The term ‘Renaissance’ means ‘a new birth’ or ‘rebirth’. The Renaissance is associated with a variety of areas – architecture, painting and the visual arts, and, of course, literature. However, the intellectual and cultural aspects of the 1485–1660 period, commonly considered the Renaissance period in English literature, has several social, economic and political contexts that are important to the study of Shakespeare, Milton, Donne and others.

In 1485, a new dynasty, the Tudors, came to power in England with Henry VII. The reign of Henry VIII, between 1509 and 1547, had a significant impact on the religious and social history of England. Worried that he may not have a son, Henry VIII married six times. Henry VIII had three children: Edward VI, Mary I and the most famous monarch of all, Elizabeth I. When the Pope refused him permission to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII decided that the church could not be allowed such powers over the monarch of England. He ended the role of the Catholic church and declared that the King would be the supreme political ruler of England as well as its spiritual leader. Henry VIII brought the church of England closer to Protestantism, which began with Martin Luther in 1517 in Germany. During the reign of his son Edward VI, Protestantism became the official religion of England.