A.P. Euro Unit 1 Anchor Quiz

Humanism

Cultural movement that revived classical Greek and Roman ideas and focused on human experiences, achievements, education, and potential.

Secularism

A shift toward worldly, non-religious topics such as science, politics, philosophy, art, and literature. It did NOT necessarily mean rejecting religion.

Civic Humanism

Renaissance humanism focused on active participation in government, civic responsibility, and promoting the common good. Connected to political science.

Individualism

Renaissance emphasis on the unique potential, worth, talents, achievements, and independence of the individual rather than mainly the Church or community.

Nepotism

Favoring relatives when giving positions of power, wealth, or influence, especially in the Church or government, regardless of qualifications.

New Monarchies

Centralized European states where kings and queens strengthened royal power while weakening nobles, feudal lords, and other traditional powers.

Printing Press

Gutenberg's movable-type invention that allowed texts to be produced quickly and cheaply, spreading knowledge, Renaissance ideas, humanism, and classical learning.

The Prince

Machiavelli's work explaining how rulers can gain and maintain power. Leaders may need deception or manipulation and should prioritize stability and power over traditional morality. 'The ends justify the means.'

Columbian Exchange

Exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and goods between Europe and the Americas after Columbus. New crops improved European diets, European animals changed American life, and diseases like smallpox killed millions of Indigenous people.

Mercantilism

Economic system aimed at increasing national wealth by exporting more than importing and accumulating gold and silver. Colonies supplied raw materials and bought manufactured goods.

Price Revolution

Rapid European inflation during the 1500s and early 1600s, largely caused by increased New World silver. Higher prices hurt wage earners but benefited many merchants and landowners.

Joint-Stock Company

Business where investors pooled money to fund expensive ventures such as overseas trade and colonization and shared the profits or losses.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Agreement between Spain and Portugal, mediated by the Pope, dividing overseas territories. Spain received most of the Americas while Portugal gained claims in Africa, Asia, and Brazil.

Triangular Trade

Trade network connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas through goods, enslaved people, and raw materials. It became a major part of the Atlantic economy and caused massive suffering and displacement in Africa.

3 G's - God, Glory, Gold

The three major motivations for European exploration and colonization: spreading Christianity, gaining national power/prestige, and acquiring wealth.

Niccolò Machiavelli

Italian Renaissance political thinker and author of The Prince. Known for a practical approach to politics focused on power, effectiveness, and maintaining the state rather than strict morality.

Desiderius Erasmus

Dutch Northern Renaissance scholar and Christian humanist who wanted to reform the Church by returning to Christ's original teachings and classical texts. Influenced the Reformation but did not want to leave the Church.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who sponsored voyages along the west coast of Africa and helped lay the foundation for Portuguese overseas exploration.

Francesco Petrarch

Early Italian humanist known as the 'Father of Humanism.' Revived classical Latin texts and used classical learning to study human nature and morality.

Leonardo da Vinci

Renaissance polymath and 'universal genius' who worked in painting, sculpture, engineering, anatomy, architecture, and science. Represented the Renaissance combination of art, science, curiosity, and individual achievement.

Papal Division

The Pope's division of newly explored territories between Spain and Portugal.

Encomienda System

Spanish colonial system involving control over Indigenous labor. It was later restricted/replaced as Spain increased direct royal control through viceroys.

Viceroy

A royal official who governed a colony or territory on behalf of the Spanish monarch.

New Laws

Spanish laws that banned Indigenous slavery and attempted to limit abuses of Indigenous people.

Peace of Lodi

Peace agreement that brought Milan and Naples into a stable alliance with Florence and helped create political balance among major Italian states.

Book of the Courtier

Renaissance work describing the qualities and behavior expected of the ideal educated and cultured courtier.

Fall of Constantinople

Fall of the Byzantine capital Constantinople, an important event connected to changes in European trade and the movement of classical knowledge into Western Europe.

Renaissance

Cultural and intellectual movement that revived classical Greek and Roman learning and emphasized humanism, individual achievement, art, learning, and new ways of thinking.

Gutenberg Printing Press (Date)

1440

Papal Division vs. Treaty of Tordesillas (Dates)

1493 - 1494

The Prince (Date)

1513

The Book of the Courtier (Date)

1528

Encomienda system replaced by viceroys (Date)

1542

New Laws (Date)

1542 (indigenous people cannot be slaves).

Oration of the dignity of man

1486