Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
The 16th century and 17th century in Wales, as in the rest of Europe, were a period of great change. Politically, socially, and economically the foundations of modern Wales were laid at this time. In the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 Wales was annexed and integrated fully into the English kingdom, losing any vestiges of political or legal independence. The political-religious settlement of Elizabeth I through the 1559 Act of Uniformity made Wales in name a Protestant country only to be reinforced by developments during and after the English Civil War. This period also saw the beginnings of industries such as coal mining, metal-mining for lead and iron smelting, which led to the mass industrialisation of the following centuries.
Read more about this topic: Welsh-language Literature
Famous quotes containing the words sixteenth, seventeenth and/or centuries:
“April is in my mistress’ face,
And July in her eyes hath place,
Within her bosom is September,
But in her heart a cold December.”
—Unknown. Subject #4: July Subject #5: September Subject #6: December. All Seasons in One. . .
Oxford Book of Sixteenth Century Verse, The. E. K. Chambers, comp. (1932)
“Nothing in medieval dress distinguished the child from the adult. In the seventeenth century, however, the child, or at least the child of quality, whether noble or middle-class, ceased to be dressed like the grown-up. This is the essential point: henceforth he had an outfit reserved for his age group, which set him apart from the adults. These can be seen from the first glance at any of the numerous child portraits painted at the beginning of the seventeenth century.”
—Philippe Ariés (20th century)
“Three centuries of piety
Grown bare as a cottonwood tree ...”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)