By the 16th century allegory was firmly linked to what is known as the Elizabethan world picture, taken from Ptolemy and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. This theory postulates the existence of three worlds: (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ; c. ... Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, also known as pseudo-Denys, is the name scholars have given to an anonymous theologian and philosopher of the 5th century, who wrote a collection of books, the Corpus Areopagiticum, falsely ascribed to the Dionysius mentioned in Acts 17:34. ...

• The sublunary world we live in, subject to change.
• The celestial world, the world of the planets and stars, unchanging.
• The supercelestial world, where angels and the Godhead are.

Pico della Mirandola discusses the interrelations between these three worlds in the introduction to his Heptaplus: 'For euen as the...three worlds being girt and buckled with the bands of concord doe by reciprocall libertie, interchange their natures; the like do they also by their appellations. And this is the principle from whence springeth & groweth the discipline of allegoricall sense' (translated by Pierre de la Primaudaye in The French Academie, London, 1618, p. 671). In Christianity, the Godhead is a unit consisting of God the Father, Jesus Christ (the Son), and the Holy Spirit. ... Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (February 24, 1463 – November 17, 1494) was an Italian Renaissance humanist philosopher and scholar. ...

The most famous example of an allegorical work from the Renaissance is probably Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene. In book 4 Agape has three sons, Priamond (from one), Diamond (from two), and Telamond (from téleios, perfect, but emended by Jortin to Triamond in his 1734 edition). The three sons correspond to the three worlds, born of love. Cambell's battle with the three sons is an allegory of "man's battle with the three worlds to find his place in the universe, to establish harmony in God's creation, and ultimately to achieve salvation"^[1] . Furthermore, since any triad may be an analogue of anohter, the three brother could also be an allegory of the three world of man's soul, the vegetative, the sensitive, and the angelic"^[2]. Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (c. ... Una and the Lion by Briton Rivière The Faerie Queene is an epic poem by Edmund Spenser, first published in 1590 (the first half) with the more or less complete version being published in 1596. ... AgapÄ“ (written αγάπη in the Greek alphabet, and pronounced or ), is one of several Greek words meaning love. ... Events January 8 - Premiere of George Frideric Handels opera Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. ...

The theory of allegory is also discussed in Sir John Harington's Apology for Poetry (included in his translation of Ariosto's Orlando furioso, 1591). Sir John Harington, 2nd Baron Harington of Exton Sir John Harington (1561 - November 20, 1612) was known as Queen Elizabeth Is saucy Godson. He was born in Kelston, Somerset, England. ... Ludovico Ariosto (September 8, 1474 _ July 6, 1533) was a Ferrarese poet, author of the epic poem Orlando furioso (1516), Orlando Enraged. He was born at Reggio, in Hungary in 1518, and wished Aniosto to accompany him. ... Ruggiero Rescuing Angelica by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Orlando Furioso is an epic poem written by Ludovico Ariosto in 1516. ... Events June - Capture of Zutphen by the Dutch under Maurice of Nassau. ...

Notes

1. ^ Thomas P. Roche: The Kindly Frame, 1964, excerpted in Paul. J. Alpers (ed): Elizabethan Poetry. Modern Essays in Criticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967: 418
2. ^ Thomas P. Roche: The Kindly Frame, 1964, excerpted in Paul. J. Alpers (ed): Elizabethan Poetry. Modern Essays in Criticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967: 418

See also

• Allegory
• Allegory in the Middle Ages