HTST 307 - Midterm 1: Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering major concepts, people, events, and institutions from c. 1300-1800, emphasizing Europe’s transformation, global interactions, and comparative empires.

Sovereignty

Supreme authority to create and enforce laws within a territory.

State

A political unit exercising sovereign authority; usually formal/semi-formal, hierarchical, and legitimate

Empire

A state whose sovereignty extends over diverse peoples and territories

Nation-state

A nation that both purports to represent a people (natio) and enjoys supreme sovereignty within its borders 

Feudalism

Medieval system of mutual obligation linking lords, vassals, and peasants for land and protection. Urbanites were not a clear part of this order

Europe in the Middle Ages: 3 Periods

1. The Middle Ages (AD 476-1500)

2. Early Modern Era (c. AD 1500-1815)

3. Modern Era (c. AD 1815 on)

Three Orders of Society

Medieval European division into clergy (pray), aristocracy (fight), and peasantry (work).

Christendom

Collective term for medieval Christian Europe shaped by the Church’s spiritual and political power

Renaissance

Cultural rebirth (c. 1300-1600) emphasizing classical learning, art, and human potential.

Niccolò Machiavelli

1469-1527; Helped bring aspects of Renaissance Humanist thought into politics through works such as The Prince

Humanism

Renaissance intellectual movement reviving Greco-Roman texts to understand the thoughts of ancient philosophers. Started in 14th-century Italian city-states among urbanites

Civic Humanism

Application of humanist ideals to practical politics; active, virtuous citizenship.

Printing Press

Typographic invention c. 1450 that enabled mass production of books, boosting literacy and scholarship. Not immediately copied by rival civilizations

Protestant Reformation

16th c. religious movement sparked by Martin Luther, as unhappiness with Rome’s centralized power reached its boiling point. Fractured Catholic authority in Europe

Martin Luther

German theologian whose 95 Theses fragmented religious authority and triggered the Protestant Reformation

Scientific Revolution

1500-1700 shift to empirical science; heliocentrism, physics, and modern scientific method emerged

Scientific Method

Systematic process of observation, hypothesis, experiment, and analysis to gain knowledge

Enlightenment

Intellectual and cultural movement of the 17th and 18th centuries consisting of an outgrowth of humanism/new sciences. Thinkers adapted this universally to human society

The Philosophe

Enlightenment thinkers promoting reform through writing, salons, and public debate.

Absolute Monarchy

System in which the ruler possesses unchecked, central authority over state affairs; reached its zenith under Louis XIV (17-18th c)

Enlightened Despotism

18th-century style of rule where monarchs adopted Enlightenment ideas while retaining power.

Leviathan

From Thomas Hobbes’ work; argued for strong sovereign authority, as without it, peoples’ lives would be nasty, brutish, and short

Blank Slate

John Locke’s idea that humans are born without innate ideas and learn through experience. This idea that every individual possesses the potential to gain knowledge and success gave rise to the importance of education

Sir Francis Bacon

English philosopher who championed inductive reasoning and foundations of modern science.

Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

Ended the Thirty Years’ War; established precedents around state sovereignty, non-intervention norms, and religion

Westphalian System

Modern international order based on equal sovereign states and non-interference principles.

Thirty Years’ War

1618-1648; a prolonged conflict shaped by Habsburg ambitions and Protestant vs Catholic religious strife in European politics

English Civil War

17th c. conflict between Parliament and King Charles I over authority and taxation. Led to the execution of the king; the later restoration of the monarchy was a precarious balance

Glorious Revolution (1688)

Deposition of James II; established English constitutional monarchy and Bill of Rights agreed to by William and Mary, which limited their power

Constitutional Monarchy

System where monarch’s powers are limited by law and balanced with representative institutions.

Great Divergence

Scholarly term for Europe’s 18th-century leap ahead of other regions in industry and power.

Military Revolution

16th-17th c. transformation in European warfare involving gunpowder, drills, and larger armies.

Gunpowder & early artillery

Explosive mixture first developed in China, later revolutionizing global warfare with firearms. Appeared in Europe/Near East in 14th century; rapid innovation took place, and was quickly adopted by various Muslim empires

Trace Italienne

Artillery-resistant bastion fortification design first used in Renaissance Italy. Formed using geometric principles

Linear Warfare

17th c. military formation emphasizing musketeers in synchronized lines for continuous fire; warfare focused on more technical elements during this time

Bureaucratic Administration

Expanding professional civil service managing taxation, armies, and state policy which trended toward national interest (1500-1700).

Mercantilism

Economic approach favouring strong state authority and national interest, particularly through low imports and high exports

Ottoman Empire

14th-20th c. Turkic Muslim empire spanning SE Europe, SW Asia, and N Africa; peaked under Suleiman.

Janissaries

Elite Ottoman infantry corps of converted enslaved Christian youths; became powerful political force that turned increasingly corrupt over time, often acting without the Sultan’s authority

Safavid Empire

15th-18th c. Persian-based Shia Muslim ‘gunpowder empire’ rivaling Ottomans and Mughals.

Mughal Empire

Turkic Muslim dynasty ruling most of India (1526-18th c.), noted for wealth and syncretism.

Akbar the Great

Mughal emperor (r. 1556-1605) famed for religious tolerance and administrative reforms.

Aurangzeb

Orthodox Mughal ruler (r. 1658-1707) whose policies and wars hastened imperial decline.

East India Company

European chartered trading corporation; British version gained territorial control in India.

Sepoy

Indian soldier employed by European East India companies’ private armies.

Qing Dynasty

Manchu-led Chinese dynasty (1644-1912) that expanded China but enforced ethnic separation.

Mandate of Heaven

Chinese belief that dynastic right to rule rests on moral virtue and can be lost by misrule.

Canton System

Qing policy restricting European trade to designated merchants and the port of Guangzhou.

Tokugawa Shogunate

Japanese military government (1600-1868) that enforced isolation and rigid social order.

Daimyo

Feudal lords of Japan controlling domains and samurai retainers under the shogunate.

Nanban Trade

16th-century Japanese term for exchange with Portuguese and other European ‘southern barbarians.’

Columbian Exchange

Post-1492 transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between Old and New Worlds.

Conquistador

Spanish adventurer who led military expeditions and established colonies in the Americas.

Encomienda

Spanish colonial grant giving settlers the right to indigenous labor and tribute.

Triangular Trade

Atlantic exchange system linking European goods, African slaves, and American commodities.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Forced transport of millions of Africans to the Americas (c. 1500-1800) for plantation labor.

Cash Crop

Agricultural product grown for export profit (e.g., sugar, tobacco) rather than subsistence.

Atlantic System

Interdependent economic network connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas via trade and slavery.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who overthrew the Aztec Empire (1519-1521).

Aztec Empire

Mesoamerican state ruled from Tenochtitlan; conquered by Spaniards in early 16th century.

Inca Empire

Andean empire with centralized governance; fell to Spanish conquest (1530s).

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 papal-brokered division of New World spheres between Spain and Portugal.

Haitian Revolution

1791-1804 slave uprising that created the first Black republic and ended French rule in Haiti, which suffered from dictatorship, race war, and economic problems

Toussaint Louverture

Leader of the Haitian Revolution who forged a constitution and resisted French forces.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Successor to Louverture; declared Haitian independence but ruled as autocrat.

Levée en Masse

1793 French decree mobilizing entire male population and resources for revolutionary war. Turned subjects into patriotic citizens with rights and obligations

Declaration of the Rights of Man

1789 French charter asserting liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty.

Estates-General

French representative assembly of clergy, nobility, and commoners; convened in 1789.

Bourgeoisie

Urban middle class of merchants and professionals gaining influence in early modern Europe.

Great Divergence

(duplicate removed) see earlier card

Seven Years’ War

1756-1763 global conflict; Britain’s victory reshaped colonial empires and finances.

Coalition Wars

Late 17th-18th-century wars where shifting alliances fought worldwide for balance of power.

Westminster System

British constitutional framework of parliamentary sovereignty and responsible government.

Statecraft

Art of governing and managing state affairs, including diplomacy, war, and administration.