ENGLISH LITERATURE

• New learning: intellectual movement in Europe during the Renaissance that emphasized the rediscovery and the study of classical Greek and Latin texts, along with the Bible, in their original languages
• Humanism: intellectual movement in Europe which placed human beings and their potential at the center of attention. Humanists believed in the importance of reason, individuality, and ethics, drawing inspiration from the classical world's focus on human potential
• Renaissance: period of cultural rebirth in Europe that marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity. It roughly spanned the 14th to 17th centuries
• Secularism: the belief that religion should not be involved with the ordinary social and political activities of a country.

  It promoted:

  • Less focus on religious matters
  • More focus on here and now
• Great Chain of Being: conception of the universe derived from Plato and Aristotle.

  It describes the universe as a giant hierarchy, with everything in existence occupying a specific place on the chain.
• The Great Chain of Being provided a framework for understanding the universe and humanity's place within it. It emphasized order, purpose, and God's role as the creator and ultimate authority.
• The concept has been criticized for being too rigid and not reflecting the natural world's complexity. The rise of science and evolutionary theory in the 18th and 19th centuries challenged the idea of a fixed hierarchy and introduced the concept of change and development in nature.
• The divine right of kings is a political and religious doctrine that justifies a monarch's absolute power.

  Kings derive their authority to rule directly from God, not from any earthly power like a parliament or the people.