Resources for the English Renaissance
Gateways and General Sites
- Voice of the Shuttle
English Literature: Renaissance and 17th Century: Excellent
selective list of links to sites on sixteenth and seventeenth English
studies. One of the best starting points on the web. (U. of California/Santa Barbara)
- Literary
Resources--Renaissance: Well selected list of resources, covering
a broad range of topics. (Jack Lynch, Rutgers U.)
- Norton topics
Online: The Sixteenth Century (1485-1603): Auxiliary
resource site for the Norton Anthology of English Literature.
Useful, well designed, and well presented, with brief explanatory sections
and links to primary texts. Includes coverage of Marlowe's Dr.
Faustus, Renaissance exploration, and Reformation conflict, as well as a
generous selection of images. (W. W. Norton)
- Centre for Reformation and
Renaissance Studies: Useful collection of links and resources for
Renaissance studies. Some resources are limited access. (U. of
Toronto)
- Shakespeare
and the Renaissance: Extensive and useful collection of
sites. Not limited to Shakespeare. (Palomar College)
- Shakespeare
and Renaissance Sites: Useful collection of sites. Heavy on
Shakespeare, but also includes other Renaissance sites. (U. of
Victoria)
- CERES: Cambridge
English Renaissance Electronic Service: Some useful resources
here. The Links
page is not especially helpful for this class (other sites provide more
extensive collections), but it is worthwhile wading through their Harvest
newsletter archive for a broad array of other links. (Cambridge U.)
- New
Approaches to Renaissance Studies: Web page for an English course
by Rebecca Bushnell. The Course
Materials page is particularly useful; other portions appear to be
incomplete. (U. of Penn.)
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Online Texts
- Luminarium:
Renaissance English Literature (1485-1603): Valuable and elegantly
designed site. Excellent collection of links to major sixteenth-century
English texts, as well as to online articles, graphics, audio clips, etc.
Take a look at the main Luminarium
site as well, for Middle English and 17th Century resources.
- Renascence Editions:
"Works Printed in English, 1477-1799." An extensive and
valuable collection of texts. (R. Bear, U. of Oregon)
- Early Modern Literary
Studies: Electronic Texts: A very extensive and valuable
collection of links to online texts. Includes a very wide variety of
texts from the English Renaissance, as well as texts from continental
literatures and a selection of medieval and classical texts. (Sheffield Hallam U.)
- Online Medieval and Classical
Library: Useful online collection of ancient and medieval texts;
includes some Renaissance texts. Much of the collection is in
literatures other than English. (UC/Berkeley)
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Journals
- Early Modern Literary
Studies: A peer-reviewed online journal concerned with medieval
and early modern literature. Full-text articles are publicly available
online. (Sheffield Hallam U.)
- The Elizabethan Review:
"A peer-reviewed journal focusing on the English Renaissance."
Seems to have a particular interest in the Shakespeare/Oxford controversy,
but includes a variety of other articles as well. Full-text articles
are publicly available online.
- Renaissance Forum:
"an interdisciplinary refereed journal" ... which "specializes
in early-modern English literary and historical scholarship and in the
critical methodologies of these fields." Full-text articles are
publicly available online. (U. of Hull)
- Exemplaria: A
Journal of Theory in Medieval and Renaissance Studies: Full-text articles of past
issues not available online, but a generous selection of preprints of
articles are publicly available. Preprints currently seem weighted
toward Anglo-Saxon and medieval material. (U. of Florida)
- Shakespeare and Renaissance
Association of West Virginia: Selected Papers: A selection
of conference papers. The majority concern Shakespeare's drama, but
there is a reasonable collection on other aspects of English Renaissance
literature.
Full-text articles are publicly available online. (Marshall U.)
- Renaissance Studies:
"Multi-disciplinary journal which publishes articles and editions of documents on all aspects of Renaissance history and culture."
Abstracts of articles (since 1996) are publicly available online.
- The Sixteenth Century Journal:
Includes articles on continental and British sixteenth-century
studies. Abstracts of articles (since 1995) are publicly available
online.
- Renaissance Quarterly:
Journal of the Renaissance Society of America; publishes articles and
reviews on all aspects of continental and British Renaissance
studies. Abstracts of articles from a few of the most recent issues
are publicly available online.
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Bibliographies
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Language
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History, Chronology, etc.
- Jacob
Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy:
Monumental mid-nineteenth century study which shaped modern conceptions of
the European Renaissance. (Boise State U.)
- England
and Scotland in the Sixteenth Century: An very good overview of
the Tudor period in England, with additional material on Scotland.
Chapter 16 of The
World of Renaissance and Reformation in Europe, author
unknown. [Note: Only the first 18 of the 25 chapters of the text
are currently available.] (Paul Voytenko)
- Renaissance:
Background essay on the European Renaissance, written with literary studies
specifically in mind. (Palo Alto C.)
- Annenberg/CPB
Exhibits: Renaissance: Basic introduction to the Renaissance
in Europe. Information is simplified, but presentation is elegant and
easy to use; has links to some useful additional resources. Not a bad
place to start if you go on to more sophisticated resources.
- Introduction to Politics & War in the Renaissance:
Useful and reasonably brief overview of the development of the nation-state,
political theory, warfare, etc. (Boise State U.)
- Warfare
and Weaponry, 1558-1642: A good overview of military matters,
including guidance in terminology for weapons. Part of A
Guide for Elizabethan-Jacobean Studies. (Pennsylvania State U.)
- GGRENir:
Internetography on Renaissance Intellectual History: Useful guide
to sites on all aspects of Renaissance intellectual history. Covers
art, law, medicine, craftsmanship, and more. (U. of Munich)
- EuroDocs:
Western European Primary Historical Documents--United Kingdom:
Links to important documents for political history. Useful for anyone
investigating the historical backgrounds and contexts of literature.
(Brigham Young U.)
- Virtual
Renaissance: Chronology: A useful set of timelines on the
politics, the arts, etc.
- Renaissance
Background: Helpful and reasonably extensive timeline, plotting
"Literary, Philosophical Events" against "Political, Social,
Religious Events." (Texas A & M U.)
- Renaissance and
Reformation Chronology: Covers the mid-thirteenth through the
mid-seventeenth centuries. Includes politics, religion, literature,
the arts, etc. (Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies)
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People, Culture and Customs
- Renaissance, The Elizabethan World:
Fascinating and well-designed site. Especially useful is the Compendium
of Common Knowledge, which covers such aspects of Elizabethan life as
games, money, fashion, etc.
- Tudor England: Helpful and
well-designed site. Gives brief biographies of the Tudor monarchs, as
well as useful chronologies, a "Who's
Who in Tudor History", background on food and music, and a wide
selection of images. (Lara Eakins)
- Le Poulet Gauche: Recreation of a
sixteenth-century French tavern. Intended as "a guide to the history, culture, and daily life of 16th century France."
Enjoyable and useful. (Society for Creative Anachronism)
- Renaissance Faire: A wealth
of material on costuming, accents, etc. Intended as a resource for
staging Renaissance fairs.
- SCA Arts and
Sciences Homepage: Covers everything from food and brewing to
falconry and cartography. (Society for Creative Anachronism)
- Virtual
Renaissance: Designed by and for junior high students; an enjoyable
site. Take a guided tour of a Renaissance town, etc. (Twin
Groves Jr. H. S.)
- Plague and Public Health in Renaissance
Europe: "a hypertext archive of narratives, medical consilia, governmental
records, religious and spiritual writings and images documenting the arrival, impact and response to the
problem of epidemic disease in Western Europe between 1348 and 1530."
So far, covers only selected Italian cities, but useful for this class
nevertheless. (U. of Virginia)
- The Tudor
Group: Image Gallery: Photographs of daily activities (such
as sheep-shearing and laundry) from "an historical interpretation society concentrating on the later Tudor period (1560-1603 )."
- The
Supernatural: A good, readable overview of witchcraft, sorcery,
alchemy and astrology. Part of A
Guide for Elizabethan-Jacobean Studies. (Pennsylvania State U.)
- Medieval and Renaissance
Games: Learn to play "All Fours," "Alouette,"
and over a dozen variations of chess. (Justin du Coeur)
- The History of Fashion and Dress:
16th Century Europe: Traces the development of upper-class dress;
theater course web page. (U. of Alaska/Fairbanks)
- Medieval/Renaissance Food Homepage:
References, recipes, and more. (Society for Creative
Anachronism)
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Arts and Music
- Renaissance Painting and Portraiture:
A separate collection of links on this course's "Arts" page.
- Library
of Congress Vatican Exhibit: An exhibition from the Vatican
Library. Includes a stunning array of images of manuscripts and
printed books, as well as copious background material. For starters,
see the first page of Henry
VIII's tract against Martin Luther (printed), and the title page from a
copy of Sallust's
Histories (manuscript).
- Images from John Foxe, Acts and Monuments of These Latter and Perilous
Days (the Book of Martyrs): 1563. One of the most influential anti-Catholic works of early
Elizabethan England. It depicts, in lurid and often highly inventive
detail, the persecution of English Protestants. Highly sensational, it
appealed to a broadly popular audience. (Rebecca Bushnell, U. of
Pennsylvania)
- Tudor Architecture:
Useful overview of architecture under the Tudors. Includes an array of
images, a glossary of terms, some explanatory material, etc. (Lara
Eakins, Tudor
England)
- English
Renaissance: A useful collection of images from Period and Style
for Designers. (Lester, Tulane U.)
- Renaissance and Baroque Architecture:
Images from an architectural history class. Includes material from
fifteenth-century Italy through sixteenth-century England. (C.
W. Westfall, U. of Virginia)
- The Internet
Renaissance Band: A nice selection of medieval and Renaissance
MIDI files. (Curtis Clark, California State U./Pomona)
- MIDIWORLD: Early Music
MIDI files: Includes music through the 17th and 18th centuries,
but with a number of composers from the period covered by this course.
- Classical MIDI Archives:
Early Music: An extensive collection of MIDI files from "composers born before the XVIIth century."
Part of the Classical MIDI Archive.
(Pierre Schwab)
MIDIs for the
Period: "A collection of music from composers living in 1605."
Much of the music is a little late for this course, but is still of
interest. Take a look also at the music and Lyrics to Thomas Campion
Songs. (Conrad Bladey)
- More Early Music Resources: Additional
links on this course's "Arts" page.
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Online Discussion
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Renaissance and Medieval Drama
Renaissance and Medieval Drama has its own page.
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An Anthology of Renaissance Lyrics
The Anthology of Renaissance Lyrics is on its
own page.
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Thomas More
Thomas More has his own page.
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Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe has his own page.
Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson has his own page.
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