ap euro unit 1 vocab

Humanism

an intellectual movement during the Renaissance in which thinkers studied classical civilization and its texts and focused on human beings and their inherent dignity.

Secular

worldly

Individualism

A focus on personal rather than religious or political interests

Vernacular

Everyday language of a region

Philological approaches

scholarly methods of analyzing texts with a focus on the history of language

Christian humanism

an intellectual movement in northern Europe in the late 15th and early 16th centuries that combined an interest in the classics of the Italian Renaissance with an interest in the sources of early Christianity, including the New Testament and the writings of church fathers.

Geometric perspective

the use of mathematics to help create the appearance of space and distance in two-dimensional paintings.

Civic Humanism

The idea that the knowledge and ideas of humanists should be applied to everyday life, particularly in the political and economic spheres

centralized power

The concentration of power and Authority in a central government or ruler

Decentralized Power

power is moved from a central government to smaller localities or states.

New Monarchy

states during the early modern period that featured greater royal control and centralization.

Gentry

wealthy landowners who did not have inherited titles

Star Chamber

an English law court created in the late 15th century used by Henry VII to control the actions of irresponsible nobility.an English law court created in the late 15th century used by Henry VII to control the actions of irresponsible nobility.

Guilds

merchant groups that often controlled local governments during the Renaissance.

Nobles of the Robe

nobles in France who gained power by holding important state offices.

Absolute Sovereignty

the idea that rulers of the sovereign state, operating by the doctrine of the divine right of kings, maintain peace by issuing laws and dictating religion, regardless of whether the people consent.

Merchantilism

an economic system that developed in 16th century Europe that measured the wealth of a country by how much gold and silver it accumulated.

Treaty of Tordesillas

signed in 1494, an agreement between Portugal and Spain aimed at settling conflicts over new lands by drawing a line of demarcation that separated the world between the two countries.

Conquistador

Spanish term for conqueror.

Encomienda

a system of forced labor imposed by the Spanish on the indigenous people of the Americas.

Asiento

a contract between the government of Spain and either another country, a private company, or an individual in which Spain would pay them to supply enslaved Africans to work in the Americas

Middle Passage

the part of the triangular trade that involved shipping enslaved Africans to the Americas and West Indies.

Double-entry bookkeeping

a type of accounting where both sides of each transaction is tracked in a ledger, or book where the information is recorded.

Joint-stock companies

a business venture that raised large amounts of capital for international trade and colonization ventures through the selling of stock, or shares, in a company.

Serfdom

where peasants are legally bound to the land and subject to the authority of their landlord.

Subsistence agriculture

Farming for survival

Little Ice Age

from the early 14th century until about 1850 Europe experienced changes in the weather that led to cooler temperatures, frequent storms, and heavy rains that led to shorter growing seasons.

Inflation

the widespread rise in prices over an extended time period.

Price revolution

the inflationary period of time in Europe from the late 15th century to the mid-17th century.