Unit 5 Study Guide: Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards reviewing the key figures, concepts, events, and scientific advancements of the Renaissance, the Protestant and English Reformations, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment.

Renaissance

A historical period from 1300 to 1600 meaning "rebirth," during which Europe revived ideas from ancient Greece and Rome.

Patron

A wealthy person who pays and financially supports artists.

The Medici

A wealthy banking family in Florence who served as famous patrons of the arts during the Renaissance.

Humanism

A Renaissance intellectual movement focused on studying Greek and Roman books and believing that people are capable of great achievements.

Perspective

An artistic technique that makes a flat picture look three-dimensional by making close objects appear large and distant objects appear small.

Leonardo da Vinci

A Renaissance artist who painted the Mona Lisa and an inventor who sketched designs for flying machines.

Michelangelo

A Renaissance artist who sculpted the statue David and painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Raphael

A Renaissance painter who created The School of Athens, depicting Greek thinkers.

Dante

A poet from Florence who wrote in Italian, the everyday language of the people, rather than Latin.

Brunelleschi

The Renaissance architect who designed the giant dome in Florence.

Machiavelli

The author of The Prince (1513), who argued that rulers should do whatever is necessary to maintain power and that it is safer to be feared than loved.

Gutenberg

The German inventor who built the printing press around 1450, allowing books to be made faster and cheaper.

Indulgence

A document sold or granted by the Catholic Church that was supposed to reduce punishment for sins.

Martin Luther

A German priest and professor from Wittenberg who started the Protestant Reformation by protesting church abuses and teaching salvation by faith and grace.

Ninety-Five Theses

A document written by Martin Luther in 1517 that attacked the Catholic Church's practice of selling indulgences.

Diet of Worms

A formal meeting in 1521 where Church and political authorities ordered Martin Luther to recant his religious ideas, which he refused to do.

Recant

To officially take back one's previously stated beliefs or ideas.

Excommunication

The official act of expelling someone from membership in the Catholic Church, as occurred with Martin Luther in 1521.

John Calvin

A Protestant leader in Geneva who developed the theological concept of predestination.

Predestination

The Calvinist doctrine that God has already determined beforehand who will be saved.

Tudors

The ruling family dynasty of England during the sixteenth century and the English Reformation.

Heir

A person who is legally entitled to inherit an office, title, or property, such as the royal throne.

Annulment

An official cancellation of a marriage, which the pope refused to grant Henry VIII for his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

Act of Supremacy

An act passed by the English Parliament in 1534 that officially made King Henry VIII the supreme head of the Church of England.

Monasteries

Religious communities where monks and nuns lived, which Henry VIII closed to seize their wealth and land.

Edward VI

The English king who ascended the throne at age 9, made the church more Protestant, and mandated services in English using the Book of Common Prayer (1549).

Mary I

The English queen who restored the Catholic Church and papal authority in England, executing approximately 300 Protestants during her reign.

Elizabeth I

The English queen who re-established England as Protestant in 1559 while retaining bishops, traditional rituals, and mandatory attendance.

Geocentric Model

The traditional Greek astronomical model claiming that Earth is the stationary center of the universe with all celestial bodies revolving around it.

Heliocentric Model

The astronomical theory proposing that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and that the Earth and other planets orbit around it.

Copernicus

The astronomer who proposed the heliocentric theory in 1543, though he incorrectly believed planetary orbits were perfect circles.

Kepler

The astronomer who demonstrated in 1609 that planetary orbits are ellipses (ovals) and that planets travel faster when closer to the Sun.

Galileo

The scientist who used a telescope in 1610 to discover 4 moons orbiting Jupiter, lunar mountains, and the phases of Venus; he was tried by the Catholic Church in 1633.

Newton

The scientist who published explanations of universal gravity and the three laws of motion in 1687.

Gravity

The attractive physical force between objects that causes items to fall to Earth and keeps celestial bodies in orbital paths.

Inertia

Newton's first law of motion stating that an object in motion will maintain its motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force.

Absolute Monarchy

A form of governance where a monarch holds near-total, unchecked political power over the state and people.

Divine Right

The political doctrine stating that a monarch's authority to rule is granted directly by God.

Natural Rights

Fundamental rights inherent to all human beings from birth, defined by John Locke as life, liberty, and property.

Consent of the Governed

The political concept that a government's legitimacy depends on receiving permission to rule from the people.

John Locke

An Enlightenment philosopher who argued for natural rights (life, liberty, property) and asserted that citizens may replace a government that violates those rights.

Voltaire

An Enlightenment thinker who campaigned for freedom of speech, religious tolerance, and the abolition of government censorship.

Rousseau

An Enlightenment philosopher known for his work on the social contract, popular sovereignty, and the concept of the general will.

Popular Sovereignty

The Enlightenment principle that legitimate political authority and power belong ultimately to the people.

General Will

Rousseau's concept describing decisions and policies that aim at the collective best interest of the entire community.