Write an essay that analyzes the interaction between christianity, individualism and the growing secularism that began during the renaissance, and then set it within the story of henry viii’s radical break with the catholic church and how it changed politics and ecclesiology. where appropriate, discuss the picture of “the moneylender and his wife” in light of these ideas.

The early 1500s  saw the demise of feudalism and patronage shifted from super wealthy church to the merchant class.  Businessmen, tradesmen and prosperous women of the merchant class began collecting and commissioning works of art. These new patrons favored paintings that included a moralizing overtones,  domestic scenes, peasants at work and play, fantastical landscapes, dogs, cats, birds, children and household goods.

One of the major difference between Italian Renaissance and Northern Renaissance is that Northern painters were not particularly interested in decadent Greek and Roman influences, focusing more on domestic scenes, satire, and philosophical themes. The Italian Renaissance painters focused heavily on religion, Roman Catholicism. Popes and church hierarchy were wealthy, powerful rulers. Like kings they were depicted in elaborate settings swaddled in furs and silks. Humanism was  emerging, and religious devotion, though still an important part of people's lives, was being restructured to accommodate the belief that man can be master his own  fate.

they believed democracy was worth the fight