Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/605

 ENGLISH RENAISSANCE. 547 the great war at the end of the eighteenth, and beginning of the nineteenth century, certainly coincided with the worst phase of Enghsh architecture. ii. Geological.-^Refer to page 278. In the increase of population and cultivation of the land, the forests of Lancashire, Cheshire, Shropshire, and Herefordshire were reduced, and wood had been gradually disused as an external building material, so that the timber architecture of the mediaeval period had died out. In London, the introduction by Inigo Jones of Portland stone, a material very similar in weathering and effect to that used in the Renaissance palaces of Venice, had its influence. The use of brick received a great impetus after the Fire of London, and was again brought into prominence on the introduction of the Dutch fashion, and thus " Flemish " bond, as a technical term, has its significance. Terra - cotta for ornamental details was introduced by the Italian craftsmen of Henry VIII., as in the busts of Emperors at Hampton Court by Giovanni da Majano, the tomb in the Rolls Chapel (a.d. 1516) by Torrigiano, and at Layer Marney, Essex (1500-1525). iii. Climate. — A great increase of warmth was found necessary as greater comfort was demanded, and the opening out of the great coal industry, by cheapening fuel, led to each room having a fire- place, and incidentally, to other features that did not complicate the architecture of the earlier periods. _iv. Religion. — In the early part of the sixteenth century a stir in religious matters took place in Western Europe, partly on account of abuses having crept into the Church, which the Popes failed to rectify, and also because the authority of the Pope was increasingly felt to be irksome. The suppression of the monasteries (1536-1540) caused the diffusion of vast sums of money and land, which Henry VIII. distributed freely among his courtiers. Monasteries either fell into ruin or were converted into cathedral churches on the monastic foundation. Others were cleared away for the erection of houses according to the new style, the funds for which enterprises proceeded from the newly seized revenues. The Act of Supremacy, 1559, settled the relation of the English Church to the power of the Crown. V. Social and Political. — The historical and other events which paved the way for the introduction of the Renaissance into England were many and significant, and some of these have been dealt with (pages 283, 356, 438). The following also aided the movement : — The Wars of the Roses (1455- 1485) caused a terrible destruc- tion of life, eighty princes of the blood being slain, while the ancient nobility was almost entirely annihilated, resulting in a N N 2