Shakespeare and Elizabethan Renaissance Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering the literary movements, historical figures, terminology, and dramatic traditions surrounding Shakespeare and the English Renaissance.

Ninety-five Theses

A document posted by Martin Luther on October 31, 1517, on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg attacking papal indulgences, initiating the Protestant Reformation.

Counter-Reformation

The internal renewal and removal of abuses by the Roman Catholic Church in response to the Protestant Reformation.

Trivium

The lower division of the seven medieval liberal arts consisting of grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

Quadrivium

The upper division of the seven medieval liberal arts consisting of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.

Il Cortegiano (The Courtier)

An Italian courtesy book written by Baldassare Castiglione and translated by Sir Thomas Hoby in 1561 that influenced the Renaissance ideal of the gentleman.

Roger Ascham

Greek and Latin tutor to Princess Elizabeth and author of 'Toxophilus' (1545) and 'The Schoolmaster' (1570).

Toxophilus

A 1545 dialogue written by Roger Ascham subtitled 'The School of Shooting', recognized as the first English book on archery.

The Book Named The Governor

A 1531 work by Sir Thomas Elyot outlining an educational regimen for young men destined to hold public authority.

Moriae Encomium (The Praise of Folly)

A 1511 mock encomium by Desiderius Erasmus satirizing clerical ignorance and corruption, named with a pun on Sir Thomas More.

Petrarchanism

A tradition of lyrical expression modelled on Petrarch's sonnets, employing Petrarchan conceits and the blazon convention.

Skeltonic verse

Irregular, energetic, and satirical poetry with linguistic innovations created by John Skelton.

Utopia

A 1516 Latin work by Sir Thomas More depicting a fictional island characterized by social and religious freedom as recounted by Raphael Hythloday.

Sir Thomas Wyatt

Poet who, along with Surrey, founded English Renaissance poetry and introduced the Petrarchan sonnet, terza rima, ottava rima, and Horatian satire to English.

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

Discipline of Wyatt who introduced blank verse into English poetry through his translation of Virgil's Aeneid and developed Poulter's Measure.

Poulter's Measure

A poetic meter characterized by alternating lines of 12 and 14 syllables.

Tottel’s Miscellany

The first printed anthology of English poetry, published on June 5, 1557 under the original title 'Songs and Sonnets'.

Queen Elizabeth I

Tudor monarch who ruled England from 1558 to 1603 during a golden age of naval power and literary development.

The Globe Theatre

A iconic Elizabethan round wooden playhouse featuring a pit for groundlings, three seating galleries, and an open-air main stage.

The First Folio

The 1623 first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays compiled by John Heminges and Henry Condell, dedicated to William and Philip Herbert.

Nicholas Rowe

The 1709 editor and first biographer of William Shakespeare who marked the beginning of Shakespeare's 18th-century critical recognition.

Senecan Revenge Tragedy

A dramatic genre marked by a secret murder, a ghost's call for vengeance, plotting, feigned or real madness, and a bloody final catastrophe.

Gorboduc (Ferrex and Porrex)

A 1561 play written by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville that served as the first tragedy in English and the first play written in blank verse.

Commedia dell’arte

A 15th-century Italian improvised street theatre tradition featuring stock characters that influenced European Renaissance drama.