Pre-Renaissance and Renaissance Vocabulary Review

A comprehensive vocabulary set covering key terms, historical figures, and philosophical movements from Ancient Greece through the Italian and Northern Renaissance.

Athenian Democracy

The first democratic voting system created in Athens during the 5th Century B.C., requiring all adult males to participate in government function.

Hellenistic Period

The era from 323-30 B.C. following Alexander the Great's conquests, characterized by the spread and unification of Greek culture in philosophy, literature, and art across the Mediterranean.

Pax Romana

An era of peace instituted by Augustus Caesar (Octavian) during which the Latin language and Roman architecture expanded throughout the Mediterranean.

Council of Plebs

A political body established during the Roman Republic capable of making laws on behalf of citizens who could not hold offices.

Monasteries

Religious centers where monks and scribes preserved scripture and classical Greek and Roman books, serving as epicenters of education before the rise of universities.

The Crusades

Military expeditions from 1096-1300 where European Christians fought Muslim groups over territory in Asia Minor and Jerusalem.

The Black Death

A disease spread by flea-infested rats along trade routes from 1346-1353, killing between 30-60% of the European population and sparking social and economic changes.

Humanism

An individual-centered school of thought during the Renaissance that focused on human potential, the study of classical works (Plato, Aristotle, Cicero), and the progress of society.

Scholasticism

An 11th-century university-centered school of thought that used logic and the Aristotelian method to investigate church theology and God's creation.

The Western Schism

A period from 1378-1417 characterized by a dispute over the location of the papacy and the election of multiple rival Popes in Rome and Avignon.

Double Entry Bookkeeping

An accounting method used by Renaissance merchants and bankers to track goods, loans, and purchases, increasing the profitability of financial institutions.

Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca)

Known as the 'Father of the Renaissance,' this Italian poet sparked the movement by rediscovering the political and philosophical writings of Cicero.

Vernacular Language

The common native language of a people (such as Italian rather than Latin) used by writers like Dante Alighieri to emphasize national identity and increase literacy.

Philologist

A scholar who studies languages and manuscripts; notably Lorenzo Valla, who used these skills to prove the 'Donation of Constantine' was a forgery.

Renaissance Man

An individual, like Leon Battista Alberti, who embodies unlimited human potential by excelling in many fields such as art, architecture, math, and athletics.

Moveable Type Printing Press

An invention by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450 that facilitated the spread of literature, encouraged literacy, and propelled the Renaissance and Reformation.

Contrapposto

A natural human stance where weight is shifted to one leg, used by Renaissance sculptors like Donatello and Michelangelo to portray realistic anatomical structures.

Civic Humanism

A concept found in Castiglione's 'The Courtier' describing the role of the individual to be politically active and devoted to the state through their personal skills.

Christian Humanism

A Northern Renaissance movement that applied humanist ideas of individual dignity to Christianity, seeking to reform the church and attributing human achievement to God.

Simony

A corrupt practice within the Catholic Church involving the buying or selling of church offices, which Christian Humanists sought to eliminate.