ABSTRACT
Renaissance (literally ‘re-birth’) refers to the time (and spirit) of the great revival of art, literature and learning in Europe beginning in the fourteenth century and extending to the seventeenth century. This revival entailed the rediscovery of the Greek and Latin classical texts which had been forgotten in Western Europe but had survived–partly in their original forms, partly in translation–in the Byzantine (Constantinople, Mount Athos) as well as Arab (Alexandria, Cairo) empires. The term ‘sacrament’ is derived from the Latin word sacramentum, which means ‘oath’ or ‘sacred act’. Primarily, it is a visible sign of inward grace. Every sacrament consists of the following elements: the outward sign, the inward grace and the divine institution. In many parts of the Isles, however, consolidating Tudor authority meant establishing it in the first place.
