Unit 1

Petrarch

known as the “Father of Humanism”

Lorenzo Valla

proved that the Donation of Constantine, used by Catholic Church to prove it held political power, was a forgery

Pico dell Mirandola

wrote “Oration on the Dignity of Man”

Erasmus

wrote In Praise of Folly and criticized the Catholic Church

Leonardo Bruni

has been called the first modern historian

Leon Battista Alberti

was the ideal Renaissance man

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Flemish Renaissance painter and printmaker most famous for detailed landscapes and vivid painting of everyday life

Treaty of Tordesillas

treaty that gave Spanish the right to claim all non-Christian lands west, and Portuguese the right to claim non-Christian lands east

Hernan Cortes

conquered Aztec Empire and much of mainland Mexico for Spain

Bartolome de Las Casas

Spanish Dominican friar who advocated against the brutal enslavement and exploitation of the Indigenous peoples in the Americas

Encomienda System

system where Indigenous were forced into labor for the Spanish in return for protection and spiritual support

Mercantilism

trade is strictly regulated by governments to increase national wealth and power

Francisco Pizarro

conquered Inca Empire

The Commercial Revolution

shift in European society moving from local farming to global trade