Early Modern English Society

I. The Renaissance
    A. Definition
        - Rebirth of classical culture in Italy (then other parts of Europe) from c. 1350-1550
    B. The Rise of Humanism
        1. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man
        2. Humanism: an educational and cultural movement based on the
                study of ancient Greek and Roman literature
        3. Italy: Civic Humanism (e.g., Machiavelli)
        4. Northern Europe: Christian/Northern Humanism (e.g., Erasmus)
    C. Thomas More
        1. most famous English Humanist
        2. Utopia (DOC 33)
    D. The Introduction of Paper and the Printing Press
        1. paper introduced to Europe from China in the 12th century
                - prior to this, sheets of parchment (treated animal skins) were used
        2. moveable type invented in Europe in the 1440s
                a. traditionally attributed to Johannes Gutenberg
                        (both the Dutch and French also claim it was invented
                                first in their countries)
                b. regardless, it was Gutenberg who popularized it
                c. Printing Press
                d. Gutenberg Bible
        3. communication revolution
                - e.g., the publication of Shakespeare's plays

II. The Scientific Revolution
    A. The Medieval World View
        1. Witchcraft and Magic
            a. both elites and commoners believed in the power of the
                divine and supernatural to intervene in human affairs
            b. skilled practitioners performed magic
			- astrologists [casting a horoscope, 1617]
			- herbalists [apothecary shop 1, apothecary shop 2, both 15th c.]
			- alchemists [workshop, 1580]
            c. magical and Christian beliefs did not oppose each other
            d. this began to change in the later Middle Ages when the church
                began to associate magic and witchcraft with the devil
                    - esp. black magic, i.e., magic used for evil purposes
        2. The Witchcraft Craze 
            a. over 30,000 people accused of witchcraft in Germany alone
                    between 1550-1650
                    - probably about 5000 witchcraft trials in Britain
            b. Why did this happen?
                1. Religion
                2. Social and economic change
            c. more than 80 percent of accused witches were women
            d. Images
                1. Witches: 1, 2
                2. Torture Devices: Garrotte (1, 2), Chair, Tickler (1, 2), Fork (1, 2)
            e. end of the craze
                1. people tired of the violence of the religious wars
                2. people looking to science for answers
                    - witchcraft not possible because it's not reasonable
    B. The Medieval Understanding of the Universe
        1. most people believed that the earth was the center of
                the universe (geocentric view)
        2. this is what it looks like to the unaided eye
        3. Ptolemy (c. 100-170) -- Greek astronomer
            - epicycles = small circular motions within the orbit of a planet
        4. Aristotle
            - planets and stars are made of a different kind of matter than
                the earth; thus, they don't fall to the earth like an apple
            - Aristotle's universe: the "Prime Mover" causes the planets, etc. to rotate earth
        5. Christianity
            - the sky is the heavens, the home of the angels; it's made out of
                pure matter that is permanently in place
    C. The Revolution in Astronomy
        1. Preconditions
                - humanist discoveries of ancient Greek texts
                        - especially Ptolemy; this proved he was wrong
                            - Ptolemy (c. 100-170) -- Greek astronomer
                            - epicycles = small circular motions within the orbit of a planet
                                [IMAGE]
        2. Some Early Scientists
            a. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
                - used mathematics to prove that the sun was at the center of
                        the universe (heliocentric view)
            b. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
                - developed laws of planetary motion
                        - e.g., planets follow an eliptical orbit [IMAGE]
            c. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
                1. first to use a telescope; popularized Copernicus' heliocentric view
                2. this outraged the church; he was hauled before the inquisition
                        and forced to condemn his errors
        3. The English Contribution
            a. Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
                1. empirical method
                        - do experiments and make observations
                2. inductive reasoning
                        - derive general principles about nature from your data
            b. Isaac Newton (1642-1724)
                1. celebrity during his own lifetime
                2. laws of motion
                        a. objects at rest or in a uniform linear motion will
                                remain in that state unless acted upon by an external force
                        b. any change in the motion of an object is proportional
                                to the force exerted on it
                        c. every action has an equal and opposite reaction
                3. law of gravity
                        - each body in the universe exerts a force on every other body
                                - e.g., earth's mass is much larger than an apple, thus
                                        it pulls the apple to it