SOURCE: "Book II: The Renaissance—The Pagan Renaissance," in History of English Literature, Henry Holt and Company, 1889, pp. 227-49.
Below, Taine attributes the flourishing of Renaissance thought and art in England to English peace and prosperity, the demise of feudalism, and the release from the domination of the Catholic Church. Taine argues that the spirit of cultural renewal pervaded all social strata and fostered artistic and literary interest in Greek and Roman culture.
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