Engish Renaissance.pptVIP

The English Renaissance (1485-1660) Teaching goals: Background of the Reformation Renaissance and Humanism Thomas More Utopia Types of plays Shakespeare Hamlet The Pre-Elizabethan Period: A Brief Introduction The 150 years between the death of Chaucer and ascension (1400—1557) was a very important period in history. Some events of great magnitude occurred that ultimately brought England and Europe out of the Middle Ages into the modern time. These included the Reformation, the Renaissance, and printing from movable type. The Reformation was, in historical retrospect, a natural result of the popular disaffection with the growing corrupt practice of the Catholic Church and the long pent-up (被压抑的)anger and desire on the part of the more enlightened religious minds for reform and improvement. The church and the holy clerics had been for long obsessed with the worldly concerns of amassing wealth and power through devious (阴险的)means such as selling indulgencies（赦罪符）, and had seriously deviated from the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Holy Scripture. They were in sore need of censure and correction. The first voice of revolt came from John Wycliffe (1320-1384). John Wycliffe（1320-1384） an Oxford scholar and translator of The Bible from the Latin version into the medieval English, three hundred years before the Authorized Version (钦定本)of it. the morning star of the Reformation, 300 years ahead of his successor of Martin Luther (1483—1546) Moreover, he was also a predecessor of the Reformation; he was known as the “Morning Star of the Reformation”. He was dauntless when he took the religious orders and even the Papacy to task for their depravity and greed. In his opinion the church was not necessary, and the Bible alone would meet the popular need for faith. He was too much ahead of his time to effect the change he had in mind. It took about two centuries and a man by the name of Martin Luther to bring forth the wind of change. The Reformation 改革最初是在奥古斯都（August