2015-08-21
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Historical Background. The renaissance, of the Revival of Learning, which was another English term for it, was the period when the European culture was at its height, a period unsurpassed by any other before or after it.The coming of this great and glorious epoch, which lasted from the 14th century till the 17th, was caused by complex economy and social conditions.
At that time the feudal system was being shattered by the bourgeoisie, which was getting stronger and stronger. The old social order did not answer the demands of the new class that was rapidly gaining strength. The boundaries of different duchies and counties hindered the development of trade. It was more profitable for merchants to be united under a single ruler. In opposition to feudal discord, absolute monarchy came into being, and feudal domains, once almost independent, came into one-man rower. This led to the forming of nations in the true sense of the world, and, as a natural consequence, to the creation of national languages. The first stage in the appearance of the bourgeoisie on the historical arena is called the period of the primary accumulation of capital.
What were the means by which this accumulation was effected? 1) Loans, for which stock exchanges and banking-houses were organized; 2) the expansion of markets by travelling to distant lands and seizing colonies; 3) driving the peasantry off their land, as a result of which the necessary workmen for the new manufacturing-houses were provided and raw materials produced.
New social and economic conditions called for a new ideology, because the Catholic dogmas did not correspond to the new trend of life. For that reason in many European countries different varieties of the Protestant religion sprang up and national Churches were established. Contrary to medieval concepts, according to which man was but an insignificant grain of sand whose every move was ordered by the will of God, the new ideology proclaimed the value of human individuality, the value of individual initiative and enterprise, the value of man as such, whatever his birth and social standing. Instead of the blind faith ordered by the Catholic religion, great importance was assigned to intellect, to experience, to scientific experiment. This new outlook was called Humanism. It could not accept the old theological views, and took the art and science of ancient Greece and Rome for its basis, hence the term "the Revival of Learning". When in 1453 the Turks captured Constantinople and the Empire of Byzantium ceased to exist, a number of Byzantine scholars fled to Europe and began teaching the Greek language and literature, which up to that time was unknown there. The time demanded positive, rational knowledge, and the demand was supplied in astronomy, by Copernicus; in medicine, by Vesalius and Servetus;1 in philosophy, by
More, Montaigne and Bacon; in philology, by Desiderius Erasmus of Roterdam - to name but a few. Great geographical discoveries were made by Clumbus, Vasco da Gama, Fernando Maggellan and many others. Leonardo da Vinci put forth a new theory and practice of art.
A definitive characteristic of the period was made by Frederick Engels in the introduction to his masterpiece "Dialectics of Nature", where he says of "that mighty epoch": "Royalty, with the support of the burghers of the towns, broke the power of the feudal nobility and established the great monarchies, based essentially on nationality, within which the modern European nations and modern bourgeois society came to development; and while the burghers and nobles were still grappling with one another, the peasant war in Germany pointed prophetically to future class struggles, by bringing on to the stage not only the peasants in revolt - that was no longer anything new - but, behind them, the beginnings of the modern proletariat, with the red flag in their hands and the demand for common ownership of property on their lips. In manuscripts saved from the fall of Byzantium, in the antique statues dug out of the ruins of Rome, a new word was revealed to the astonished West, that of ancient Greece, the ghosts of the Middle Ages vanished before its shining forms; Italy rose to undreamt-of flowering of art, which seemed like a reflection of classical antiquity and was never attained again. In Italy, France and Germany a new literature arose, the first modern literature; shortly afterwards came the classical epoch of English and Spanish literature. The bounds of the old orbis terrarum2 were pierced; only now was the world really discovered and the basis laid for subsequent world trade and the transition of handicraft to manufacture, which in its turn formed the starting point for modern large-scale industry. The spiritual dictatorship of the Church was shattered: it was directly cast off by the majority of the Germanic peoples, who adopted Protestantism, while among the Latins a cheerful spirit of free thought, taken over from the Arabs and nourished by the newly discovered Greek philosophy, took root more and more and prepared the way for materialism of the eighteen century.
"It was the greatest progressive revolution that mankind had so far experienced, a time which called for giants and produced giants-giants in power and thought, passion and character, in universality and learning. The men who founded the modern rule of the bourgeois had anything but bourgeois limitation. On the contrary, the adventurous character of the time imbued them to a great of less degree. There was hardly any man of importance then living who had not travelled extensively, who did not command four or five languages, who did not shine in a number of fields.[…] For the heroes of that time had not yet come under the servitude of the division of labour, the restricting effects of which, with their production of onesidedness, we so often notice in their successors. But what is specially characteristic of them is that they almost all pursue their lives and activities in the midst of the contemporary movements, in the practical struggle; they takes sides and join in the fight, one by speaking and writing, another with sword, many with both. Hence the fullness and force of character that makes them complete men."1
An example of a typical man of the Renaissance period was the famous Englishman, Sir Walter Raleigh.
Sir Walter Raleigh (1552?-1618). Statesman, courtier, soldier, sailor, explorer, pirate, colonizer, historian, philosopher, poet, Walter Raleigh was born in Devonshire and entered military service when a very young man. His brave deeds earned him great fame, and Queen Elizabeth I raised him in her favour and made him a knight. At that time England was at war with Spain, the most powerful defender of Catholic reaction in Europe. Sir Walter fought the Spaniards at sea. He founded the colony of Virginia in North America, where, unlike his successors, he tried to establish friendly relations with the Indians. It was he who brought potatoes and tobacco to Europe.
After the death of Queen Elizabeth, King James 1 made peace with Spain, and in order to please the former enemies of England, he imprisoned Sir Walter. Raleigh was accused of plotting against the king and sentenced to death. He spent thirteen years in the Tower of London, expecting execution every day. While in prison he planned to write a "History of the World", but only one volume of this vast project was completed. Besides that he wrote works on geography and on ship-building and some beautiful poems. In 1616 Raleigh was allowed to lead an expedition on South America to bring back gold and jewels. The expedition was a failure; on the way back Raleigh fought a sea-battle against some Spaniards and returned to face the protest of Spain, as a result of which he was rearrested and beheaded by King James's orders.
Raleigh was much interested in science and literature. He organized an "academy", a circle in which atheistic views were discussed. Its members includes Sir Walter's friends: Thomas Harriot ['hэriэt] (1560-1621), the most distinguished English mathematician and astronomer before Newton; Christopher Marlowe ['ma:lou], the greatest English dramatist before Shakespeare; Edmund Spenser, the foremost poet of the time (whom Raleigh helped to attain fame), and Ben Jonson, the most influential playwright and poet of his period (who for several years was the tutor of Raleigh's son).
Sir Walter Raleigh was an outstanding poet himself. Much of his poetry is lost, and we know only about thirty poems written by him. The are full of profound wisdom, written with great elegance and simplicity of style, and are remarkably expressive. His best poem is "The Lie", or "the Soul's Errand", said to have been composed in prison; in it he denounced the cruelty, hypocrisy and social inequality of his time. Even if he had written nothing else, this poem alone would be sufficient for us to consider him a major poet.
Some of his poems and his prose work "The Discovery of the Empire of Guiana" (1596) have been translated into Russian.
