5 Point Fact Sheet

 

Elizabeth I in her coronation robes. She came rule in the golden age of England. Art, luxury, and extravagance flourished under her rule. Her Greenwich armor-clad suitors, the advancement to drama and plays like those of William Shakespeare, and this portrait of her coronation exemplify that. Note her exaggerated features: thin waist line, wide hips, and fair skin. All of these attractive traits are blown out of proportion to make her unreal and grand beyond scale; perhaps the idea of her was more attractive than her reality. Whatever the case may be, luxury for the upper class flourished under Elizabeth’s rule. The direct result of that being that the arts could flourish as well. One may examine the growth of plays in popularity and depth during the Renaissance Period. Subject matter ranged, however the monarchy and the ‘history’ of England was often the setting.

• Build Up of Religious Tensions
  • Henry VIII made himself the leader of the Church of England in order to marry a new wife to produce a male heir.
  • Land and wealth redistribution was enacted for the Catholic Church of England.
  • This continued on when Henry’s daughters took the throne.
• Influence of Plays
  • Queen Elizabeth, the commoners, and everyone in between loved going to the plays.
  • Shakespeare wasn’t the only playwright in town, so to speak; he had many rivals.
  • Billy was just the most well-known and most influential in terms of popularity and longevity.
  • Critiqued for bringing together different social classes and engaging in heathen behavior; prostitution, drinking, frivolity, etc.
• High Class Society
  • Gentlemen – prince, dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, barons, knights, esquires, and gentlemen.
  • Knights could be born into their station and trained to become knights, or promoted after a battle having shown their knightly honor.
  • The title ‘lord’ could not be stripped of the gentleman class, but they could be kept out of parliament as a sort of snub.
• Henry VIII Controversies
  • Married his dead brother’s wife, which was forbidden in Levidicus.
  • Proclaimed England free of the Catholic Church and made himself head of the Church of England.
  • Land taken from the Catholic clergy was given to his political supporters for favor.
• Elizabethan Cult of Personality
  • The Queen held much sway in terms of every aspect of power; she had many devout suitors due to want of that power and her cult of personality flourished.
  • German Emperor Maximillian gave custom armor in his own likeness to Henry VIII. His public image was admired by Henry.
  • Henry VIII’s interest in knightly games continued to Elizabeth when she furthered the melding of art and blacksmithing with the Greenwich armory and forge.
  • Elizabeth influenced her suitors to purchase and help design beautiful, brilliant armors to gain her favor in court, if only for a moment.