Renaissance, Exploration, and Reformation Lecture Notes

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the Age of Discovery, major Renaissance figures, the Reformation, and ancient American civilizations based on the lecture transcript.

Age of Discovery

A period from the 1400s to the early 1600s driven by the search for gold, God, and glory.

Gold, God, and Glory

The motivations for exploration: wealth and trade (Gold), spreading Christianity (God), and fame or national pride (Glory).

Christopher Columbus

Explorer who sailed across the Atlantic and landed in the Caribbean in $1492$, mistakenly thinking he reached Asia.

Vasco de Gama

The first European to reach India by sea, sailing from Portugal around Africa to boost the spice trade.

Magellan

Leader of the first exploration to circumnavigate the globe, starting a voyage in $1519$ to find a westward route to Asia.

Cortes

Explorer whose goal was to gain wealth and land for Spain by conquering the Aztec Empire in Mexico.

Henry the Navigator

A Portuguese sponsor of voyages along Africa who helped establish a navigation center in Portugal.

The Renaissance

A word meaning 'French rebirth' characterizing a shift in thought and art focusing on realism, emotion, and perspective.

Leonardo da Vinci

$1452-1519$ - A 'Renaissance man' who painted the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper while studying anatomy and designing tanks.

Michelangelo

$1475-1564$ - A sculptor, painter, and architect known for depicting the human body in powerful ways with religious themes.

Reformation Period

A major religious movement in Europe that split Christianity into different various branches.

Martin Luther

$1483-1546$ - A German monk who wrote the 95 thesis and believed that faith alone saves people.

Bartholomew Dias

Explorer who rounded the Cape of Good Hope, proving the Atlantic Ocean connects to the Indian Ocean.

Aztec Empire

A civilization built on a lake with canals, large marketplaces, a strong military, and advanced calendar systems.

Inca Empire

A civilization that built massive road networks, used terraces for farming, and developed quips.

Maya

A civilization with advanced math knowledge, a complex writing system, and pyramids aligned with the stars.

The Middle Ages

The period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the start of the Renaissance; also known as the dark ages.

Humanists

Scholars who studied the liberal arts and ancient Greek/Roman texts to promote individual education and critical thinking.

Erasmus

A Christian scholar, critic of Catholic Church corruption, and supporter of education.

Hus

A church reformer before Luther who was executed for his beliefs and criticism of corruption.

Zwingli

A Swiss reformation leader who simplified church practices and disagreed with Luther on communion.

Calvin

A reformation leader in Switzerland known for the doctrine of predestination and founding Calvinism.

Henry VII

The monarch who ended a civil war in England and started the Tudor dynasty.

The 7 Sacraments

Sacred Catholic rituals consisting of Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing, Holy orders, and Matrimony.

Council of Trent

The most important response of the Catholic church to the Protestant Reformation.

Vatican II

A council that changed Church communication, focused on the Bible, and improved relations with other religions.

Why does Brazil speak Portuguese

Colonization in Brazil from Portugal, Treaty of Tordesillas split South America in half

How humanists paved the way for the Reformation

Began to think critically and question authority

What NT book inspired Luther

Romans

How do Luther and Zwingli differ theologically

Luther emphasized the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, while Zwingli viewed it as a symbolic remembrance

What inspired the Renaissance

Trade, rediscovery of classical learning, Humanism, Fall of Byzantines