Religious Divisions, Empires, and the Scientific Revolution (1450–1750)

Vocabulary flashcards covering European religious conflicts, Islamic empires, and key figures of the Scientific Revolution from the lecture notes.

Peace of Augsburg

A 1555 agreement allowing each German State to choose Catholicism or Lutheranism, requiring people to follow the state religion or move to a different State.

Henry IV

French monarch who converted to Catholicism to unite France.

Edict of Nantes

A law that allowed Huguenots to practice their religion freely in France.

Louis XIV

French monarch who revoked the Edict of Nantes, which caused many workers to leave France.

Thirty Years' War

A major conflict between Catholics and Protestants that caused famine, disease, and economic destruction.

Peace of Westphalia

An agreement that ended the Thirty Years' War, allowed states to choose Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism, and increased the autonomy of European states.

Sharia

Islamic law based on the Qur'an and other Islamic teaching that replaced Justinian Law as the main legal system in the Ottoman Empire.

Shah Ismail

Safavid leader who used Shi'a Islam to unite the Safavid Empire and strengthen his rule, rejecting Sunni Islam and increasing conflict with the Ottoman Empire.

Akbar

Mughal ruler who tolerated different religions, gave Hindus government positions, supported Sikhism and Christianity, and removed poll taxes on Hindus.

Sikhism

A monotheistic religion that developed from Hinduism.

Scientific Revolution

An era that emphasized reason, evidence, and observation instead of faith alone.

Francis Bacon

Thinker who developed empiricism, using data to support hypotheses.

Isaac Newton

Scientist who developed laws of gravity, influencing science and the Enlightenment.