dismiss Parliament from 1629 to 1640 .
• During that time, many people, mostly Puritans, will emigrate to North America to escape persecution .

• Charles will stupidly make an attempt to introduce Anglican practices in Scotland's Presbyterian churches, which will cause a rebellion there (I could have seen that coming!).
• In desperate need of funds to suppress the Scots, Charles will summon Parliament in 1640 and will be stripped of much of his power as a result .
• England will soon be plunged into a civil war .

The Defeat of the Monarchy .

• The Civil War will be:
• The Royalists....... vs....... Supporters of Parliament
• Catholics ...................... Puritans
  
• Anglicans ...................... small landowners
• nobility ...........................middle class
• General Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan army will defeat the Royalists in 1645 . They will not surrender until a year later .
• At first, Parliament will establish a common wealth, with Cromwell as head .
• Later, they will make him "Lord Protector" for life .

• The Puritan-dominated government will not be any better than Stuart reign, however .
• Crazy Cromwell will allow little or no recreation, and everyone will have to pray on Sunday (Very different from the prosperous and artistic renaissance during my reign !).
• In 1658, Cromwell will die and his son will take his title . However, he won't be able to handle the responsibilities .
  
• In 1660, a new Parliament will invite Charles II, son of Charles I, to return from exile and take the throne.
• With his reign will come the Restoration .

Culture .

The Renaissance .

• Renaissance literally means "rebirth" or "revival."
• The Renaissance began in Italy in the 14th century and rapidly spread north, taking hold of England in 1485, during the reign of Henry VII, and reaching full bloom during my reign .

The Renaissance World View .

• Middles Ages .
• Focused on religion, because this world is only a preparation for the after life .
• Heroes were noble knights and Godly priests .

• Renaissance .
• Put a new emphasis on life on earth, and the development of human potential .
• A "Renaissance Man" was well-rounded, creative, and intelligent .

Creativity and Exploration .

• Shakespeare, Galileo, and Columbus .
• The compass and advances in astronomy allowed exploration .
• Gutenburg's printing press made it possible for more than half of England's population to read by 1530 .

• My successor, James I, will also commission a new translation of the Bible .
• Puritan Oliver Cromwell's closing theaters will bring a closing to the Renaissance .

Literature .

Pastoral Poems and Sonnets .

• Pastorals portray shepherds and rustic life, usually in an idealized manner .
• Elizabethans (people who lived during my reign have a special title, how crazy is that?) admire complexity and beauty .
• The sonnet is a 14-lined verse form, often published in sequences .
• Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, and Earl of Surrey introduced sonnets to England .
• During my time, sonnets have become the most popular form of love lyric .
• Edmund Spenser's Amoretti is a series of sonnets addressed to his future wife .
• Shakespeare's sonnets don't always form a clear sequence, but several address a mysterious dark lady who the fortune teller told me was probably the poet Amelia Lanier .

• Interestingly, the English sonnet will eventually become known as the Shakespearean sonnet .

He had his ear pierced ?

Shakespeare's Influence .

• Drama in my time comes from three sources: medieval plays, 16th century interludes, and Greek and Latin classics .
• Plays focus on human complexities rather than religious themes .
• The Globe Theater in London is the most successful of many English theaters .

• Shakespeare will contribute 37 plays - comedies, tragedies, and histories .
• Shakespeare was an actor himself, so he understands limitations of theaters, and therefore will be more successful .
• Marlowe and Jonson are two popular contemporary playwrights of Shakespeare's .
  
• Jonson's masques have elaborate scenery, costumes, music, and dance .

• After 1649, Puritans will close theaters (how sad.).
  

The Rise of Humanism .

• Humanists are called so because they study the humanities (art, history, philosophy, and literature.).
• Christian humanists criticize society and are led by Erasmus .

English Humanists .

• A reverence for the classics and pride in the English language has led to distinguished translations .
• Humanists, like many other groups, disagree on religious issues .
• Humanist writer, and scholar, Sir Thomas More will publish his book Utopia in 1516 .
• Utopia (Greek for "no place") will be about a perfect society on an imaginary island .
• Earl of Surrey will translate Virgil's Aeneid and George Chapman will translate Homer's Iliad and Odyssey .

Spiritual and Devotional Writings .

• The King James Bible .
• Early efforts to translate the Bible have been censured by the church .
• The King James Bible will be created by a committee of scholars
• It will become the most influential of English translations .
• Two Masterpieces .
• John Milton's Paradise Lost, will be based on the Bible story of Adam and Eve .
• John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress will be an allegory of the journey to the afterlife .

The Metaphysical and Cavalier Poets .

• Ben Jonson, a boisterous man and an accomplished poet, will inspire later poets, who will be called "sons of Ben."
• These poets will be known as Cavaliers because they will take the side of Charles I and his Royalist Cavaliers .
• Cavalier poetry will be charming and witty , dealing with themes of love, war, and carpe diem (Latin for "seize the day.").
• A man named John Donne will write metaphysical poetry - poems characterized by themes of love, death, and religious devotion .

^Typical "brooding artist" picture, eh ?

• Metaphysical poets will use elaborate metaphors to explore life's complexities .

And, there you have it . That's my story .
Ttyl ! - Liz .


Sources:

http://www.elizabethi.org/
- for how old "Liz" would be when she died .

http://www.wikipedia.org/
- to see when Amoretti was published (1595), to know whether to put that section in present tense or not .

Google Images .
- for all the pictures .

McDougal Littell: British Literature .
- for all information .