Edmund Spenser Research Paper

The "dark" Middle Ages were followed by a time known in art and literature as the Renaissance. The word "renaissance" means "rebirth" in French and was used to denote a phaze in the cultural development of Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries.
The wave of progress reached the shores of England only in the 16th century. The ideas of the Renaissance came to England together with the ideas of the Reformation (the establishment of the national Church) and were called the "New Learning". Every year numbers of new books were brought out, and these books were sold openly, but few people could read and enjoy them. The universities were lacking in teachers to spread the ideas of modern thought. So, many English scholars began to go to Italy,
Though his parents descended from a noble House, the family was poor. His father was a free journeyman for a merchant's company. When Edmund came of age he entered the University of Cambridge as a "sizar" (a student who paid less for his education than others and had to wait on (to serve) the wealthier students at mealtimes).
Spenser was learned in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and French. His generation was one of the first to study also their mother tongue seriously. While at college, he acted in the tragedies of the ancient masters and this inspired him to write poetry. Spenser began his literary work at the age of seventeen. Once a fellow-student introduced him to the famous Sir Philip Sidney, who encouraged him to write (Sidney was the author of an allegorical romance in prose called "Arcadia" that had become very popular as light reading among the court-ladies of Queen Elizabeth). At the age of twenty-three, Spenser took his M.A. (Master of Arts)
Soft woodlands stretched towards mountain ranges in the distance. The beauty of his surroundings inspired Spenser to write his great epic poem the "Faerie Queen" ("Fairy Queen"), in which Queen Elizabeth is idealised.
Sir Walter Raleigh who was captain of the Queen's guard, came to visit Spenser at Kilcolman. He was greatly delighted with the poem, and Spenser decided to publish the first three parts. Raleigh and Spenser returned to England together. At court Spenser presented his "simple song" to the Queen. It was published in 1591. The success of the poem was great. The Queen rewarded him with a pension of 50 pounds, but his position remained unchanged. Poetry was regarded as a noble pastime but not a profession; and Edmund Spenser had to go back to Ireland.
The end of his life was sorrowful. When the next rebellion broke out, the insurgents attacked the castle so suddenly and so furiously that Spenser and his wife and children had to flee for their lives. Their youngest child was burnt to death in the blazing ruins of the castle. Ruined and heart-broken Spenser went to England and there he died in a London tavern three months later, in