Learn: Unit 4 Key Terms: Renaissance & Exploration

Patrons

Wealthy individuals who financially supported artists and writers during the Renaissance.

Humanism

An intellectual movement during the Renaissance that focused on human potential and achievements.

Tithe

A church tax, typically one-tenth of a person's produce or earnings.

Crusades

A series of medieval military expeditions made by Europeans to recover the Holy Land from Muslims.

Romanesque

An architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches, thick walls, and heavy piers.

Gothic

An architectural style of the Late Middle Ages featuring ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, and pointed arches.

Illuminated manuscripts

Books decorated with gold, silver, and vibrant colors, frequently created by medieval monks.

Feudalism

A political and social system in which lords granted land to vassals in exchange for loyalty and military service.

Johann Gutenberg

The German craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press in Europe.

Christian Humanism

A northern European movement combining humanist learning with the goal of reforming the Catholic Church.

Individualism

A belief in the importance of the individual and the value of personal achievement.

Indulgence

A pardon releasing a person from punishments due for sin, often sold by the Catholic Church.

Lutheranism

A major branch of Protestant Christianity based on the theological teachings of Martin Luther.

Protestant

A member of a Christian church founded on the principles of the Reformation, separate from the Catholic Church.

Renaissance

A period of European history lasting from about 1300 to 1600, marked by a revival of art and learning.

Reformation

A 16th-century movement for religious reform that led to the founding of new Christian churches.

Secular

Concerned with worldly rather than spiritual or religious matters.

Anglican

Relating to the Church of England, established in the 16th century by King Henry VIII.

Colony

A land controlled and settled by another, often distant, nation.

Columbian Exchange

The global transfer of foods, plants, animals, and diseases during the colonization of the Americas.

Conquistador

Spanish soldiers, explorers, and fortune hunters who took part in the conquest of the Americas.

Triangular Trade Route

A transatlantic trading network involving Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Middle Passage

The voyage that brought captured Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.

Encomienda System

A grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas, including the right to use Native Americans as forced labor.

Creole

A person of European descent born in the Americas.

Peninsulare

A person born in Spain who lived in the Spanish colonial territories.

Mestizo

A person of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.