The Age of Dissent and Division (1500-1564)

Vocabulary flashcards covering major people, ideas, events, and terms from the Age of Dissent (1500-1564), highlighting causes, key reformers, doctrinal changes, conflicts, and Catholic responses.

Reformation

16th-century movement that fractured Western Christianity and created new Protestant churches.

Renaissance

Pre-Reformation cultural revival that rekindled interest in classical learning and critical inquiry.

Great Schism

14th-century split with rival popes that undermined confidence in papal authority.

Avignon Papacy

Period (1309-1377) when popes resided in France, damaging the Church’s prestige.

Clerical Abuses

Widespread corruption—ill-educated priests, immorality, and wealth accumulation—that fueled calls for reform.

Indulgence

Church document promising remission of punishment for sins, increasingly sold for money.

Humanism

Renaissance intellectual movement stressing return to original sources and human potential.

Erasmus

Dutch humanist whose writings, especially “In Praise of Folly,” mocked corrupt clergy and urged reform.

"In Praise of Folly"

Erasmus’s 1509 satire criticizing Church abuses and promoting spiritual renewal.

Martin Luther

Augustinian monk whose protests against indulgences ignited the Reformation.

Ninety-Five Theses

Luther’s 1517 list of propositions condemning indulgence sales.

Sola fide

Lutheran doctrine that salvation comes by faith alone, not works.

Diet of Worms (1521)

Imperial assembly where Luther refused to recant his teachings.

Frederick III of Saxony

German prince who protected Luther from imperial and papal punishment.

Printing Press

Technology that rapidly spread Reformation ideas via pamphlets and broadsheets.

German Bible Translation

Luther’s vernacular scripture that made the Bible accessible to ordinary Germans.

Ulrich Zwingli

Swiss reformer who simplified worship and disagreed with Luther on communion.

Marburg Colloquy (1529)

Meeting where Luther and Zwingli failed to unite over the Eucharist.

John Calvin

French reformer in Geneva who systematized Protestant theology and stressed God’s sovereignty.

Predestination

Calvinist belief that God pre-selects those who will be saved.

Calvinism

Branch of Protestantism based on Calvin’s teachings; spread to France, Scotland, and the Netherlands.

Anabaptists

Radical Protestants rejecting infant baptism and advocating church-state separation.

Münster Rebellion

1534-1535 Anabaptist uprising that led to harsh persecution of the group.

Henry VIII

English king who broke with Rome and founded the Church of England.

Church of England (Anglican)

National church created by Henry VIII; initially kept many Catholic doctrines.

Schmalkaldic League

Alliance of German Protestant princes formed to defend against the Catholic emperor.

German Peasants’ War (1524-1525)

Uprising partly inspired by Reformation rhetoric; condemned by Luther.

Peace of Augsburg (1555)

Treaty allowing each German ruler to choose Lutheranism or Catholicism for his territory.

Counter-Reformation

Catholic revival that reformed abuses and reasserted doctrine in response to Protestantism.

Jesuits (Society of Jesus)

Order founded by Ignatius of Loyola; spearheaded education and global missions.

Ignatius of Loyola

Spanish soldier-turned-priest who founded the Jesuit order in 1540.

Council of Trent (1545-1563)

Ecumenical council that clarified Catholic doctrine and reformed Church practice.

Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)

Pan-European conflict rooted in Reformation divisions; ended with the Peace of Westphalia.

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

Settlement that ended the Thirty Years’ War and established principles of state sovereignty and religious tolerance.