13) Period of Renaissance in the history of g.B. Define the basic features of the English “New Learning”

The 15 century was not a great literature age in England. This was true of Italy where the Renaissance had already begun. It means rebirth of learning and it covered all aspects of culture life of the country. R. came late to Eng. due to some reasons: 1) the country is cut off from the continent.2) Eng. was too deeply involved in the Civil War of Roses. Only when the I Tudor monarch came to power the Eng. R. began to be felt. The greater man of the early R. was Sir Tomas Mor (1478-1535) He was a statesman, scholar and a saint. He was the head of H. of Commons, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancastria and a politician. At that time a chance to study was given to more people than it had been before. Children begun to get elementary education, the Bible was translated into English. In poetry they were some changes. A group of poets: Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), Earl of Surrey (1570-1547). These poets first tried to compose English sonnets. But their sonnets were just imitation of Greek poets. They also tried the blank worse. The period of Renaissance was the continuation of reform, brought by Henry the 8^th. The Renaissance affected not only the life of the country, but of people & their morality.

In the history of ideas the New Learning in Europe is a term for Renaissance humanism, developed in the later fifteenth century. Newly retrieved classical texts sparked philological study of a refined and classical Latin style in prose and poetry.

The term came to refer to other trends, one being the new formulation of the relationship between the Church and the individual arising from the Protestant Revolution.[citation needed] Contemporaries noticed this: Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk lamented "It was merry in England afore the new learning came up", in relation to reading the Bible.

An earlier 'new learning' had a similar cause, two centuries earlier. In that case it was new texts of Aristotle that were discovered, with a major impact on scholasticism. A later phase of the New Learning of the Renaissance concerned the beginnings of modern scientific thought. Here Francis Bacon is pointed to as an important reference point and catalyst.

14) Geographical position of Northern Ireland.

It occupies the north east part of the Ireland. Its territory is 14000 sq.km. The population is 2 mln. people, the capital is Belfast. Its geographical position is not favorable as of the Ireland of G.B. In fact it can be reached only by the Irish Sea.

There are two distinct political units:

• The Republic of Ireland, which is independed of the Commonwealth. Eire is the name of the country and Irish is the official language in addition to English.

• Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, sends 12 members of Parliament to Westminster.

The two countries have been developed by man in different ways, so the occupations of their peoples must be considered separately.

Ireland is the western most part of the British Isles. It is situated on that side of the British Isles away from the trade routes with Europe. In fact, its main links are across the Irish Sea with Great Britain. In its relief and the structure of its rocks another type of link exists between Great Britain and Ireland. The relief of Ireland is represented with its low lying Central Plain surrounded by a rim of highlands. The highlands are found in two main areas. The geology of these mountainous areas gives evidence that at some time Great Britain and Ireland were joined. The old resistant rocks of the Highlands of Scotland are similar to those in the mountains of Donegal and some others. These rocks are of the older Paleozoic age.

The climate of Ireland has some features that have an important influence on agriculture. It is very humid and the rainfall is generally high. Ireland’s climate is the most equable in the British Isles. The mild climate enables plants to grow all the year round, especially in the south and west, but the high rainfall and cool summers prevent many crops from ripening. Grasses grow well in these conditions and this has earned Ireland the name Emerald Isle.