Elizabethan and Jacobean eras


From your classmate Josie Owens, some information on the differences between Elizabethan (Tudor) and Jacobean eras:

Summarized from Winston Churchill’s The Island Race:
Tudor Era started with Henry VII, who united the Houses of York and Lancaster with his marriage to Elizabeth of York. This is what occurs at the end of Richard III. The last Tudor was Queen Elizabeth I who died in 1603. As she had no direct heir, the crown went to James VI of Scotland who became James I of England. He was related to Elizabeth because his great grandmother was the older sister of Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s father.
James in Latin is Jacob. Jacobean refers to the reign of James I (1603-1625).
Note that in 1620 the Puritans landed on Plymouth Rock. The Puritan issue came to boiling point under Oliver Cromwell (not Thomas Cromwell of Wolf Hall) who then took the crown from Charles II, James’s grandson. The Puritans had control for a decade when they closed all the theaters! We could have lost Shakespeare if the power exchange had happened a bit earlier or his plays had been destroyed.
Wikipedia says this about Jacobean decorative arts:
The decorative arts — furniture, for example — became increasingly rich in color, detail, and design. Materials from other parts of the world, like mother-of-pearl, were now available by world-wide trade and were used as decoration.[10] Even familiar materials, such as wood and silver, were worked more deeply in intricate and intensely three-dimensional designs.[10]
Architecture in the Jacobean era was a continuation of the Elizabethan style with increasing emphasis on classical elements like columns. European influences include France, Flanders, and Italy.[11] Inigo Jones may be the most famous English architect of this period, with lasting contributions to classical public building style; some of his works include the Banqueting House in the Palace of Whitehall. St Paul’s Cathedral designed by Sir Christopher Wren in London.

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