Richard Harvey (1560–1630) was an English astrologer, theologian and controversialist.
99-536: Thomas Nashe (baptised 30 November 1567 – c. 1601; also Nash ) was an Elizabethan playwright, poet, satirist and a significant pamphleteer . He is known for his novel The Unfortunate Traveller , his pamphlets including Pierce Penniless , and his numerous defences of the Church of England . Nashe was the son of the parson William Nashe and Janeth (née Witchingham). He was born and baptised in Lowestoft , on
198-602: A sizar , gaining his bachelor's degree in 1586. From references in his own polemics and those of others, he does not seem to have proceeded Master of Arts there. Most of his biographers agree that he left his college about summer 1588, as his name appears on a list of students due to attend philosophy lectures in that year. His reasons for leaving are unclear; his father may have died the previous year, but Richard Lichfield maliciously reported that Nashe had fled possible expulsion for his role in Terminus et non-terminus , one of
297-468: A "show" with some resemblance to a masque . In brief, the plot describes the death of Summer, who, feeling himself to be dying, reviews the performance of his former servants and eventually passes the crown on to Autumn. The play was published in 1600. Nashe is widely remembered for three short poems, all drawn from this play and frequently reprinted in anthologies of Elizabethan verse: “Adieu, farewell, earth’s bliss,” “Fair summer droops” and “Autumn hath all
396-542: A Parrot (1590), ostensibly credited to one "Cutbert Curry-knave", is now universally recognised as Nashe's work, although its author humorously claims, in its dedication to the comedian William Kempe , to have met Harlequin in Bergamo while returning from a trip to Venice in the summer of 1589. But there is no evidence Nashe had either time or means to go abroad, and he never subsequently refers to having visited Venice in his work. His friendship with Greene drew Nashe into
495-695: A Protestant, and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots , a Catholic. That would be a prelude to the religious recovery of England for Catholicism. In 1570, the Ridolfi plot was thwarted. In 1584, the Throckmorton Plot was discovered, after Francis Throckmorton confessed his involvement in a plot to overthrow the Queen and restore the Catholic Church in England. Another major conspiracy was
594-477: A barber of Cambridge. Harvey did not publish a reply, but Lichfield answered in a tract called "The Trimming of Thomas Nash," (1597). This pamphlet also contained a crude woodcut portrait of Nashe, shown as a man disreputably dressed and in fetters . While staying in the household of Archbishop John Whitgift at Croydon Palace in October 1592 he wrote an entertainment called Summer's Last Will and Testament ,
693-524: A dominant genius or a formal structure for research (the following century had both Sir Isaac Newton and the Royal Society ), the Elizabethan era nonetheless saw significant scientific progress. The astronomers Thomas Digges and Thomas Harriot made important contributions; William Gilbert published his seminal study of magnetism, De Magnete, in 1600. Substantial advancements were made in
792-496: A failure of the wheat crop, but did do so in France. England was exposed to new foods (such as the potato imported from South America), and developed new tastes during the era. The more prosperous enjoyed a wide variety of food and drink, including exotic new drinks such as tea, coffee, and chocolate. French and Italian chefs appeared in the country houses and palaces bringing new standards of food preparation and taste. For example,
891-502: A fashion statement. Mansions were often designed to a symmetrical plan; "E" and "H" shapes were popular. The population of London increased from 100,000 to 200,000 between the death of Mary Tudor in 1558 and the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. Inflation was rapid and the wealth gap was wide. Poor men, women, and children begged in the cities, as the children only earned sixpence a week. With the growth of industry, many landlords decided to use their land for manufacturing purposes, displacing
990-500: A few days or even a week of feasting in each noble's home, who depending on his or her production and display of fashion, generosity and entertainment, could have his way made in court and elevate his or her status for months or even years. Richard Harvey (astrologer) Harvey was baptised 15 April 1560 at Saffron Walden , where his father John Harvey was a ropemaker. He was a brother of Gabriel Harvey and John Harvey (also an astrologer). He entered Pembroke Hall, Cambridge as
1089-626: A few localities were funds available to provide support as well as the necessary education scholarship. Boys from wealthy families were taught at home by a private tutor. When Henry VIII shut the monasteries he closed their schools. He refounded many former monastic schools—they are known as "King's schools" and are found all over England. During the reign of Edward VI many free grammar schools were set up to take in non-fee paying students. There were two universities in Tudor England: Oxford and Cambridge . Some boys went to university at
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#17327825896251188-450: A garden could trade with their neighbors to obtain vegetables and fruits at low cost. Fruits and vegetables were used in desserts such as pastries, tarts, cakes, crystallized fruit, and syrup. At the rich end of the scale the manor houses and palaces were awash with large, elaborately prepared meals, usually for many people and often accompanied by entertainment. The upper classes often celebrated religious festivals, weddings, alliances and
1287-407: A great deal of bread and fish. Every class had a taste for beer and rum. The diet in England during the Elizabethan era depended largely on social class . Bread was a staple of the Elizabethan diet, and people of different statuses ate bread of different qualities. The upper classes ate fine white bread called manchet , while the poor ate coarse bread made of barley or rye . The poorer among
1386-451: A lot perhaps", but points out that "there is nothing second hand" about Nashe's "evocations of sex." In 1594, Nashe wrote a book titled The Terrors of the Night; Or A Discourse of Apparitions , which sceptically considers dreams, nightmares, and apparitions, which Nashe considers born of superstition, melancholy or imagination. He says, "A dream is nothing else but a bubbling scum or froth of
1485-534: A major controversy for its "seditious" content. The play was suppressed and never published. Jonson was jailed; Nashe's house was raided and his papers seized but he had already escaped to the country. He remained for some time in Great Yarmouth before returning to London. Pierce Penniless, His Supplication to the Divell is a tall tale, or a prose satire, published in 1592. It was among the most popular of
1584-591: A number of years, Elizabeth refrained from persecuting Catholics because she was against Catholicism, not her Catholic subjects if they made no trouble. In 1570, Pope Pius V declared Elizabeth a heretic who was not the legitimate queen and that her subjects no longer owed her obedience. The pope sent Jesuits and seminarians to secretly evangelize and support Catholics. After several plots to overthrow her, Catholic clergy were mostly considered to be traitors, and were pursued aggressively in England. Often priests were tortured or executed after capture unless they cooperated with
1683-575: A pensioner on 15 June 1575, proceeding B.A. 1578 and commencing M.A. 1581, and was elected fellow of his college. A noted Ramist , he once was placed in the stocks for breaking windows at Peterhouse , in retaliation for a student satire Duns Furens there. Harvey was ordained deacon and priest in 1585, and in 1586 became rector of Chislehurst , in Kent . Harvey's first book An Astrological Discourse (1583) made some stir. In it he defended judicial astrology , replying to his brother Gabriel., and gave
1782-436: A replacement for the litters and carts of an earlier transportation mode. Coaches quickly became as fashionable as sports cars in a later century; social critics, especially Puritan commentators, noted the "diverse great ladies" who rode "up and down the countryside" in their new coaches. Historians since the 1960s have explored many facets of the social history, covering every class of the population. Although home to only
1881-421: A simple hole in the roof. Mansions had many chimneys for the many fireplaces required to keep the vast rooms warm. These fires were also the only way of cooking food. Wealthy Tudor homes needed many rooms, where a large number of guests and servants could be accommodated, fed and entertained. Wealth was demonstrated by the extensive use of glass. Windows became the main feature of Tudor mansions, and were often
1980-540: A small part of the population the Tudor municipalities were overcrowded and unhygienic. Most towns were unpaved with poor public sanitation. There were no sewers or drains, and rubbish was simply abandoned in the street. Animals such as rats thrived in these conditions. In larger towns and cities, such as London, common diseases arising from lack of sanitation included smallpox , measles , malaria , typhus , diphtheria , scarlet fever , and chickenpox . Outbreaks of
2079-681: A somewhat higher social level families ate an enormous variety of meats, who could choose among venison , beef , mutton , veal , pork , lamb, fowl, salmon , eel , and shellfish . The holiday goose was a special treat. Rich spices were used by the wealthier people to offset the smells of old salt-preserved meat. Many rural folk and some townspeople tended a small garden which produced vegetables such as asparagus, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, beans, cabbage, turnips, radishes, carrots, leeks, and peas, as well as medicinal and flavoring herbs. Some grew their own apricots, grapes, berries, apples, pears, plums, strawberries, currants, and cherries. Families without
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#17327825896252178-608: A voyage to find a northern route to the Spice Islands of Asia; this began the search for the North West Passage . Cabot sailed in 1497 and reached Newfoundland . He led another voyage to the Americas the following year, but nothing was heard of him or his ships again. In 1562 Elizabeth sent privateers Hawkins and Drake to seize booty from Spanish and Portuguese ships off the coast of West Africa . When
2277-471: A weather forecast for Sunday, 28 April 1583 of a great wind presaging further apocalyptic events. Harvey was here drawing on Cyprian Leowicz and Regiomontanus . With it Harvey printed A Compendious Table of Phlebotomie or Bloudletting , of eight pages, containing an "auncient commendation" of phlebotomy . The prediction failed, and Harvey was ridiculed. He was mocked in the tripos verses at Cambridge, as his brother Gabriel's enemy Thomas Nashe , reported, by
2376-497: Is prematurely satisfied—"the well is drye that should refresh". Mistress Frances then decides to take matters into her own hands, reaches for the device of the poem's informal title, Nashe's Dildo . My little dildo shall suplye their kind, A knave that moves as light as leaves by winde; That bendeth not, nor fouldeth anie deale, But stands as stiff as he were made of steele, And plays at peacock twixt my leggs right blythe. This poem comes to an end with Tomalin ranting against
2475-444: Is revealed. Unfortunately Tomalin finds the moment so exciting that he "spends" his all before the "fight" has begun. Mistress Frances is disappointed and does what she can to revive things. "Unhappyie me," quoth she, "and wilt not stand? Com, let me rubb and chafe it with my hand!" She perseveres in arousing him, is successful, and they make love. This begins a lengthy and witty erotic passage. But to her disappointment, Tomalin
2574-595: Is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female personification of Great Britain) was revived in 1572, and often thereafter, to mark the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over Spain. This "golden age" represented
2673-403: Is told in a style that is complex, witty, anecdotal, and peppered with newly-minted words and Latin phrases. The satire can be mocking and bitingly sharp, and at times Nashe’s style seems to relish its own obscurity. At some time in the early 1590s Nashe produced an erotic poem, The Choise of Valentines that begins with a sonnet to "Lord S". It has been suggested that The Choise of Valentines
2772-690: The 1559 Book of Common Prayer which effectively reinstated the 1552 Book of Common Prayer with modifications which made clear that the Church of England believed in the (spiritual) Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Communion but without a definition how in favor of leaving this a mystery, and she had the Black Rubric removed from the Articles of Faith: this had allowed kneeling to receive communion without implying that by doing so it meant
2871-609: The Anglo-Spanish Wars intensified after 1585, Elizabeth approved further raids against Spanish ports in the Americas and against shipping returning to Europe with treasure. Meanwhile, the influential writers Richard Hakluyt and John Dee were beginning to press for the establishment of England's own overseas empire. Spain was well established in the Americas, while Portugal, in union with Spain from 1580, had an ambitious global empire in Africa, Asia and South America. France
2970-531: The Babington Plot – the event which most directly led to Mary's execution, the discovery of which involved a double agent , Gilbert Gifford , acting under the direction of Francis Walsingham , the Queen's highly effective spy master. The Essex Rebellion of 1601 has a dramatic element, as just before the uprising, supporters of the Earl of Essex , among them Charles and Joscelyn Percy (younger brothers of
3069-653: The Black Death pandemic occurred in 1498, 1535, 1543, 1563, 1589 and 1603. The reason for the speedy spread of the disease was the increase of rats infected by fleas carrying the disease. Child mortality was low in comparison with earlier and later periods, at about 150 or fewer deaths per 1000 babies. By age 15 a person could expect 40–50 more years of life. The great majority were tenant farmers who lived in small villages. Their homes were, as in earlier centuries, thatched huts with one or two rooms, although later on during this period, roofs were also tiled. Furniture
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3168-537: The Drake–Norris Expedition of 1589 . Three further Spanish Armadas also failed in 1596 , 1597 and 1602 . The war ended with the Treaty of London the year following Elizabeth's death. England during this period had a centralised, well-organised, and effective government, largely a result of the reforms of Henry VII and Henry VIII , as well as Elizabeth's harsh punishments for any dissenters. Economically,
3267-474: The Earl of Northumberland ), paid for a performance of Richard II at the Globe Theatre , apparently with the goal of stirring public ill will towards the monarchy. It was reported at the trial of Essex by Chamberlain's Men actor Augustine Phillips , that the conspirators paid the company forty shillings "above the ordinary" (i. e., above their usual rate) to stage the play, which the players felt
3366-617: The Martin Mar-Prelate controversy . He steered a middle line between the bishops and their opponents, and criticised "poets and writers, who had taken part in the dispute". An anonymous tract Plaine Percevall, the Peacemaker of England, sweetly indevoring with his blunt persuasions to botch up a reconciliation betwixt Mart-on and Mart-other (1590?) supported the Puritan side of the controversy, and made contemptuous mention of
3465-680: The Spanish Armada was repelled. It was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland . The Elizabethan age contrasts sharply with the previous and following reigns. It was a brief period of internal peace between the Wars of the Roses in the previous century, the English Reformation , and the religious battles between Protestants and Catholics prior to Elizabeth's reign, and then
3564-639: The Tower of London until he agreed to be more tolerant towards Catholics. Most dramatic was the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament. It was discovered in time with eight conspirators executed, including Guy Fawkes , who became the iconic evil traitor in English lore. While Henry VIII had launched the Royal Navy , Edward and Mary had ignored it and it
3663-502: The "Eunike dilldo" that has taken his place. It was sharply criticised for its obscenity by contemporary authors Joseph Hall and John Davies of Hereford . Nashe had tried to pre-empt criticism by placing it in the tradition of classical erotica: "Yet Ovid's wanton muse did not offend". It appears not to have been Nashe's only foray into this category of writing. When he was accused of "prostituting" his pen, he answered, in 1596, by writing: It may and it may not bee so ... [but] when ...
3762-576: The Crown enjoyed a surplus of £300,000. Economically, Sir Thomas Gresham 's founding of the Royal Exchange (1565), the first stock exchange in England and one of the earliest in Europe, proved to be a development of the first importance, for the economic development of England and soon for the world as a whole. With taxes lower than other European countries of the period, the economy expanded; though
3861-426: The Elizabethan pamphlets. It was reprinted in 1593 and 1595, and in 1594 was translated into French. It is written from the point of view of Pierce, a man who has not met with good fortune, who bitterly complains of the world’s wickedness, and addresses his complaints to the devil. At times the identity of Pierce seems to conflate with Nashe's own. But Nashe also portrays Pierce at times as an arrogant fool. The story
3960-413: The English authorities. People who publicly supported Catholicism were excluded from the professions; sometimes fined or imprisoned. This was justified on the grounds that Catholics were not persecuted for their religion but punished for being traitors who supported the Queen's Spanish foe; in practice, however, Catholics perceived it as religious persecution and regarded those executed as martyrs. Lacking
4059-406: The English developed a taste for acidic foods—such as oranges for the upper class—and started to use vinegar heavily. The gentry paid increasing attention to their gardens, with new fruits, vegetables and herbs; pasta, pastries, and dried mustard balls first appeared on the table. The apricot was a special treat at fancy banquets. Roast beef remained a staple for those who could afford it. The rest ate
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4158-570: The Harvey controversy, involving the brothers Richard and Gabriel Harvey . In 1590, Richard Harvey's The Lamb of God complained of the anti-Martinist pamphleteers in general, including a side-swipe at the Menaphon preface. Two years later, Greene's A Quip for an Upstart Courtier contained a passage on "rope makers" that clearly refers to the Harveys (whose father made ropes). The passage, which
4257-463: The Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of far Eastern trade. It established trading posts, which in later centuries evolved into British India , on the coasts of what is now India and Bangladesh . Larger scale colonisation to North America began shortly after Elizabeth's death. England in this era had some positive aspects that set it apart from contemporaneous continental European societies. Torture
4356-465: The Valentine's Day visit of a young man named 'Tomalin' to the brothel where his lover, "Mistris Francis", has recently become employed. Tomalin poses as a customer. Having paid ten gold pieces for her favours, Tomalin makes his way towards his erotic goal. And make me happie, stealing by degrees. First bare hir legs, then creepe up to her knees ... The object of his desire, "A pretty rising womb",
4455-451: The age of about 14. England's food supply was plentiful throughout most of the reign; there were no famines. Bad harvests caused distress, but they were usually localized. The most widespread came in 1555–57 and 1596–98. In the towns the price of staples was fixed by law; in hard times the size of the loaf of bread sold by the baker was smaller. Trade and industry flourished in the 16th century, making England more prosperous and improving
4554-474: The alphabet and the Lord's Prayer . There were few books, so pupils read from hornbooks instead. These wooden boards had the alphabet, prayers or other writings pinned to them and were covered with a thin layer of transparent cow's horn. There were two types of school in Tudor times: petty school was where young boys were taught to read and write; grammar school was where abler boys were taught English and Latin. It
4653-548: The apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature. The era is most famous for its theatre , as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of theatre. It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant Reformation became more acceptable to the people, most certainly after
4752-427: The autumn of 1592. William Sommers , whose comments frame the play, was Henry VIII 's jester. It includes the famous lyric: Adieu, farewell earths blisse, This world uncertaine is, Fond are lifes lustful joyes, Death proves them all but toyes, None from his darts can flye; I am sick, I must dye: Lord, have mercy on us. In 1597 Nashe co-wrote the play The Isle of Dogs with Ben Jonson . The work caused
4851-459: The bottom of my purse is turnd downeward, & my conduit of incke will no longer flowe for want of reparations, I am faine to let my Plow stand still in the midst of a furrow, and follow some of these new-fangled Galiardos and Senior Fantasticos , to whose amorous Villanellas and Quipassas I prostitute my pen in hope of gaine. On the question of what this poem might say about Nashe's own sexuality, Nashe biographer Charles Nicholl , says "not
4950-516: The centuries-long Anglo-French Wars were largely suspended for most of Elizabeth's reign. The one great rival was Habsburg Spain , with whom England clashed both in Europe and the Americas in skirmishes that exploded into the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604 . An attempt by Philip II of Spain to invade England with the Spanish Armada in 1588 was famously defeated. In turn England launched an equally unsuccessful expedition to Spain with
5049-406: The coast of Suffolk , where his father, William Nashe, or Nayshe as it is recorded, was curate. Though his mother bore seven children, only two survived childhood: Israel (born in 1565) and Thomas. The family moved to West Harling , near Thetford , in 1573 after Nashe's father was awarded the living there at the church of All Saints. Around 1581 Thomas went up to St John's College, Cambridge , as
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#17327825896255148-472: The comic actor Richard Tarleton , and by the ballad writer William Elderton . Thomas Heth wrote a reply. In 1590 Harvey published A Theologicall Discovrse of the Lamb of God and his enemies with a dedication to Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex , The work comprised the substance of sermons which, according to Nashe, had been preached three years earlier. Harvey wrote that the book explained his attitude to
5247-402: The country began to benefit greatly from the new era of trans-Atlantic trade and persistent theft of Spanish and Portuguese treasures, most notably as a result of Francis Drake's circumnavigation . The term Elizabethan era was already well-established in English and British historical consciousness, long before the accession of Queen Elizabeth II , and generally refers solely to the time of
5346-416: The country with a long period of general if not total peace and generally increased prosperity due in large part to stealing from Spanish treasure ships, raiding settlements with low defenses, and selling African slaves. Having inherited a virtually bankrupt state from previous reigns, her frugal policies restored fiscal responsibility. Her fiscal restraint cleared the regime of debt by 1574, and ten years later
5445-413: The difference between Tudor houses and Tudor-style houses easy, as the original beams are not straight. The upper floors of Tudor houses were often larger than the ground floors, which would create an overhang (or jetty ). This would create more floor-surface above while also keeping maximum street width. During the Tudor period, the use of glass when building houses was first used, and became widespread. It
5544-454: The earlier queen of this name. The Victorian era and the early 20th century idealised the Elizabethan era. The Encyclopædia Britannica maintains that "[T]he long reign of Elizabeth I, 1558–1603, was England's Golden Age... ' Merry England ', in love with life, expressed itself in music and literature, in architecture and in adventurous seafaring". This idealising tendency was shared by Britain and an Anglophilic America. In popular culture,
5643-465: The eastern seaboard of North America occurred in this era—the abortive colony at Roanoke Island in 1587. While Elizabethan England is not thought of as an age of technological innovation, some progress did occur. In 1564 Guilliam Boonen came from the Netherlands to be Queen Elizabeth's first coach-builder —thus introducing the new European invention of the spring-suspension coach to England, as
5742-644: The end of the Italian Wars , which left the Italian Peninsula impoverished. The Kingdom of France was embroiled in the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598). They were (temporarily) settled in 1598 by a policy of tolerating Protestantism with the Edict of Nantes . In part because of this, but also because the English had been expelled from their last outposts on the continent by Spain's tercios ,
5841-466: The enemy vessel. When Spain finally decided to invade and conquer England it was a fiasco. Superior English ships and seamanship foiled the invasion and led to the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588, marking the high point of Elizabeth's reign. Technically, the Armada failed because Spain's over-complex strategy required coordination between the invasion fleet and the Spanish army on shore. Moreover,
5940-406: The erotic poem The Choise of Valentines and his name appears on the title page of Christopher Marlowe 's Dido, Queen of Carthage , though there is uncertainty as to what Nashe's contribution was. Some editions of this play, still extant in the 18th century but now unfortunately lost, contained memorial verses on Marlowe by Nashe, who was his friend. Elizabethan The Elizabethan era
6039-524: The family. They were not sent to school. Boys were educated for work and the girls for marriage and running a household so when they married they could look after the house and children. Wealthy families hired a tutor to teach the boys at home. Many Tudor towns and villages had a parish school where the local vicar taught boys to read and write. Brothers could teach their sisters these skills. At school, pupils were taught English, Latin, Greek, catechism and arithmetic. The pupils practised writing in ink by copying
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#17327825896256138-544: The fancy which the day hath left undigested, or an after-feast made of the fragments of idle imagination". He dismisses efforts to interpret dreams, saying "What sense is there that the yolk of an egg should signify gold… that everything must be interpreted backward as Witches say their pater-noster, good being the character of bad, and bad of good." He disregards various spirits mentioning "Robbin-good-fellowes, elves, fairies, hobgoblins". He does, however, see some possible value in visions (not dreams) that are heaven-sent, including
6237-533: The farmers who lived and worked there. Despite the struggles of the lower class, the government tended to spend money on wars and exploration voyages instead of on welfare. About one-third of the population lived in poverty, with the wealthy expected to give alms to assist the impotent poor . Tudor law was harsh on the able-bodied poor , i.e., those unable to find work. Those who left their parishes in order to locate work were termed vagabonds and could be subjected to punishments, including whipping and putting at
6336-544: The fields of cartography and surveying. The eccentric but influential John Dee also merits mention. Much of this scientific and technological progress related to the practical skill of navigation. English achievements in exploration were noteworthy in the Elizabethan era. Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1581, and Martin Frobisher explored the Arctic . The first attempt at English settlement of
6435-586: The formation of the Via Media during the 17th century. She spent the rest of her reign ferociously fending off radical reformers and Roman Catholics who wanted to modify the Settlement of Church affairs: The Church of England was Protestant, "with its peculiar arrested development in Protestant terms, and the ghost which it harboured of an older world of Catholic traditions and devotional practice". For
6534-463: The full-rigged ship was one of the greatest technological advances of the century and permanently transformed naval warfare. In 1573 English shipwrights introduced designs, first demonstrated in the "Dreadnaught", that allowed the ships to sail faster and maneuver better and permitted heavier guns. Whereas before warships had tried to grapple with each other so that soldiers could board the enemy ship, now they stood off and fired broadsides that would sink
6633-413: The globe. Combined with his daring raids against the Spanish and his great victory over them at Cádiz in 1587 , he became a famous hero —his exploits are still celebrated—but England did not follow up on his claims. In 1583, Humphrey Gilbert sailed to Newfoundland, taking possession of the harbour of St. John's together with all land within two hundred leagues to the north and south of it. In 1584,
6732-448: The image of those adventurous Elizabethan seafarers was embodied in the films of Errol Flynn . In response and reaction to this hyperbole, modern historians and biographers have tended to take a more dispassionate view of the Tudor period. Elizabethan England was not particularly successful in a military sense during the period, but it avoided major defeats and built up a powerful navy. On balance, it can be said that Elizabeth provided
6831-482: The intense religious passions of the time. This was in significant contrast to previous and succeeding eras of marked religious violence. Elizabeth said "I have no desire to make windows into men's souls". Her desire to moderate the religious persecutions of previous Tudor reigns – the persecution of Catholics under Edward VI, and of Protestants under Mary I – appears to have had a moderating effect on English society. Elizabeth, Protestant, but undogmatic one, authorizing
6930-622: The later conflict of the English Civil War and the ongoing political battles between parliament and the monarchy that engulfed the remainder of the seventeenth century. The Protestant/Catholic divide was settled, for a time, by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement , and parliament was not yet strong enough to challenge royal absolutism. England was also well-off compared to the other nations of Europe. The Italian Renaissance had come to an end following
7029-442: The lower classes. Cumbria, the poorest and most isolated part of England, suffered a six-year famine beginning in 1594. Diseases and natural disasters also contributed to the scarce food supply. In the 17th century, the food supply improved. England had no food crises from 1650 to 1725, a period when France was unusually vulnerable to famines. Historians point out that oat and barley prices in England did not always increase following
7128-526: The other hand, were thin and outdated; England had too few soldiers and they were at best only partially trained. Spain had chosen England's weakest link and probably could have captured London in a week. Parker adds that a Catholic uprising in the north and in Ireland could have brought total defeat. The discoveries of Christopher Columbus electrified all of western Europe, especially maritime powers like England. King Henry VII commissioned John Cabot to lead
7227-428: The poor design of the Spanish cannons meant they were much slower in reloading in a close-range battle. Spain and France still had stronger fleets, but England was catching up. Parker has speculated on the dire consequences if the Spanish had landed their invasion army in 1588. He argues that the Spanish army was larger, more experienced, better-equipped, more confident, and had better financing. The English defenses, on
7326-458: The population consumed a diet largely of bread, cheese, milk, and beer, with small portions of meat, fish and vegetables, and occasionally some fruit. Potatoes were just arriving at the end of the period, and became increasingly important. The typical poor farmer sold his best products on the market, keeping the cheap food for the family. Stale bread could be used to make bread puddings, and bread crumbs served to thicken soups, stews, and sauces. At
7425-537: The queen granted Walter Raleigh a charter for the colonisation of Virginia ; it was named in her honour. Raleigh and Elizabeth sought both immediate riches and a base for privateers to raid the Spanish treasure fleets. Raleigh sent others to found the Roanoke Colony ; it remains a mystery why the settlers all disappeared. In 1600, the queen chartered the East India Company in an attempt to break
7524-810: The raucous student theatricals popular at the time. Some years later, William Covell wrote in Polimanteia that Cambridge "has been unkind to the one [i.e., Nashe] to wean him before his time." Nashe himself said he could have become a fellow had he wished (in Have With You to Saffron-Walden ). He moved to London and began his literary career. The remaining decade of his life was dominated by two concerns: finding employment and participating in controversies, most famously with Richard and Gabriel Harvey . He arrived in London with his one exercise in euphuism , The Anatomy of Absurdity . His first appearance in print
7623-543: The real and essential presence of Christ in the bread and wine: she believed it so. She was not able to get an unmarried clergy or the Protestant Holy Communion celebrated to look like a Mass. The Apostolic Succession was maintained, the institution of the church continued without a break (with 98% of the clergy remaining at their posts) and the attempt to ban music in church was defeated. The Injunctions of 1571 forbade any doctrines that did not conform to
7722-399: The standard of living of the upper and middle classes. However, the lower classes did not benefit much and did not always have enough food. As the English population was fed by its own agricultural produce, a series of bad harvests in the 1590s caused widespread starvation and poverty. The success of the wool trading industry decreased attention on agriculture, resulting in further starvation of
7821-566: The stocks. The idea of the workhouse for the able-bodied poor was first suggested in 1576. There was an unprecedented expansion of education in the Tudor period. Until then, few children went to school. Those that did go were mainly the sons of wealthy or ambitious fathers who could afford to pay the attendance fee. Boys were allowed to go to school and began at the age of 4, they then moved to grammar school when they were 7 years old. Girls were either kept at home by their parents to help with housework or sent out to work to bring money in for
7920-502: The summer’s fruitful treasure.” Nashe may also have contributed to Henry VI, Part 1 , the play later published under Shakespeare's name as the first part of the Henry VI trilogy. Gary Taylor believes that Nashe was the principal author of the first act. Nashe subsequently promoted the play in his pamphlet Pierce Penniless . In 1593 Nashe published Christ's Tears Over Jerusalem , a pamphlet dedicated to Lady Elizabeth Carey . Despite
8019-740: The teaching of the Church Fathers and the Catholic Bishops. The Queen's hostility to strict Calvinistic doctrines blocked the Radicals. Almost no original theological thought came out of the English Reformation; instead, the Church relied on the Catholic Consensus of the first Four Ecumenical Councils. The preservation of many Catholic doctrines and practices was the cuckoos nest that eventually resulted in
8118-498: The tract entitled The Pappe with a Hatchet ascribed to John Lyly . Harvey's abuse of men of letters stirred Robert Greene to the attack on Harvey and his brothers Gabriel and John, A Quippe for an Upstart Courtier (1592, not extant). In the literary quarrel which followed between Gabriel Harvey and Nashe, Greene's champion Nashe parodied Richard's Astrological Discourse of 1583 in A Wonderfull, strange, and miraculous Astrologicall Prognostication , 1592. In his Strange Newes of
8217-512: The visions of Caesar and Alexander. Correspondence can be seen between the rationalism expressed in Act 5 of Shakespeare’s play Midsummer Night’s Dream and the ideas expressed in The Terrors of the Night ; for example when Theseus in the play describes "the poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling" and Nashe describes the constant "wheeling and rolling on of our braines". He is also credited with
8316-541: The wealth was distributed with wild unevenness, there was clearly more wealth to go around at the end of Elizabeth's reign than at the beginning. This general peace and prosperity allowed the attractive developments that "Golden Age" advocates have stressed. The Elizabethan Age was also an age of plots and conspiracies, frequently political in nature, and often involving the highest levels of Elizabethan society. High officials in Madrid, Paris and Rome sought to kill Elizabeth,
8415-402: The whims of the king or queen. Feasts were commonly used to commemorate the "procession" of the crowned heads of state in the summer months, when the king or queen would travel through a circuit of other nobles' lands both to avoid the plague season of London, and alleviate the royal coffers, often drained through the winter to provide for the needs of the royal family and court. This would include
8514-490: The work's apparently devotional nature it contained satirical material which gave offence to the London civic authorities and Nashe was briefly imprisoned in Newgate Prison . The intervention of Lady Elizabeth's husband Sir George Carey gained his release. He remained in London, apart from periodic visits to the countryside to avoid the plague—a fear reflected in the play Summer's Last Will and Testament , written in
8613-568: Was basic, with stools being commonplace rather than chairs. The walls of Tudor houses were often made from timber and wattle and daub , or brick; stone and tiles were more common in the wealthier homes. The daub was usually then painted with limewash , making it white, and the wood was painted with black tar to prevent rotting, but not in Tudor times; the Victorians did this afterwards. The bricks were handmade and thinner than modern bricks. The wooden beams were cut by hand, which makes telling
8712-781: Was exploring North America. England was stimulated to create its own colonies, with an emphasis on the West Indies rather than in North America. Martin Frobisher landed at Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island in August 1576; He returned in 1577, claiming it in Queen Elizabeth's name, and in a third voyage tried but failed to found a settlement in Frobisher Bay. From 1577 to 1580, Francis Drake circumnavigated
8811-400: Was his preface to Robert Greene 's Menaphon , which offers a brief definition of art and overview of contemporary literature. In 1590, he contributed a preface to an unlicensed edition of Philip Sidney 's Astrophil and Stella , but the edition was called in, and the authorised second edition removed Nashe's work. Nashe was alive in 1599, when his last known work, Nashes Lenten Stuffe ,
8910-459: Was little more than a system of coastal defense. Elizabeth made naval strength a high priority. She risked war with Spain by supporting the " Sea Dogs ", such as John Hawkins and Francis Drake , who preyed on the Spanish merchant ships carrying gold and silver from the New World. The Navy yards were leaders in technical innovation, and the captains devised new tactics. Parker (1996) argues that
9009-511: Was necessary for boys to attend grammar school , but girls were rarely allowed in any place of education other than petty schools, and then only with a restricted curriculum. Petty schools were for all children aged from 5 to 7 years of age. Only the most wealthy people allowed their daughters to be taught, and only at home. During this time, endowed schooling became available. This meant that even boys of very poor families were able to attend school if they were not needed to work at home, but only in
9108-549: Was published, and dead by 1601, when he was memorialised in a Latin verse in Affaniae by Charles Fitzgeoffrey . It is not known where he died, or where he is buried. He is featured in Thomas Dekker 's News from Hell (1606), and is referred to in the anonymous Parnassus plays (1598−1602), which provide this eulogy: Let all his faultes sleepe with his mournfull chest And there for ever with his ashes rest. His style
9207-618: Was rare, since the English legal system reserved torture only for capital crimes like treason —though forms of corporal punishment, some of them extreme, were practised. The persecution of witches began in 1563, and hundreds were executed, although there was nothing like the frenzy on the Continent. Mary had tried her hand at an aggressive anti-Protestant Inquisition and was hated for it; it was not to be repeated. Nevertheless, more Catholics were persecuted, exiled, and burned alive than under Queen Mary. Elizabeth managed to moderate and quell
9306-507: Was removed from subsequent editions, may have been Nashe's. After Gabriel Harvey mocked Greene's death in Four Letters , Nashe wrote Strange News (1592). Nashe attempted to apologise in the preface to Christ's Tears Over Jerusalem (1593), but the appearance of Pierce's Supererogation shortly after offended Nashe anew. He replied with Have with You to Saffron-Walden (1596), with a possibly sardonic dedication to Richard Lichfield ,
9405-467: Was too old and "out of use" to attract a large audience. In the last decades of the reign, Elizabeth gave James VI of Scotland an annual annuity or subsidy which contributed to an "amity" or peace between England and Scotland. It became clear that he would be her successor . Plots continued in the new reign. In the Bye Plot of 1603, two Catholic priests planned to kidnap King James and hold him in
9504-450: Was usual for students to attend six days a week. The school day started at 7:00 am in winter and 6:00 am in summer and finished about 5:00 pm. Petty schools had shorter hours, mostly to allow poorer boys the opportunity to work as well. Schools were harsh and teachers were very strict, often beating pupils who misbehaved. Education would begin at home, where children were taught the basic etiquette of proper manners and respecting others. It
9603-435: Was very expensive and difficult to make, so the panes were made small and held together with a lead lattice, in casement windows . People who could not afford glass often used polished horn, cloth or paper. Tudor chimneys were tall, thin, and often decorated with symmetrical patterns of molded or cut brick. Early Tudor houses, and the homes of poorer people, did not have chimneys. The smoke in these cases would be let out through
9702-664: Was wittie, though it had some gall, Some things he might have mended, so may all. Yet this I say, that for a mother witt, Few men have ever seene the like of it. He was drawn into the Martin Marprelate controversy on the side of the bishops. As with the other writers in the controversy, his share is difficult to determine. He was formerly credited with the three " Pasquill " tracts of 1589–1590, which were included in R. B. McKerrow 's standard edition of Nashe's works: however McKerrow himself later argued strongly against their being by Nashe. The anti-Martinist An Almond for
9801-453: Was written possibly for the private circle of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby (then known as Lord Strange). It has alternatively been suggested that "Lord S." refers to the Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's patron, just as Nashe had inscribed The Unfortunate Traveler , to "Lord Henry Wriothesley Earl of Southampton". The Choise of Valentines circulated only in manuscript. It describes
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