The Age of Discovery began in the 15th century and continued on through the 16th and 17th centuries.
During the late 16th (Shakespeare’s time) and 17th centuries, England, France and the Dutch Republic established their own overseas empires, in direct competition with each other. These nations were able to grow and reach a new level of prosperity by 'harvesting' (exploiting) the resources of the lands they conquered. The Age of Discovery resulted in a range of new challenges for society and government. The physical discovery of new lands gave birth to the discovery of aspects of the human condition, morality, etc. The concept of Renaissance humanism (rediscovering the value of classical humanist values) were re-emerging and composers like Shakespeare were critiquing these popular ideas. Renaissance humanism
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Written in 1580, Michel de Montaigne's essay, On Cannibals or Of Cannibals is an essay describing the ceremonies of the Tupinamba people in Brazil. In particular, he reported about how the group ceremoniously ate the bodies of their dead enemies as a matter of honor. In his work, he uses cultural relativism and compares the cannibalism to the "barbarianism" of 16th-century Europe.[
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Focus Questions.
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