Fill some empty time and join me in some exciting research. Your useful "empty pot" will be filled to overflowing!
The great divide between medieval and renaissance documents is evident in the changes that swept Great Britain as the Tudors replaced the Plantagenets. Of course all of this did not take place overnight, but the shift in the appearance of documents, the changing lettering styles and the way that critically important documents were created and destroyed (Ack!) - or maybe just hidden, yet to be rediscovered.
Both dynasties were brutal. They were also the patrons of the arts and sciences.
More than one story is told of scribes creating important diplomatic and military documents, only to be killed to insure their lasting integrity.
After the Norman invasion of 1066, much of England became mostly German. Our modern American English is about 90% German. Why? The Normans eliminated the competition and chased families, monasteries and the educated into oblivion.
There were dynamic changes going on in mainland Europe as the humanists challenged the absolute supremacy of the catholic church in all matters of faith, science and thought.
This created an atmosphere of correspondence between thinkers. These people did not play nicely.
Martin Luther was indeed a powerful thinker and went far beyond his first intention of correcting errors WITHIN the catholic church. He soon found himself OUTSIDE the church and spent his days defending and railing against his enemies. He really never intended for the Lutheran church to arise from his spiritual pain.
His detractors in Rome, London and throughout his native lands wrote many letters and pamphlets.
Erasmus was trying to hold things together in Europe and Thomas More was the core of intellectual expression and later repression and persecution in England. More would eventually aggravate Henry 8 and we know that was always prelude to losing one's head.
I was very surprised to learn that Luther was almost as vulgar as former president Nixon. Ugly language for such great, flawed men.
A catalyst between Europe and Great Britain was Hans Holbein.
He did great portraits of the rich and famous.
We have his pictures and many copies of his correspondence. He also served as a courier for many of the great and powerful.
He was one of the first artists to create miniature portraits for lockets and small frames.
He did survive a lot in his work, but was probably killed when the plague reached London.
www.vam.ac.uk - The Victoria and Albert Museum is resplendent with documents and dress from many periods of British history.
http://tudorhistory.org This site takes you through the lineage of the Tudor reign in Great Britain. There are many images, documents and articles.
www.holbeinartworks.org - You'll enjoy his work, especially how he learned to include secret images and codes into his pictures. This method was a popular way to poke fun and warn the powerful through art.
http://www.royal.gov.uk - How much more inside of the horse's mouth can you get?
Thanks to Vanora Bennett, author of Portrait Of An Unknown Woman. She how has 3 novels. She introduced me to a "new" OLD technique that I have been using for the last few weeks.
