After studying this chapter, students should understand and be able to discuss the following:
The characteristics of northern humanism, its literary leaders, and their contributions
The role played by Erasmus in northern humanism and the Protestant Reformation
The characteristics of northern Renaissance literature, its leading writers, and their contributions
The major phases of the life of William Shakespeare, his types of plays, and the themes and ideas in Hamlet that reflect the mannerist aesthetic
The nature of northern Renaissance painting, its major painters, and representative examples of this style
The unusual style of Hieronymus Bosch and theories as to the meaning of his art
The causes of the Protestant Reformation
The political conditions in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire in the early sixteenth century
The major phases of the life of Martin Luther and the events in Germany during his early years
The basic beliefs and tenets of Lutheranism
The impact of Luther's revolt on social and political movements
The major phases of and influences on John Calvin's life
The basic beliefs and ideas of Calvinism
The impact of Calvinism on social and political developments
The causes of the rise of the Church of England
The results and impact of the religious changes in England
The causes of the Counter-Reformation
The leaders and contributions of the reformed papacy
The origins, development, and results of the founding of new Catholic monastic orders and, in particular, the Ursulines and the Jesuits
The central issues of the Council of Trent
The major phases and results of the Wars of Religion
The influence of the Counter-Reformation on the arts, literature, music, and the late mannerist style
The characteristics of late mannerist painting in Spain, its artistic leaders, and their achievements
The achievements of Spain's Siglo de Oro, or Golden Century, its leading writers, and their major contributions
The role played by Cervantes in Spain's Golden Century and the impact of his writings on the literature of other nations
The characteristics of late mannerist painting in Italy, its artistic leader, and his achievement
The influence of the Counter-Reformation on Italian church music, and the impact of the madrigal on Italian and English secular music
The historic "firsts" of the age of northern humanism, northern Renaissance, religious reformations, and late mannerism that became part of the Western tradition: the establishment of the commercial theater as a legitimate art form, the rise of a preeminent voice that has not been surpassed in the literatures of England and Spain, the end of the dream of a united European Christendom and the division of Europe between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, the first European explorations and overseas colonies, beginning of the modern sovereign state and the rivalry among these new political entities, formulation of distinct cultural attitudes between Protestants and Roman Catholics
The role of this age in transmitting the heritage of earlier ages: continuing the basic ideas and values of Renaissance humanism as modified by northern humanism, furthering the concept of the worth of the individual, making religious differences and preferences the basis of intolerance and persecutions, adapting Renaissance styles in literature and the visual arts to northern European tastes, and bringing mannerist painting to a brilliant sunset in Spanish and Venetian art
