English Revolution, Absolutism, and the Enlightenment Lecture Notes

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering European history from the 17th-century revolutions and the Thirty Years' War through the Enlightenment, the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, and the Napoleonic era.

Whig tradition

A perspective that views the English Civil War as a conflict between the King's thinking and the Parliament's thinking.

Gentry (gentility)

Small rural nobility performing state offices who, according to Marxist views, entered a crisis and provoked social unrest to push for the redistribution of power.

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

Treaty ending the war in Germany that established the independence of princes in foreign policy ($jus\,foederationis$).

Petition of Right (June 1628)

A document authored by Edward Coke stating that the king cannot arbitrarily levy taxes, arrest individuals, or recruit soldiers.

Ship money

A tax for maintaining the royal fleet, issued in 1626-27 and then in 1634 for coastal cities, and expanded inland from 1635.

New Model Army

A professional reorganization of the parliamentary army in 1645 led by Oliver Cromwell.

Levellers (Levelleři)

A radical movement led by John Lilburne that drafted the "Agreement of the People" in 1647, proposing a republic and social equality.

Instrument of Government (1653)

The constitution issued by John Lambert that named Oliver Cromwell the lifelong Lord Protector.

Habeas Corpus Act (1679)

A law preventing the king from arbitrary arrests by requiring that any arrested person be charged within two days or released.

Bill of Rights (1689)

An English constitutional document that limited royal power, banned a standing army, and ensured the freedom of speech within parliament.

Mercantilism (Merkantilismus)

An economic theory created by Jean-Baptiste Colbert focusing on state self-sufficiency, high tariffs on imports, and the accumulation of money within the state.

Pragmatic Sanction (1713)

A document establishing the constitutional identity and succession rules of the Habsburg monarchy.

Battle of Vienna (1683)

A conflict where Christian forces led by Jan III Sobieski and Charles V of Lorraine defeated the Ottoman army led by Kara Mustafa.

Karlo-Ferdinandova University

The result of a 1654 merger between the Karolinum and the Jesuit Clementinum college in Prague.

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

A Dutch scientist who discovered microbes (animacula), sperm, and red blood cells using improved microscopes in the 1660s-1670s.

Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (1686)

Isaac Newton's work establishing the law of universal gravitation and the three laws of motion.

Leviathan (1651)

Thomas Hobbes's philosophical work arguing that humans must surrender their rights to a central authority to avoid a "war of all against all."

Socialitas (Společenskost)

Samuel Pufendorf's goal for law, defined as the preservation of human society.

Ouchirides

The three basic liberties identified in John Locke's second treatise: life, liberty, and property (majetek).

Toleration Patent (Toleranční patent, 1781)

Joseph II's decree allowing Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Orthodox Christianity in the Habsburg lands.

Patent of Serfdom Abolition (1.11.1781)

A decree by Joseph II granting subjects the freedom to move for marriage, study, or trade without the lord's permission.

Physiocracy (Fyziokracie)

An economic theory led by Quesnay arguing that economic value originates from agricultural production and advocated for "Laissez faire."

The Wealth of Nations (1776)

Adam Smith's work arguing that the division of labor and the "invisible hand" of self-interest drive economic civilizing progress.

Stamp Act (Kolkovné, 1765)

A British tax requiring paid stamps on legal documents and newspapers in the American colonies.

Declaration of Independence (4.7.1776)

A document authored by Thomas Jefferson stating that humans have inalienable rights, including "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

A model constitution for the territories northwest of the Ohio River that prohibited slavery.

Maupeouova Revolution (1771-74)

A French administrative reform that took judicial power from parliaments and gave it to five supreme courts.

Assignats (Assignáty)

Paper money printed during the French Revolution backed by confiscated church property, which led to significant inflation.

Jacobins (Jakobíni)

A radical revolutionary group that met at the St. James monastery and, under Robespierre, established the Reign of Terror.

18. brumaire (9. November 1799)

The date of Napoleon Bonaparte's coup against the Directory, where he assumed power as First Consu.l

Continental Blockade (Kontinentální blokáda)

Napoleon's policy designed to starve Britain by prohibiting European trade with the British Isles.

Spinning jenny

A textile machine invented by James Heargraves in 1764 that allowed one weaver to operate multiple frames.

Steam Engine (1784)

A double-acting engine perfected by James Watt that functioned without atmospheric pressure, following his 1769 patent.

Schwarzenberský canal

A technical monument built between 1788-1825 by Josef Kosenauer to float timber across the mountains to Vienna.

Potemkin villages (Potěmkinovské vesnice)

A term originating from Grigorij Potemkin's alleged construction of painted facades and deceptive displays for Catherine the Great's 1787 visit to Crimea.