AP European history all units

Petrarch (1304–1374)

Often called the "Father of Humanism," he revived classical Greek and Roman texts, shaping the Renaissance

Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1400–1468)

Inventor of the movable type printing press, which enabled the rapid spread of Renaissance and Reformation ideas.

Martin Luther (1483–1546)

Initiated the Protestant Reformation by challenging Catholic doctrines, leading to widespread religious and political change.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527)

Author of The Prince, foundational for modern political science by analyzing power, diplomacy, and leadership

Louis XIV (1638–1715)

The "Sun King" of France, quintessential example of absolute monarchy and centralizing state power.

Isaac Newton

Defined the Scientific Revolution with laws of motion and gravity, emphasizing empirical reasoning.

Voltaire (1694–1778)

Leading Enlightenment philosopher who championed civil liberties, freedom of speech, and religious tolerance.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821)

Consolidated the French Revolution, spread its ideals across Europe through conquest, and implemented the Napoleonic Code.

Klemens von Metternich (1773–1859)

Austrian diplomat who led the Concert of Europe to maintain balance of power and suppress liberalism/nationalism post-Napoleon.

Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898)

Prussian chancellor who unified Germany through "blood and iron" diplomacy, drastically shifting European power dynamics. 

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

High Renaissance polymath who exemplified the "Renaissance Man" through art, anatomy, and engineering.

Erasmus (1466-1536)

Northern Christian humanist who critiqued church corruption while advocating for education and classical learning.

Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Sculptor and painter known for depicting human potential and emotion.

Ferdinand and Isabella (r. 1474-1516)

Spanish monarchs who united Spain, completed the Reconquista, and sponsored Columbus's voyages.

Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460)

Portuguese prince who sponsored voyages of exploration down the African coast, launching the Age of Exploration. 

Peter the Great

Westernized Russia, transformed its culture and military, and built St. Petersburg, a new capital designed to be a "window to the West".

Charles V (HRE)

Habsburg Emperor who attempted to maintain Catholic unity across his vast European and American territories, famously struggling against the Protestant Reformation.

Catherine the Great

Continued Peter the Great's modernization efforts, expanded Russian territory, and promoted Western European culture and enlightenment ideals (though mostly for elite, not commoners).

Cardinal Richelieu

Chief minister to Louis XIII who strengthened the French monarchy by weakening the Huguenots and the nobility, and guiding France into the Thirty Years' War to check Habsburg power.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Louis XIV's finance minister who applied mercantilist policies to maximize exports, minimize imports, and fund the king's wars.

Charles I

King whose conflicts with Parliament over taxes and power led to the English Civil War, his execution, and the temporary end of the monarchy.

John Locke

Enlightenment philosopher who argued for natural rights (life, liberty, property) and a social contract, asserting that government legitimacy rests on the consent of the governed.

Frederick the Great

"Enlightened absolutist" who modernized the Prussian bureaucracy, reformed the legal system, and expanded territory through military strength.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Initiated the Scientific Revolution by proposing the heliocentric (sun-centered) model, challenging the Ptolemaic geocentric system.

Johannes Kepler

Mathematically proved that planets move in elliptical orbits, not perfect circles, establishing the laws of planetary motion.

Galileo Galilei

Used a telescope to confirm the heliocentric theory, discovered Jupiter's moons, and faced the Roman Inquisition for his findings.

Francis Bacon

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, Scientific method, Bacon, Bacon, Bacon

Maximilien Robespierre

Radical Jacobin leader who dominated the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror.

Napoleon Bonaparte

General who seized power, ending the Revolution, establishing the Napoleonic Code, and conquering much of Europe.

Jacobins

Robespierre, Danton, and Marat

James Watt

Improved the steam engine, enabling factories to move away from water sources and powering the industrial revolution.

Charles Darwin

Proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection in On the Origin of Species (1859), heavily influencing social thought and science.

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, he established the first communist state (USSR) and introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Joseph Stalin

Totalitarian dictator of the Soviet Union who transformed it into an industrial power through rapid modernization, Five-Year Plans, and brutal purges.

Adolf Hitler

Fascist leader of Nazi Germany whose expansionist policies led to WWII and whose racist ideology caused the Holocaust.

Benito Mussolini

Founder of Italian Fascism who seized power in 1922 and allied with Hitler in WWII.

British Prime Minister who led the United Kingdom through WWII and famously warned of the "Iron Curtain" falling across Europe.

Clergy

A group of important church people, includes pope, Cardinals, Bishops, and Archbishops.

Nobility

The privileged, landed, hereditary elite who dominated social, economic, and political life from 1450 to 180. Not related to church.

Humanists

Intellectuals who shifted focus from theology to classical Greek and Roman texts, promoting secularism, individualism, and civic virtue.

The Bourgeoisie

Emerged in the late medieval period and gained power through the Commercial and Industrial Revolutions. They became the primary drivers of liberalism, capitalism, and political reform in the 18th/19th centuries.

The Medici Family

A powerful Florentine banking family and political dynasty. Great patrons of Renaissance arts and intellectuals, they helped make Florence the center of the Renaissance.