AP World History: Unit 3 - Empires (Belief Systems and Comparisons)

A complete list of vocabulary terms and definitions grounded in the Unit 3 reading notes, focusing on belief systems, religious schisms, state centralization, and administrative structures across European and Asian empires between 1450 and 1750.

Henry IV (Henry of Navarre)

King of France (ruled 1589-1610) who converted to Catholicism in 1593 to solidify power and issued the Edict of Nantes to sanction religious toleration for Huguenots.

Huguenots

French Calvinists who were granted religious toleration under the Edict of Nantes in 1598.

Indulgences

Grants sold by the Roman Catholic Church that offered a person absolution from the punishments for sin.

Simony

The practice of selling church offices within the Roman Catholic Church.

95 Theses

A document nailed to a church door by Martin Luther in 1517 challenging Catholic Church practices, such as the sale of indulgences and simony.

Sola Fide

The theological stance advocated by Martin Luther meaning 'faith alone' as the basis of salvation for the Christian believer.

John Calvin

French theologian who broke with the Catholic Church around 1530, authored 'The Institutes of the Christian Religion' in 1536, and helped reform Geneva, Switzerland.

The Elect

In Calvinist theology, those predestined to go to heaven who ran the religious community in Geneva, Switzerland.

Protestant Work Ethic

A socioeconomic concept identified by Max Weber describing Calvinists' encouragement to work hard and reinvest profits as proof of God's favor.

Anglican Church

The Church of England established by King Henry VIII, free from the control of the pope in Rome.

Holy Synod

A governing body created by Peter the Great composed of clergymen overseen by a secular official answering to the tsar, replacing the Orthodox patriarch.

Counter-Reformation

A vigorous strategy undertaken by the Roman Catholic Church to fight Protestant attacks using the Inquisition, the Jesuits, and the Council of Trent.

Jesuits

Also known as the Society of Jesus, a religious order founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola that opposed Protestantism and undertook missionary activity worldwide.

Council of Trent

A Catholic council held from 1545 to 1563 that corrected Church abuses, reaffirmed sacraments, improved priest education, and published the Index of Prohibited Books.

Peace of Augsburg

A 1555 agreement resulting from conflict between Lutherans and the Holy Roman Empire that allowed each German state to choose whether its ruler would be Catholic or Lutheran.

Edict of Nantes

A 1598 decree issued by King Henry IV granting religious toleration to Huguenots in France for 87 years.

Peace of Westphalia

The 1648 settlement culminating the Thirty Years' War that allowed each area of the Holy Roman Empire to choose Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism.

Shariah

A strict Islamic legal system based on religious law that governs all aspects of life, including criminal justice, marital laws, and inheritance.

Sikhism

A monotheistic faith developing from Hinduism and influenced by Islamic Sufism that recognized the rights of other faiths to exist.

Din-i Ilahi

The 'divine faith' promoted by Mughal Emperor Akbar in an attempt to reconcile Hinduism and Islam.

Empiricism

An early scientific method developed by Francis Bacon in 1620 that insisted upon the collection of data to back up a hypothesis.

Janissaries

An elite group of Ottoman slave soldiers often recruited from Christian populations through the devshirme system.

Ghulams

Slave soldiers recruited from Georgian, Armenian, or Circassian populations to protect the Safavid shah from rival clans.

Devshirme

An Ottoman tribute system of taking Christian boys as a 'blood' tax to be trained as civil servants or Janissaries.

Tax Farming

An Ottoman taxation system where appointed individuals paid a fixed annual sum to the central government and recouped it by collecting money or goods from local residents.

Zamindars

Mughal tax officers appointed to collect land and production taxes from the peasant class.