Convents
Buildings where Catholic nuns live in common
Monasteries
Buildings where Catholic monks live in common.
Christian Humanism
Renaissance intellectual movement that focused on trying to return the Church to earlier and more authentic practice of the faith.
Advocate
To argue in support of something.
Clergy
The formal leaders of any given religion. Examples of clergy would be priests, bishops, ministers, rabbis, and imams.
Layman
A member of a specific religion who is NOT a part of the clergy.
Philology
The study of the historical development and origin of language.
Low Countries
Collective term to refer to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
Patron
Someone who supports the arts or a specific artist.
Simony
The act of buying or selling a religious office, such as the position of bishop.
Nepotism
The practice of people in a position of power or influence showing undue favoritism to family or friends.
Pluralism
The practice of certain Church leaders holding more than one religious office at the same time.
Veneration
The action of showing great respect to a created person, such as the Virgin Mary or a saint.
Relic
An ancient item that is associated with a holy figure, such as Christ or a saint.
Indulgences
Actions that a Catholic can undertake to earn forgiveness of sins; in the 1400's the Church had begun to sell indulgences angering many.
"Faith and Works"
Catholic teaching that one's salvation is dependent on both faith and good works.
"Faith alone, Grace alone, Scripture alone"
Luther's argument that one's salvation is dependent on faith only (not good works), on God's mercy, and on what is directly written in the Bible.
Excommunication
The action, taken by a religious group, that denies someone the right to participate in the church community; to eject someone from a religion.
Diet of Worms
1521 heresy trial of Martin Luther. He was judged by HRE Charles V.
Heresy
To hold positions that are contrary to the accepted teachings of a religious community.
Subject
A person who lives in a nation ruled by a crowned head of state (king, queen, emperor, etc.).
Recant
To assert that one no longer accepts beliefs that one once supported; to take back something once proclaimed.
Papal / Papacy
Of, or pertaining to the office of the Pope of the Catholic Church.
Celibacy
The act of abstaining from marriage and sexual relations.
Vernacular
Any language spoken by the general population of a region, as opposed to Latin, the language of the Church and education.
Scandinavia
The vast region of Northern Europe that includes the nations of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
Protestant
Any person who identifies as a Christian, but who is not a part of the Catholic or Orthodox Christian faiths.
Social Uprising
A revolt by a specific segment of the population against the ruling authorities.
Status Quo
The existing state of affairs, especially regarding religion and politics.
Secular
Anything that is not religious in its character or purpose.
Temporal
Relating to worldly as opposed to spiritual affairs; secular.
Transubstantiation
Catholic teaching that during the mass (religious service) the communion bread and wine are literally transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ.
Consubstantiation
Protestant teaching that during the communion bread and wine are only symbolic representations of the actual body and blood of Christ.
Predestination
The Calvinist teaching that God has already determined who is saved and who is damned, even before we are born.
Elect
Calvin's term for those who God had selected for salvation.
Seminaries
Schools where clergy are educated in the beliefs of a specific religion.
Huguenots
French Protestants who followed the teachings of John Calvin.
Icon
Any representation or image of a sacred figure, such as Christ or a saint.
Theocracy
A government dominated by religious leaders.
Iconoclastic
The action of attacking or destroying an icon.
Anabaptists
So called "radical" Protestants; the name derives from their practice of only baptizing adults.
HRE
In context, it can mean either Holy Roman Empire or Holy Roman Emperor.
Peace of Augsburg
1555 internal agreement in the Holy Roman Empire that allowed the ruler of each state in the Empire to select the religion for the people who live in their state. It briefly ended warfare between Catholics and Protestants in the Empire.
Abdicate
The action of a monarch in surrendering their claim to the throne.
Bourbons
The family that held the throne of France from 1589 until the French Revolution.
Politiques
Term for those nobles and royal figures who supported religious toleration as a means of restoring domestic peace and strengthening the nation.
Edict of Nantes
1598 royal decree issued by King Henry IV of France that granted religious toleration and control of 200 walled fortified cities to that nation's Protestant minority.
Inquisition
Term for religious courts set up by Catholic authorities in Spain to root out anyone suspected of practicing the Jewish or Muslim religions. The courts could use torture and death to enforce their power.
Annulment
A legal procedure that cancels a marriage as if it had never taken place.
Sacked
A military action in which a victorious army is permitted to rape, murder, and destroy a conquered city.
Illegitimate
Term formerly used to identify a child born to parents who were not married.
Act of Supremacy
1534 law passed by the English Parliament naming the king (Henry VIII) the head of the Church of England. The Act also made it treasonous for anyone to refuse to accept the new law.
Regent
Title for a person selected to hold power when a monarch is either too young or too ill to rule on their own.
Anglican Church
A synonym for the Church of England, the Protestant faith first established in the reign of King Henry VIII.
Act of Religious Settlement
1559 law passed by the English Parliament that made the Anglican Church the official state church of England and recognized that there were other faiths in the nation.
Spanish Armada
A massive fleet of over 130 Spanish warships that was sent against England in 1588. The fleet suffered heavy losses and was a major disaster for Spain.
Council of Trent
A landmark meeting of Catholic Church leaders, held between 1546 - 1563 for the purpose of developing a response to the Protestant Reformation.
Standardize
To make something uniform, the same.
Dogma
The official teachings, beliefs, and practices of a religion.
Index
First compiled at the Council of Trent, this was a list of books that Catholics were prohibited to read. The Index was abolished in 1966.
Jesuits
A synonym for the Society a Jesus, an order of well-educated Catholic priests founded by a Spanish priest, Ignatius of Loyola, in 1546.
Baroque
A style of European art, architecture, and music of the 17th and 18th centuries characterized by ornate details and emotional subjects.
Mannerism
A European art movement associated with the late-Renaissance period of the 16th century and noted for its sophistication and artificial style.
Defenestration of Prague
1618 event that triggered the destructive Thirty Years' War. Two representatives of the Holy Roman Emperor were tossed from a high window by Bohemian Calvinist officials.