European History Flashcards

Flashcards for key terms and figures from a European History lecture.

Black Death

Devastating pandemic that swept through Europe in the 14th century.

Battle of Crécy

Important battle in the Hundred Years' War, significant for English longbowmen victory.

Battle of Agincourt

Another key English victory in the Hundred Years' War, famous for English archery.

Joan of Arc

French peasant girl who led the French army to victory in several battles during the Hundred Years' War.

Ottoman Empire

Powerful Turkish empire that expanded into Eastern Europe and threatened Christendom.

Janissaries

Elite infantry force of the Ottoman Empire, often recruited from Christian children.

Divine Comedy

Epic poem by Dante Alighieri, considered one of the greatest works of Italian literature.

Utopia

Ideal or imaginary place or state where everything is perfect.

Thomas More

English lawyer, social philosopher, and author who wrote 'Utopia'.

Dante Alighieri

Major Italian poet of the Middle Ages; author of the Divine Comedy.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who sponsored voyages of exploration along the African coast.

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer who sailed west across the Atlantic hoping to reach Asia, but instead landed in the Americas.

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese explorer; his expedition completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

Conquistador

Spanish conqueror, especially of Mexico and Peru, in the 16th century.

Hernan Cortez

Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire.

enclosure movement

The process of consolidating small landholdings into larger farms in England during the 18th century.

Pluralism

The holding of more than one church office or benefice at the same time.

Absenteeism

The failure of church officials to fulfill their duties or reside in their parishes.

Martin Luther

German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation.

Desiderius Erasmus

Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian.

Cuius regio, eius religio

Latin phrase meaning "Whose realm, his religion", meaning the religion of the ruler dictated the religion of the ruled.

Ulrich Zwingli

Leader of the Reformation in Switzerland.

Jean Calvin

French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation; developed Calvinism.

Ninety-five Theses

A list of propositions for debate concerned with the question of indulgences, written by Martin Luther in 1517.

Council of Trent

The formal Roman Catholic reply to the doctrinal challenges of the Protestant Reformation.

Society of Jesus

A Catholic religious order founded by Ignatius of Loyola, known as the Jesuits.

Henry VIII

King of England who broke with the Roman Catholic Church and established the Church of England.

Catherine of Aragon

First wife of Henry VIII; their divorce led to the English Reformation.

Anne Boleyn

Second wife of Henry VIII and Queen of England; her execution paved the way for Jane Seymour to become queen.

Jane Seymour

Third wife of Henry VIII and Queen of England; gave Henry his only legitimate son, Edward VI.

Catherine Howard

Fifth wife of Henry VIII and Queen of England; was beheaded for treason.

Catherine Parr

Sixth wife of Henry VIII and Queen of England; she outlived Henry.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish astronomer who proposed a heliocentric model of the universe.

Galileo Galilei

Italian astronomer and physicist; improved the telescope and supported the heliocentric theory.

Johannes Kepler

German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer; best known for his laws of planetary motion.

Isaac Newton

English physicist and mathematician; developed the laws of motion and universal gravitation.

Three Laws of Planetary Motion

Describe the motion of planets around the Sun.

Prince-elector

A prince of the Holy Roman Empire who was entitled to participate in the election of the emperor.

Reichsunmittelbarkeit

Imperial immediacy; status of entities within the Holy Roman Empire that were directly subordinate to the Emperor.

Reichstag

The legislative body of the Holy Roman Empire.

Golden Bull

Decree issued by Emperor Charles IV in 1356 to regulate the election of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Charles V

Holy Roman Emperor during the Reformation; opposed Martin Luther's teachings.

Habsburg

One of the most influential royal houses of Europe.

Winter King

Nickname for Frederick V, Elector Palatine, during the Thirty Years' War.

Frederick V

Elector Palatine who accepted the crown of Bohemia, triggering the Thirty Years' War.

Peace of Augsburg

Treaty that temporarily ended religious conflict in the Holy Roman Empire in 1555.

Donauwörth

City in Bavaria where religious tensions escalated, contributing to the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War.

Bohemian Revolt

Uprising of Bohemian Protestants against Habsburg rule, marking the beginning of the Thirty Years' War.

Defenestration of Prague

The throwing of officials from a castle window in Prague, an event that triggered the Bohemian Revolt.

Albrecht von Wallenstein

Bohemian military leader who fought for the Habsburgs during the Thirty Years' War.

Kipper and Vipper

A period of currency devaluation during the Thirty Years' War.

Gustavus Adolphus

King of Sweden who intervened in the Thirty Years' War on the Protestant side.

Peace of Westphalia

Series of peace treaties that ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648.

Treaty of Münster

Treaty between the Dutch Republic and Spain, part of the Peace of Westphalia.

Treaty of Osnabrück

Treaty signed as part of the Peace of Westphalia.