Inglese The Early Stuarts

JAMES I
James I succeeded Elizabeth to the throne, becoming the first Stuart king of England. His accession
was welcome as he was protestant, but he ignored the Parliament and based his rule on the theory of
the divine right of Kings.
He believed that he was the representative of God on earth. He joined Scotland to England and
Wales and he introduced the flag called The Union jack.
He settled in London where he built the Queens house at Greenwich. He also took under the royal
patronage Shakespeare's company.
GUNPOWDER PLOT
In 1604 the king met the representatives of the bishops and the puritans to try to solve the conflict
between them. They agreed about baptism, ordination, and the civil role of the Church.
The Catholics had been excluded from Hampton Court so they organised the Gunpowder Plot to
blow up Parliament on 5th November 1605. The conspiracy was found out and the plotters were
executed. The government did not start the persecution against the Catholics but encouraged public
celebration at the failure of the plot. This became an annual event as Bonfire Night every 5th
November. So many Catholics emigrated to the New World, for example there was the Mayflower
that founded Plymouth in Massachusetts.
CHARLES I
Charles became king in 1625 and he ruled like his father: he avoided Parliament because he
believed that he was king by divine right. The Parliament went against him and wrote the Petition of
Rights. In 1635 the king extended the Ship money. As he needed money to pay the war against
Scotland, he was forced to summon the so-called Short Parliament which refused to give him the
money. So the Long Parliament was elected and it worked to reduced the king powers.
The king raised an army of royalist and declared war.
THE TWO PARTIES
The Civil war was between the Royalists that supported the king and the Parliamentarians made up
by merchants, artisans and the small gentry. Their army was called New Model Army and it was
stronger because it was made up of professional soldiers. The commander was called Oliver
Cromwell. Charles I was captured in 1648 and was brought to London where he was condemned to
death.
THE COMMONWEALTH
After the world the monarchy was abolished and the Commonwealth was declared and Cromwell
took the power. He divided the country into eleven military regions and he introduced Puritans rules
that banned Christmas and Easter. In 1651 Parliament had passed the Navigation Act giving a sort
of monopoly of trade to British ships.
Cromwell died in 1658 but his son wasn't as good as him so the army decided to restore the
monarchy and Charles II became the king.
METAPHYSICAL POETRY
Metaphysical means after physical so poets wrote about supernatural events. They wrote during the
17th century which was important for the Religious Reformation the Civil War and the Colonization.
All along the 18th century metaphysical poetry was almost forgotten: it was appreciated again in 20th
century. The main features were: the passive recipient, the analogy, the paradox, the irony, non
construction structure, hyperbole.
The rhythm was more rough and the language used was the spoken one. Metaphysical poems
usually start in medias res and they developed like a dramatic monologue.
The key concepts were the metaphysical concise (unusual metaphors), conflict (transcendent against
transient) and meditation.
The therm metaphysical was coined by Johnson who was a famous essayist and he was the one who
first published the English dictionary. He used the world metaphysical in a negative way because he
thought that authors wanted only to show off.
JOHN DONNE
John Donne was born in London in 1572 to a wealthy Catholic family but later converted to
Anglicanism.
He studied at Oxford while he was there he wrote love lyrics Songs and Sonnets which where very
appreciated by his friends. In 1589 he was appointed private secretary to Sit Thomas Egerton. His
political carrier would have been successful but he was ruined by his secret marriage with Ann
More.
In 1611 he took part in some diplomatic mission around Europe. His wife gave life to 12 children
but 5 of them died at birth. During these years he wrote the Divine Poems. In 1615 he became a
preacher and 6 years after he was dean of St Paul's Cathedral. After his wife's death he wrote the
Holy Sonnets. He died in 1631.

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JAMES I

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