Unit 1: Absolutism, Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, key figures, and concepts of Absolutism, the Scientific Revolution, and the European Enlightenment based on the provided lecture notes.

Absolute Monarchy

A form of government in which a monarch holds supreme, unrestricted power and authority over the state.

Divine Right

The political and religious doctrine asserting that a monarch's authority to rule comes directly from God.

Protestant Reformation

A 16th-century religious movement that challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

Traditional authority

The long-established sources of accepted belief and power, particularly religious institutions and classical figures, challenged during the Scientific Revolution.

Scientific Revolution

A period of drastic change in scientific thought during the 16th and 17th centuries that impacted religious, political, and cultural institutions by challenging traditional views of the natural world.

Scientific Method

A systematic approach to investigating the natural world using empirical observation, experimentation, and logical reasoning.

Geocentric Theory

The traditional astronomical model holding that Earth is the stationary center of the universe around which all other heavenly bodies revolve.

Heliocentric Theory

The astronomical model proposing that the Sun is at the center of the solar system around which Earth and other planets revolve.

Galileo

Italian astronomer who used a telescope to support the Heliocentric Theory and came into direct conflict with religious authority.

Trial of Galileo

The 1633 proceeding by the Catholic Inquisition where Galileo was tried for heresy for supporting the Heliocentric Theory.

Recant

To formally withdraw or disavow a previously held belief, statement, or opinion under pressure or threat of punishment.

Philosophe

An intellectual thinker of the 18th-century French Enlightenment who applied reason to human nature, government, and society.

Natural law

A body of unchanging moral and natural principles discoverable through human reason that governs human conduct and society.

Reason

The power of logical thinking and rational inquiry used by Enlightenment thinkers to challenge religious authority, absolute rule, and mercantilism.

Happiness

An Enlightenment concept asserting that human beings have a natural right to seek well-being, fulfillment, and happiness on Earth.

Progress

The Enlightenment belief that society and humanity can continuously improve over time through the application of reason and science.

Liberty

The core Enlightenment principle asserting individual freedom and protection against absolute or tyrannical government power.

Thomas Hobbes

Enlightenment thinker who formulated theories regarding the state of nature, the social contract, and the necessity of a supreme sovereign authority.

John Locke

Enlightenment philosopher who advocated for natural rights, limited government, representative government, and the right to revolution.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Enlightenment thinker who emphasized natural freedom, social freedom, the general will, direct democracy, and majority rule.

Baron de Montesquieu

Enlightenment philosopher who championed individual liberty, the separation of powers, and the division of government into 3 branches.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Political philosopher associated with concepts of the republic, republicanism, and working for the common good.

William Blackstone

English jurist who wrote extensively on legal principles, legal reality, and common law.

Voltaire

Enlightenment philosopher who fought for religious tolerance, religious freedom, and Deism.

Adam Smith

Enlightenment economic thinker who promoted self-interest, productivity, laissez-faire economics, free trade, and the law of supply and demand.

Denis Diderot

Enlightenment thinker who edited the Encyclopedia and opposed state and religious censorship.

Cesare Beccaria

Enlightenment legal reformer who opposed excessive punishments such as torture and argued against the capital death penalty.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Enlightenment thinker who advocated for women's equality and universal education.

Salons

Social gatherings where Enlightenment thinkers and intellectuals met to discuss philosophy, political ideas, and social reforms.

Enlightened Despots

Absolute monarchs who incorporated certain Enlightenment principles and reforms into their ruling practices.

Frederick the Great of Prussia

Enlightened monarch of Prussia who promoted religious freedom, opposed excessive punishments like torture, and supported universal education for both boys and girls.

Joseph of Austria

Enlightened ruler of Austria who opposed the capital death penalty, opposed serfdom mandatory work, supported religious freedom, and championed equality.

Catherine the Great of Russia

Enlightened ruler of Russia who reformed the legal system and attempted to improve the life of peasants.

American Enlightenment

The era of intellectual movement that inspired the founders of the United States and embedded Enlightenment ideas into the Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and US Bill of Rights.