Elizabeth l and the Renaissance

Dear bloggers

In this Blog entry I’d like to focus on the question number five of the PowerPoint shown in class. I have reformulated the question though, centering it on the period of the Renaissance. 

"In what way does the movie show Elizabeth’s Renaissance side?"

Surely there is a huge transition from the Middle Age view to the “cosmovision” of the Renaissance. In this entry I’d like to focus on the renaccentistic and humanistic features of life and government of the queen Elizabeth.

I have chosen two different aspects which I have developed and related to the queen: First we have the “Renaissance conception of thinking”: An important feature of the Renaissance period was the emergence of the humanistic way of thinking, which implies the triumph of the critical and rational thinking of the individual. On the whole, the discussion, conversation and the studying to create a reflexive and critical person was a common characteristic of this period.  Relating this to the Elizabethan age, we actually could define her as a “Renaissance woman” because of her highly cultured and educated lifestyle. We learned in class that she was one of the most accomplished women in Europe, who learned to appreciate the art of literature, theater and dance. So the ideal of being a cultured and reflexive being made me think immediately of Elizabeth.

In second place, when it comes to the government and the ruler of the citizen, is this period the one which created the first “modern government”, in terms of civil order and administration. This institution is about being a king and ruling the country.

I noticed that Elizabeth is well represented as this authority in England. She’s “the power” in charge, from the littlest detail, for example her servants, to the most important things, like the pacts made with other countries and the wellbeing of the naval force and army.

For this question I've worked with a few internet sources. They are pretty useful so I let them below if you want to take a look at them.

http://www.webdianoia.com/moderna/renhum/renhum.htm

http://es.scribd.com/doc/86235955/Diferencias-Entre-El-Renacimiento-y-La-Edad-Media

I’m sure there are a lot more aspects which you could possibly develop a lot with another Renaissance features and the Elizabethan Age. 

But these two really got my attention!