AP European History Unit 2: Age of Reformation

Catherine De Medici

Italian noblewoman, queen consort of France, and mother of three French kings (Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III) who effectively governed as regent and political power during the French Wars of Religion.

Herny of Navarre

Henry of Navarre (later King Henry IV of France) is the first Bourbon king of France (r. 1589–1610).

St. Bartholomew’s Day Masacre

a targeted wave of Catholic mob violence and assassinations directed against French Calvinists (Huguenots) during the French Wars of Religion.

Henry lll

King Henry III of France (reigned 1574–1589) was the last Valois monarch and a central figure in Unit 2 (Age of Reformation) of AP European History, specifically within the French Wars of Religion and the War of the Three Henrys.

War of the Three Henrys

The War of the Three Henrys (1585–1589) was the final, decisive conflict of the French Wars of Religion, fought as a three-way power struggle for control of the French throne.

Henry lV

Henry IV (also known as Henry of Navarre) is a key figure in AP European History Unit 2 (Age of Reformation) who exemplifies politique leadership—prioritizing national stability and political unity over personal religious dogma.

Edict of Nates

The Edict of Nantes (1598) is a landmark royal decree issued by King Henry IV of France that ended the French Wars of Religion.

Religious Pluralism

the historical condition and gradual shift in which multiple religious faiths—such as Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism—coexisted within European society or individual states, either as competing systems or through official toleration.

Charles V

was the Habsburg King of Spain (as Charles I) and Holy Roman Emperor who tried and failed to preserve Catholic unity and crush the Protestant Reformation in Europe.

Ottoman Empire

a multiethnic, Sunni Islamic land-based empire centered in Turkey (1299–1922) that served as a major military, political, and economic rival to European powers.

Thirty Years War

a massive continental conflict in AP European History (Unit 2: Age of Reformation) that began as a religious and constitutional crisis within the Holy Roman Empire and evolved into a political power struggle.

Cardinal Richelieu

was the chief minister to King Louis XIII of France from 1624 to 1642 who laid the foundation for French royal absolutism and prioritized state power over religious unity.

Peace of Westphalia

the collection of treaties signed in Münster and Osnabrück that ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic

Primogeniture

the legal and traditional practice where a family's entire estate, titles, and wealth are inherited exclusively by the eldest son.

House of Lords

the upper house of the English/British Parliament, traditionally reserved for the nobility (aristocracy) and high-ranking clergy (bishops).

House of Commons

the elected lower chamber of the English Parliament.

Dowry

money, goods, property, or wealth that a bride's family transfers to the groom or his family upon marriage.

Penance

one of the seven Catholic sacraments in which a believer confesses their sins to a priest, receives absolution, and performs assigned acts or prayers to make satisfaction for temporal punishment.

Blood Sports

popular communal leisure activities—most common among the lower classes—that involved inflicting intentional violence, cruelty, and bloodshed on animals as a form of public entertainment.

Charivari

a noisy, informal public ritual of shaming and mockery used by local communities to enforce social and moral norms.

Pillory

a wooden or metal framework with holes for a person's head and hands, used during the medieval and early modern periods for public corporal punishment and humiliation.

Pranger

a historical German and Central European device of public punishment and humiliation, similar to the stocks or pillory.

Maleficium

harmful, evil magic that people in early modern Europe blamed for personal and community tragedies like sudden illnesses, crop failures, livestock deaths, or bad weather.

Mannerism

a late Renaissance art movement (roughly 1520s to early 1600s) that deliberately rejected the balanced harmony, proportion, and naturalism of the High Renaissance.

Baroque

a dramatic, ornate art and architectural style that emerged around 1600 in Rome and lasted until roughly 1750. It was heavily promoted by the Catholic Church during the Counter-Reformation (and later by absolute monarchs) to evoke awe, emotional intensity, and religious devotion.