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The beginning of this period
In this period happened a lot of changes between Puritanism and Enlightenment. One of the main ideas of this period was: "An intellectual movement whose participants reexamined all aspects of life in the light of reason." -
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What was Puritanism?
Puritanism was a radical form of Calvinistic Protestantism whose adherents acknowledged only the "pure" word of God as revealed in their interpretations of the Bible. Puritans also shared the central goal of purifying the church of England by eradicating the doctrines and rites that were retained from Catholicism. -
British Literature - Mr. John Milton published "Areopatigica"
Areopagitic was a speech written by Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing. "Milton argues that to mandate licensing is to follow the example of the detested papacy. He defends the free circulation of ideas as essential to moral and intellectual development. Furthermore, he asserts, to attempt to preclude falsehood is to underestimate the power of truth." by Encyclopedia Britannica -
The civil War
At the beginning of the war, the Royalist forces got some amazing victories. Those victories were gotten under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. Also, At the Battle of Naseby in June 1645 -
Important Event - George Fox founds Quakers
English preacher and missionary and founder of the Society of Friends (or Quakers); his personal religious experience made him hostile to church conventions and established his reliance on what he saw as inward light or God-given inspiration over scriptural authority or creeds. By Encyclopedia Britannica -
The Restoration
After ten years of stern Puritan rule, the re-establishment of the British monarchy under King Charles II was greeted with enthusiasm. British literary culture of the Restoration was marked by a witty, cynical tone and an emphasis on worldly values. -
Plague and Fire
Puritans got two disasters of plague and fire as a punishment from God for what they perceived to be the immorality and corruption of the age. -
Important Event - Sir Isaac Newton´s telescope
He came to the conclusion that white light is really a mixture of light of different colors. When light passes through a prism the different colors separate and are discernible. Newton thought that it would be impossible to get rid of chromatic aberration as long as lenses were used in telescopes. By Multiwavelength Astronomy -
British Literature - John Milton publishes "Paradise Lost"
The poem concerns the biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, as stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men." by Wikipedia -
Important Event - The King Charles named John Dryden as the first official poet laureate of England
John Dryden a young poet who had written a poem celebrating Cromwell´s greatness, also wrote poems celebrating the king´s return. -
Important Event - England and Scotland unite as Great Britain
By the two Acts, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland—which at the time were separate states with separate legislatures, but with the same monarch—were, in the words of the Treaty, "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". By Wikipedia -
British Literature - Daniel Defoe publishes "Robinson Crusoe"
"The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who Lived Eight and Twenty Years, All Alone in an Un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, Near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having Been Cast on Shore by Shipwreck, Wherein All the Men Perished but Himself. With an Account how he was at last as Strangely Deliver’d by Pyrates." by Encyclopedia Britannica -
The English Enlightenment & Neoclassiscism
Beginning in the late 16000s, weariness with extremism resulted in the Enlightenment, an intellectual movement that accepted reason as the supreme authority. In the eighteenth century, Neoclassicists sought to revive the literary principles of ancient Greece and Rome.
