This course will study the literature of the English Renaissance in relationship to the cultural and intellectual movements of 16th century Europe. It aims to offer a survey of the major authors (Wyatt, Sidney, Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare), texts, and genres of this dynamic period. We will focus on the literary, intellectual, religious, and cultural contexts which English Renaissance authors aspired imitate and transform, including Petrarchan love lyric, Renaissance humanism, Protestant religious reform, and the discovery of the New World.