What we normally refer to as the Renaissance in Western European history marks a break or transition from the Medieval period and leads toward our modern era. The Renaissance embraces a series of religious, economic, and political changes which ripple into areas of science, literature, and philosophy.  Naturally one does not see these changes along clearly demarcated lines, but  looking at the period as a whole, we are aware of a climate or culture which has, if not promoted change, at least tolerated it.

In Shakespeare's time some of the changes had already taken place and he was feeling their effects; others were actually taking place during his lifetime and still others were yet to come.  For instance, the great religious upheaval,  the Protestant Reformation, had occurred well before Shakespeare was born when first in 1517 Martin Luther in Wittenberg, Germany declared his independence from the Catholic Church, and later in 1536 when Henry VIII declared England's independence from Rome.  In his plays, Shakespeare has little to say about religion, but this in itself is notable. Had he been writing 100 years earlier, it is barely conceivable that his work would not have strong traditional Christian overtones.  Perhaps because there was so much religious ferment in Europe that had resulted in extraordinary persecution and bloodshed on all sides, Shakespeare opted, like his contemporary, Montaigne, in France, to stay out of the controversy not taking dogmatic positions on religious issues.  Shakespeare does in Twelfth Night, poke fun at the growing puritan movement in England. Likewise in Loves's Labour's Lost and Measure for Measure, he finds newly reformed individuals who have "seen the light" a source of great humor.   However, Shakespeare's themes and indeed the existence of his plays may have more to do with economic change than religious upheaval....