Merrie England (First Turning, 1594-1621) was an age of optimism and prosperity, full of dreams of empire yet tempered by a wariness of enemies abroad.  For the arts, this was the true English Renaissance—and for literature, the glorious “Age of Shakespeare.”  After succeeding Elizabeth in 1601, James I encouraged learning, exploration, and trade.  His elaborately polite relations with the Commons began to wear thin late in the second decade of his reign.

Reprisal entering elderhood

Elizabethans entering midlife

Parliamentarians entering young adulthood

Puritans entering childhood

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