Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, figures, and concepts from the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, and Industrial Revolution.

Francesco Petrarch

Often called the father of Italian Renaissance humanism.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

An accomplished painter, sculptor, and architect who was a master of the High Renaissance.

Raphael Sanzio

One of Italy's best painters, admired for his numerous madonnas (paintings of Mary, the mother of Jesus).

Frederick III (Frederick the Wise)

The prince of Saxony and protector of Martin Luther who had amassed more than $5,000$ relics.

Cosimo de Medici

Member of a wealthy family that controlled part of Italy and served as important supporters of the Renaissance.

Machiavelli

Renaissance author who wrote about power in his book, The Prince.

Humanism

An intellectual movement of the Renaissance based on the study of the humanities, including grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, and history.

Leonardo da Vinci

A Renaissance man who was a painter, inventor, and sculptor.

Dante Alighieri

Renaissance writer who wrote the Divine Comedy.

Vernacular

The language of everyday speech in a particular region.

Johannes Gutenberg

The inventor of the printing press.

Fresco

A painting done on fresh, wet plaster with water-based paints.

Perspective

Artistic techniques used to give the effect of three-dimensional depth to two-dimensional surfaces.

Christian humanism

A movement in northern Europe during the Renaissance combining classical learning with the goal of reforming the Catholic Church.

Fundamental

Basic or essential.

Salvation

The state of being saved through faith alone or through faith and good works.

Indulgences

A release from all or part of punishment for sin by the Catholic Church, reducing time in purgatory after death.

Johannes Kepler

A German mathematician who used astronomical data to arrive at his laws of planetary motion, confirming the sun was at the center of the universe.

Martin Luther

Leader of the Reformation, founder of Lutheranism, and author of the $95$ Theses.

Erasmus

An individual who criticized the church prior to the start of the Reformation.

95 Theses

Martin Luther’s writings against the church that started the Reformation.

Diet of Worms

The meeting where Luther was excommunicated and an edict was passed declaring him an outlaw.

Act of Supremacy

The law that made the king the most powerful secular ruler of the Church of England.

Counter Reformation

A movement that gained the Catholics power lost to protestants by reforming the papacy and establishing a clear set of doctrines.

Philosophers

A person who seeks wisdom or enlightenment; a scholar or a thinker.

Geocentric

An Earth-centered model of the universe.

Spheres

In ancient astronomy, the concentric, revolving, spherical transparent shells in which the stars, sun, planets, and moon are set.

Heliocentric

A sun-centered model of the universe.

Galileo Galilei

Scientist who discovered mountains on the moon, four moons revolving around Jupiter, and sunspots.

René Descartes

French philosopher who brought a philosophical perspective to natural sciences and founded rationalism.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Mathematician who published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres and proposed a heliocentric conception of the universe.

Universal law of gravitation

Explains that planetary bodies continue in elliptical orbits around the sun because every object in the universe is attracted to every other object by gravity.

Robert Boyle

One of the first scientists to conduct controlled experiments in chemistry; his work on gases led to Boyle's Law.

Margaret Cavendish

Author of Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy who was critical of the belief that humans were the masters of nature.

Rationalism

A system of thought based on the belief that reason is the chief source of knowledge.

Scientific method

A systematic procedure for collecting and analyzing evidence that was crucial to the evolution of science.

Inductive reasoning

The doctrine that scientists should proceed from the particular to the general by making systematic observations and experiments.

Empiricism

The theory that knowledge is achieved through observation.

Francis Bacon

English philosopher who believed scientists should not rely on ancient authorities and developed the scientific method.

Philosophe

French for "philosopher"; applied to all intellectuals during the Enlightenment.

Montesquieu

French noble who wrote The Spirit of the Laws ($1748$), a study of governments and natural laws.

Separation of powers

A form of government in which branches limit and control each other through a system of checks and balances.

Voltaire

Enlightenment figure known for his criticism of Christianity and strong belief in religious toleration.

Diderot

Editor of the Encyclopedia, a $28$-volume collection of knowledge published between $1751$ and $1772$.

Laissez-faire

The concept that the state should not impose government regulations but should leave the economy alone.

Free enterprise

A system in which private businesses compete with each other with little control by the government.

Adam Smith

Author of The Wealth of Nations who wrote about capitalism and the economy.

Social contract

The concept that an entire society agrees to be governed by its general will.

Salons

Elegant urban drawing rooms where writers, artists, and aristocrats gathered to discuss Enlightenment ideas.

Profit

The amount of money left over after paying for the cost of businesses.

Industrial Revolution

Important changes in the way work was done during the $18^{\text{th}}$ and $19^{\text{th}}$ centuries.

Natural resource

Materials provided by nature, such as wood and fossil fuels.

Locomotive

A self-propelled vehicle that runs on rails.

Investor

A person who expects to make a profit by lending money to businesses.

Raw material

Matter in its natural condition.

Textile

Cloth made by weaving.

Import

To bring goods into the country from other places.

Internal combustion engine

An engine that burns gas to produce power.