Protestant Reformation Vocabulary

A comprehensive vocabulary review of key terms, historical figures, and events of the Protestant Reformation based on the lecture study guide.

Protestant

A Christian who protested or broke away from the Catholic Church.

Reformation

A movement to reform or change the Catholic Church.

Dissenter

Someone who disagrees with accepted beliefs or rules.

Vernacular

Everyday language spoken by ordinary people.

Doctrine

Official religious teachings or beliefs.

Indulgence

Payment connected to reducing spiritual punishment for sin.

Usury

Lending money while charging very high interest.

Salvation

Being saved from sin and receiving eternal life with God.

Excommunication

Being officially removed or cut off from the Church.

Annul

Declare a marriage invalid from the beginning.

Predestination

Calvin's belief that God already decided who would be saved.

Theocracy

Government strongly controlled by religious leaders/laws.

John Wycliffe

English dissenter who advocated for a vernacular Bible and the Bible as the highest religious authority; died naturally before his body was later exhumed and burned.

Jan Hus

Czech reformer influenced by John Wycliffe who criticized Church doctrine and practices, and was burned at the stake in 1415.

Heretic

Someone the Church says teaches beliefs against official doctrine.

Monk

A man who dedicates his life to religion, prayer, and discipline.

Martin Luther

German monk who broke with the Church over indulgences, taught that faith alone leads to salvation, and identified the Bible as the ultimate religious authority.

95 Theses

Luther's list criticizing Church practices, especially indulgences, traditionally posted on the Wittenberg church door in 1517.

Recant

To take back one's ideas and stop teaching them.

Printing Press

Invention that spread Luther's ideas quickly across Europe.

John Calvin

Protestant reformer based in Geneva, Switzerland whose key belief was predestination and who established a theocracy.

Presbyterian Church

Church denomination linked to Calvinism.

English Reformation

England's break from the Catholic Church and the formation of the Church of England.

Henry VIII

King of England who had six wives, broke with Rome after an annulment conflict, and seized Catholic Church lands and wealth.

Catherine of Aragon

Henry VIII's first wife and mother of Mary I.

Anne Boleyn

Mother of Elizabeth I and wife of Henry VIII.

Jane Seymour

Mother of Edward VI and wife of Henry VIII.

Act of Supremacy

1534 law making Henry VIII head of the Church of England.

Edward VI

Protestant ruler who was the 1st of Henry VIII's three children to rule; son of Jane Seymour.

Mary I

Catholic monarch who was the 2nd of Henry VIII's children to rule; daughter of Catherine of Aragon.

Elizabeth I

Protestant monarch known as the Virgin Queen, daughter of Anne Boleyn, who took the throne in 1558 and ruled for almost 45 years.

Elizabethan Golden Age

Period characterized by Shakespeare, victory over the Spanish Armada, and England becoming a world power.

Spanish Armada

Major Spanish fleet defeated by England under Elizabeth I.

Elizabethan Religious Settlement

Protestant Church of England combined with an effort to reduce religious conflict.

Virginia

American region named in honor of the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I.

Reformation Chain of Events

Church power -> dissenters -> Luther -> printing press -> Protestant growth.