Studied by 18 people
The Renaissance
"rebirth"; following the Middle Ages, a movement that centered on the revival of interest in the classical learning of Greece and Rome
What city was the center of the early Renaissance?
Florence (Firenze)
Republic
A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws. Common in Renaissance Italy.
Oligarchy
a small group of wealthy people having control of a country, organization, or institution. Common in Renaissance Italy, as in Venice.
Why was Italy the place where a "Renaissance" started in late medieval Europe.
The Roman legacy, and 2. Wealth from trade
What was different about the elites (nobles and the wealthy) in Renaissance Italy, compared to the rest of Europe?
They lived in cities, and were active in urban life.
The Medici
The leading family of Florence. Cosimo in particular was a leader in promoting the early Renaissance.
Brunelleschi
The architect, inspired by Classical designs, who designed the dome on the Florentine duomo (cathedral).
Humanism
an intellectual movement at the heart of the Renaissance that focused on education and the classics of ancient Greece and Rome.
What made Humanism so different from traditional Catholic thinking?
It promoted achievement in this world.
Vernacular
the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region. As opposed to Latin as a common language of the educated.
Ad fontes
"Back to the fountains." The Humanist focus on primary sources.
Petrarch
(1304-1374) Father of the Renaissance and "the First Humanist." He believed the first two centuries of the Roman Empire to represent the peak in the development of human civilization.
Castiglione
Wrote The Courtier which was about education and manners and had a great influence. It said that an upper class, educated man should know many academic subjects and should be trained in music, dance, and art.
Mirandola
Wrote Oration on the Dignity of Man, based on Greek philosophy (Plato), Jewish mysticism, and Christian theology, which said Humans could be whatever they wanted to be in this world (free will).
Savonarola
1452-1498 Franciscan friar in Florence who objected to many of the new attitudes in the Renaissance - saw them as satanical. Gained power in Florence in 1494 at a time of Medici weakness and used strict, puritanical rule. Overthrown in 1498 and burned at stake.
Bonfire of the Vanities
This was the notorious bonfire in Florence in 1497 in which supporters of Savonarola collected and burned thousands of paintings, books, and other temptations to sin.
The Sack of Rome 1527
A military event carried out by the mutinous troops of the Holy Roman Emperor looted Rome, then part of the Papal States. Seen as the end of the Renaissance by some historians.
Machiavelli
Renaissance writer; formerly a politician, wrote The Prince, a work on ethics and government.
How did Machiavelli view human nature in The Prince?
Humans are selfish and untrustworthy, and must be ruled by fear and manipulation.
What made Machiavelli's The Prince different from all earlier works on political power?
Machiavelli was scientific and said how things actually work. Earlier authors described "ideal" states, how things ought to be, not how they actually are.
What appears to be Machiavelli's real purpose in writing The Prince, if the last chapter is taken seriously?
Machiavelli wanted a strong leader to unify Italy and drive out foreign powers - to save the country (not just Florence).
Civic Humanism
an intellectual movement of the Italian Renaissance that looked to the Roman Republic as a model. The ideal held that humanists should be involved in government and use their rhetorical training in the service of the state.
Dowry
The property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage. Often required in Renaissance Italy for a woman to get married at all.
Artemesia Gentileschi
Italian Baroque painter, and one of the most significant female artists of any time period. She focused on topics of suffering and strength by females in the Bible and from mythology, most notably Judith Slaying Holofernes.
Perspective
Showing depth in a two dimensional painting. An example of the increasing scientific attitude of the Renaissance based on close observation of nature.
Portraiture
A painting or drawing of a person. It shows the increasing Renaissance focus on the individual person.
Raphael, School of Athens
The painting that showed the Renaissance saw itself as a rebirth of the Classical world and its values.
What was really considered the highest form of art during the Renaissance?
Poetry, because nobles and the upper class wrote poetry. Painting and sculpture were done by artisans who worked with their hands.
David, Michelangelo
The statue that personified the confidence of the High Renaissance. It's in Florence.
Patrons
A person who supports artists, especially financially. This was how artists in the Renaissance made a living. The Medici in Florence, and several of the popes, were important patrons of Renaissance art.
New Monarchs
European monarchs who created professional armies and a more centralized administrative bureaucracy.
The State
The institutions and practices of a government.
How were New Monarchs different than medieval monarchs?
Medieval monarchies were relatively weak and dominated by powerful nobles. New Monarchs reduced the power of nobles and created stronger states.
Parliaments
Also called Diets, Cortes, or Estates General. Meetings of leading nobles, clergy, and middle class representatives with monarchs to make new laws and raise taxes.
Divine Right
Belief that a ruler's authority comes directly from god.
Bureaucracy
A system of managing government through departments run by appointed officials
What group usually gave New Monarchs the most trouble and resistance?
The nobles who had their own armies and castles.
The Military Revolution
The introduction of disciplined infantry and gunpowder weapons that weakened nobles (knights) and increased royal power.
The Taille
A direct tax on land from which most French nobles were exempt. It was the most important source of French royal revenue.
Ferdinand II and Isabella I (Isabella la Catolica)
The monarchs whose marriage brought together Castile and Aragon in Spain.
The Cortes
The regional diets (parliaments) in Spain.
Reconquista
The effort by Christian leaders to drive the Muslims out of Spain, lasting from the 1100s until the conquest of Granada in 1492.
Conversos
Jews and Muslims who converted to Christianity, either willingly or unwillingly, following the Christian takeover of Spain
The Spanish Inquisition
A program ordered by the Spanish monarchy to investigate and eliminate heresy in the kingdom and enforce religious uniformity and unity.
Henry VII of England
Founder of the Tudor Dynasty, he emerged victorious in the War of the Roses, strengthened the monarchy, and weakened the nobility.
Justice of the Peace
Officials appointed to act as the judicial officer in a county, used by Henry VII to enforce royal power.
The gentry
Wealthy landowning class in England who were not nobles.
Court of Star Chamber
A judicial innovation of Henry VII of England, designed to curb the independence of the nobility, whereby criminal charges brought against the nobility were judged by a court of the king's own councilors (Privy Council).
The Holy Roman Empire
Loose federation of mostly German states and principalities, headed by an emperor elected by seven princes and bishops. It lasted from 962 to 1806.
The Habsburgs (Hapsburgs)
The dynasty, mostly based in Austria, who became the traditional choice for Holy Roman Emperor after Maximilian I.
Liberum Veto
Polish policy allowing any noble to veto the king's decision, leading to a weak monarchy unable to consolidate its authority over the nobility and eventual partition of Poland by Austria, Prussia, and Russia in the late 1700s
"Let others wage war: thou, happy Austria, marry"
The poem, almost like a motto, of the Habsburgs, who often expanded their power through strategic marriages.
The Edict of Expulsion - 1492
The order by Isabella of Castile ordering all Jews and Muslims to leave Castile, or convert to Catholicism.
Charles V
The Habsburg heir to much of Europe, who was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519. We'll see how well he does in future units.
Specie (Bullion)
Bullion refers to any precious metal in a form in which its primary value comes from the worth of the metal, not from an artificial currency value. Gold and silver were the most important in Early Modern Europe.
Early Portuguese Exploration
Portuguese explorers worked their way down the west coast of Africa, looking for access to African gold markets.
Luxury items from Asia
Spices (especially pepper), silk, porcelain
Conquistador
A Spanish conqueror of the Americas, often experienced soldiers who had fought against the Muslims in the Reconquista.
Prestor John
A mythical Christian monarch, possibly in Africa, who Portuguese explorers hoped to ally with.
Prince Henry the Navigator
This was the Portuguese Prince that gave financial and moral support to the navigators, showing the link between state and exploration.
Mercantilism
An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought. It also encouraged colonial expansion and exploitation.
What did mercantilists believe about the world's bullion supply?
Mercantilists believed the world's supply of bullion was fixed, and the only way to get more was through commerce or conquest.
Positive balance of trade
Or a trade surplus. When the value of goods a country sells is greater than the value of imports that come into the country. It increases your supply of cash, but also increases consumer prices.
Casa de Contratacion
Spanish Board of Trade operated out of Seville; regularized commerce with New World; supplied colonial provisions and helped administer the colonies. A good example of growing state bureaucracy.
What advantages did northwestern Europeans get from their ship designs?
The big, deep-water ships were good for long sailing voyages, and they could carry numerous cannon.
Square rigging
The rectangular sails used on large, ocean going European sailing ships.
Astrolabe
An instrument used by sailors to determine their location by observing the position of the stars and planets. It only works with latitude, not longitude.
Divide and Conquer Strategy
Creating divisions among possible opponents, often used by colonial conquerors. A good example is Cortes using Native American allies against the Aztecs.
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
An agreement between Portugal and Spain which declared that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal. It's why Brazil was Portuguese.
Encomienda
A grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas, including the right to use Native Americans as forced laborers on it. It lead to the creation of plantation agriculture in much of Spanish America.
Peninsulares
Spanish-born, came to Latin America; ruled, highest social class.
Creoles
In colonial Spanish America, term used to describe someone of European descent born in the New World. They were kept out of the top positions in the colonial government.
Mestizos
A person of mixed Native American and European ancestry in the Spanish colonies.
Casta system
A system in colonial Spain of determining a person's social importance according to different racial categories.
Triangular Trade
A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s. The triangle connected Europe, Africa, and the New World.
The Middle Passage
A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas under very harsh conditions. Most enslaved people went to Brazil and the Caribbean.
Bartolome de Las Casas
A former conquistador who became a priest (eventually a bishop in Mexico). He devoted most of his life to protecting Amerindian peoples from exploitation. His book "A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies" (1542) led to laws which limited the ability of Spanish settlers to compel Amerindians to labor.
Who sponsored Columbus's voyage?
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Especially Isabella. And Columbus claimed land in their name, not his. This is a good example of the state's role in exploration.
The Commercial Revolution
The expansion of the trade that transformed European economies, starting in the late Middle Ages. The shift from a feudal to a commercial economy.
Barter
An exchange of goods without the use money. Common in the Middle Ages
Major causes of the Commercial Revolution
Intensification of trade. 2. Increased availability of specie (bullion). 3. Growing population.
Potosi, Bolivia
During the period, 1500-1800, most of the world's silver was mined in Potosi, which was then part of the Spanish Empire.
The Price Revolution
The increase in prices (inflation), primarily in 16th century, due to increased demand for goods and the influx of gold and silver.
Effects of the Price Revolution
Pushed Europe toward a more fluid economy, less restricted by feudal laws and traditions.
The Columbian Exchange
The exchange of people, plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.
What states in Europe benefited most from the increase in global trade?
States on the Atlantic coast: Portugal, Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands primarily.
How did monarchs and states benefit from the trade?
Increased revenues from customs taxes, and increased bureaucratic control over the colonies and trade.
What types of cities had the highest rate of urbanization (growth)?
Capital cities first, also port cities on the Atlantic.
The Dutch Tulip Bubble (1637)
Speculation rises over tulips, and prices of bulbs subsequently rise to unimaginable prices, until their lack of intrinsic value is realized, leading in part to Dutch economic downturn.
Capitalism
An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
Joint Stock Company
A business, often backed by a government charter (monopoly), that sold shares to individuals to raise money for its trading enterprises and to spread the risks (and profits) among many investors.
The English and Dutch East India Companies
Early joint stock companies, which were government chartered monopolies that controlled their country's trade with Asia.
The Domestic System (Putting Out system)
A method of manufacturing in which an entrepreneur distributes raw materials to various homes, where families process them into finished goods. The main reason for this practice was to avoid the restrictions and high prices of the guilds in the cities.
Free Labor
Wage-paying for a job, which replaced complex feudal obligations between lord and peasant.
What class grew the most in size, wealth, and power during the Commercial Revolution.
The Middle Class or bourgeoisie.
Materialism
A tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as key measures of quality of life. An increasing value of the Middle Class.
The Dutch Golden Age
A period of Dutch History (late 1500s to 1600s) in which The Dutch Republic dominated world trade and used that wealth to become a major European center for arts and sciences.
The European Family Pattern
The nuclear family, with couples marrying later and having fewer children. Notable among the Middle Class, but not just found there.
Domesticity
A focus on a comfortable and safe home life. It made Middle Class women increasingly the homemaker.
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