英国文艺复兴
During the 15th century an intellectual movement called the Renaissance swept Western Europe. The word means “rebirth” and refers especially to the revival of ancient Greek learning. For centuries scholars in Italy, Spain, and elsewhere had been translating the ancient works into Latin. Printing from movable type, invented about 1450, provided the means for circulating the books widely. This spread of ancient learning kindled a new spirit of inquiry and hastened the overthrow of feudal institutions. (See also Renaissance.)
Some modern scholars have questioned whether a total rebirth of learning actually took place. There had been, for example, Latin scholars in the earlier medieval period. It is certain, however, that something did happen in the course of the 15th century that changed the history of Western civilization and the set of people's minds.
For England, the year 1485 is a convenient date for marking this change from medievalism. In that year two significant events took place: the Wars of the Roses ended on Bosworth Field and William Caxton printed Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
The printing of Le Morte d'Arthur was a radical departure from the past. Before Caxton established his first press in England, Johann Gutenberg and his partners had printed the Bible, in about 1455, in Germany, and printers were at work in several other European countries before the end of the 15th century. Caxton, however, turned to his native language rather than to Latin for his text. His first printed book was The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (1475), which he translated.