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AP European History (1450–1648) Study Guide

🌞 Renaissance (c. 1350–1600)

Origins & Humanism:

Began in Italian city-states (Florence, Venice, etc.)

Inspired by Greek and Roman texts preserved through the House of Wisdom

Petrarch: Father of Humanism — revival of classical texts, philology

Humanism: Emphasized human potential, secular life, and individualism

Cicero: model for Latin, supported republicanism (opposed Julius Caesar)

Lorenzo Valla: proved "Donation of Constantine" was a forgery using philological methods

Key Ideas:

Shift from religious to secular authority

Emphasis on scientific inquiry and individualism

Initially elite but broadened due to printing press (Gutenberg's Bible, 1455)

Civic Humanism: political engagement; ex. Leonardo Bruni

Education: focus on the humanities (rhetoric, history, poetry)

Key Thinkers:

Baldassare Castiglione: The Courtier — ideal courtly behavior

Niccolò Machiavelli: The Prince — better to be feared than loved; stability over morality

Art:

Techniques: geometric perspective, idealistic naturalism

Italian Artists: Michelangelo, Raphael, Filippo Brunelleschi

Northern Artists: more religious & domestic; Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rembrandt

Christian Humanism: Erasmus – In Praise of Folly; reform through inner spirituality

🌍 Age of Exploration & Commercial Revolution

Causes:

God, Gold, Glory — desire for wealth and religious expansion

Technological Advances: caravel, compass, astrolabe, lateen sail, improved cartography

Key Nations:

Portugal: Prince Henry, trading-post empire (Africa, India)

Spain: Columbus, Cortés (Aztecs), Pizarro (Incas), Treaty of Tordesillas

France: Canada, North America

England: North America, Caribbean, settler colonies

Dutch: dominated Asian trade

Effects:

Columbian Exchange: crops, diseases, animals, people

Encomienda System & Requerimiento

African Slave Trade & Triangular Trade

Capitalism replaced feudalism

Mercantilism: Jean-Baptiste Colbert — state control of economy to enrich the nation

Shift of economic center from Mediterranean to Atlantic states

Economic Changes:

Rise of merchant/banker class: Medici (Italy), Fugger (Germany)

Joint-stock companies, double-entry bookkeeping

Price Revolution: inflation due to influx of silver

Enclosure Movement: privatization of commons → urban migration

✝️ Reformations

Causes:

Corruption: simony, nepotism, indulgences

Humanism encouraged questioning of Church

Political motives: nobles & kings wanted independence from the pope

Protestant Reformation:

Martin Luther: 95 Theses (1517), faith alone, sola scriptura

Diet of Worms: refused to recant, protected by German princes

Vernacular Bible: promoted national identities

Calvinism:

John Calvin: predestination, “elect,” Geneva = theocracy

Spread to France (Huguenots), Netherlands, Scotland (Presbyterians)

Anabaptists:

Adult baptism, separation of church and state

Persecuted by Catholics & other Protestants

Wars of Religion: France:

Catherine de Medici, St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572)

War of Three Henrys → Henry of Navarre (IV) wins, converts to Catholicism

Edict of Nantes (1598): religious tolerance for Huguenots

Holy Roman Empire:

Peace of Augsburg (1555): Lutheranism or Catholicism by ruler’s choice

Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648):

Bohemian, Danish, Swedish, French Phases

Began religious, ended political

Peace of Westphalia: legalized Calvinism, ended Catholic dominance, weakened HRE

Catholic (Counter) Reformation:

Council of Trent (1545–1563): reaffirmed doctrine, reformed abuses

Jesuits (Ignatius of Loyola): education, global missions

Roman Inquisition & Index of Prohibited Books

Mysticism: Teresa of Ávila and Carmelite reforms

👑 New Monarchies & State Centralization

Spain:

Ferdinand & Isabella: centralized power, Reconquista, expelled Jews/Muslims

Sent Columbus; used encomienda in New World

France:

Concordat of Bologna: king can appoint clergy

Bureaucracy, taxation, Catholic unity

England:

Henry VIII: broke from Rome (Act of Supremacy), started Church of England

Elizabeth I: moderate Protestantism (Anglican compromise), defeated Spanish Armada

Germany:

Fragmented into hundreds of states within the Holy Roman Empire

Religious conflict weakened central authority

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Society & Culture

Social Hierarchies:

Shift away from feudal land-based nobility

Rise of merchant class (bourgeoisie)

Patriarchal structures persist; nuclear family norm

Querelle des Femmes: debate over women's roles

Nuns: education, limited roles for women

Anabaptists allowed female leadership

Public Life:

Carnival before Lent, Saints' Days

Public punishments: stocks, flogging, blood sports

Witch hunts: targeted marginalized, especially women