AP European History Glossary Overview

Dante Alighieri

Italian poet wrote Inferno and Divine Comedy.

Alexander VI

(1492-1503) Corrupt Spanish pope. He was aided militarily and politically by his son Cesare Borgia, who was the hero of The Prince.

Diet of Worms

Assembly of the estates of the empire, called by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Donatello

(1386-1466) Sculptor. Probably exerted greatest influence of any Florentine artist before Michelangelo. His statues expressed an appreciation of the incredible variety of human nature.

Boccaccio

(1313-1375) Wrote the Decameron which tells about ambitious merchants, portrays a sensual, and worldly society.

Botticelli

One of the leading painters of the Florentine renaissance, developed a highly personal style. The Birth of Venus.

Erasmus

(1466?-1536) Dutch Humanist, religious education. Wrote Praise of Folly.

Brunelleschi

(1377-1446) Italian architect, celebrated for work during Florentine Renaissance. He was anti-Gothic. Foundling Hospital in Florence.

Friar Girolamo Savonarola

(1452-1498) Dominican friar who attacked paganism and moral vice of Medici and Alexander VI. Burned at the stake in Florence.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

(1475-1564) Worked in Rome. Painted the Sistine Chapel. Sculpted the statue of David.

Giotto

(1276-1337) Florentine Painter who led the way in the use of realism.

Castiglione

Wrote The Courtier which was about education and manners and had a great influence. It said that an upper class, educated man should know many academic subjects and should be trained in music, dance, and art.

Humanism

Studied the Latin classics to learn what they reveal about human nature. Emphasized human beings, their achievements, interests, and capabilities.

Cinquecento

The 1500's.

Individualism

Individualism stressed personality, uniqueness, genius, and the fullest development of capabilities and talents.

Jacob Fugger

Headed leading banking, and trading house in 16th century Europe.

Julius II

r. (1503-1513) Pope - very militaristic. Tore down the old Saint Peter's Basilica and began work on the present structure in 1506.

Montaigne

(1533-1592) The finest representative of early modern skepticism. Created a new genre, the essay.

Sir Thomas More

(1478-1535) Englishman, lawyer, politician, Chancellor for Henry VIII. Wrote Utopia which presented a revolutionary view of society. Executed for not compromising his religious beliefs.

Leonardo Da Vinci

(1452-1519) Artist who made religious paintings and sculptures like the Last Supper.

Lorenzo de Medici

r(1469-1492) The Medici's were a great banking family in Florence in the 15th century. Ruled government of Florence from behind the scene.

"New Monarchs"

Monarchies that took measures to limit the power of the Roman Catholic Church within their countries.

Lorenzo Valla

(1406-1457) On Pleasure, and On false Donation of Constantine. Father of modern historical criticism.

Pazzi Conspiracy

Conspiracy to overthrow the Medici's.

Petrarch

(1304-1374) Father of the Renaissance. He believed the first two centuries of the Roman Empire to represent the peak in the development of human civilization.

Niccolo Machiavelli

(1469-1527) Wrote The Prince which contained a secular method of ruling a country. "End justifies the means."

Quattrocento

The 1400's.

Miguel De Cervantes

(1547-1616) Spanish writer. Wrote Don Quixote.

Rabelais

French satirical author.

Don Quixote

Wrote Don Quixote.

Gargantua and Pantagruel

Wrote Gargantua and Pantagruel.

Pico Della Mirandola

Wrote On the Dignity of Man which stated that man was made in the image of God.

Renaissance Man

A man that is multitalented and is well educated.

Revival of antiquity

The awakening from the dark ages and the focusing on the Roman's.

Secularism

The belief in material things instead of religious things.

Edict of Nantes

1598 - Granted the Huguenots liberty of conscience and worship.

Vernacular

Everyday language of a specific nation.

Virtu

The striving for excellence. Humanistic aspect of Renaissance.

Excommunication

When a person is kicked out of the Catholic church.

Reformation

The movement for religious reform.

Huguenots

French Calvinists.

Act of Supremacy

Declared the king the supreme head of the Church of England.

Ignatius Loyola

Founded the Society of Jesus, resisted the spread of Protestantism, Spiritual Exercises.

Anglicanism

Upholding to the teachings of the Church of England as defined by Elizabeth I.

Indulgences

Selling of these was common practice by the Catholic church, corruption that led to reformation.

Baroque

Style in art and architecture developed in Europe from about 1550 to 1700, emphasizing dramatic, curving forms, elaborate ornamentation, and overall balance of disparate parts.

The Institutes of Christian Religion

Written by John Calvin.

Thomas Cranmer

Prepared the First Book of Common Prayer.

Jesuits

Members of the Society of Jesus, staunch Catholics. Led by Loyola.

Consubstantiation

The bread and wine undergo a spiritual change.

Johann Tetzel

The leading seller of Indulgences. Infuriated Luther.

Council of Trent

Called by Pope Paul III to reform the church and secure reconciliation with the Protestants. Lutherans and Calvinists did not attend.

John Calvin

Theological writings profoundly influenced religious thoughts of Europeans. Developed Calvinism at Geneva. Wrote Institutes of Christian Religion.

Defenestration of Prague

The throwing of Catholic officials from a castle window in Bohemia. Started the Thirty Years' War.

John Huss

Bohemian religious reformer whose efforts to reform the church eventually fueled the Protestant Reformation.

Theocracy

A community in which the state is subordinate to the church.

Thomas Wolsey

Cardinal, highest ranking church official and lord chancellor. Dismissed by Henry VIII for not getting the pope to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

John Knox

Dominated the movement for reform in Scotland. Had been taught in Geneva by Calvin.

John Wycliffe

(c.1328-1384) Forerunner to the Reformation. Created English Lollardy. Attacked the corruption of the clergy, and questioned the power of the pope.

Martin Luther

95 Thesis, posted in 1517, led to religious reform in Germany, denied papal power and absolutist rule. Claimed there were only 2 sacraments: baptism and communion.

St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre

Mass slaying of Huguenots (Calvinists) in Paris, on Saint Bartholomew's Day, 1572.

Peace of Westphalia

Treaty that ended the Thirty Years' War (1648) and readjusted the religious and political affairs of Europe.

War of the Three

French civil war because the Holy League vowed to bar Henri of Navarre from inheriting the French throne.

Predestination

Calvin's religious theory that God has already planned out a person's life.

Simony

The selling of church offices.

Thirty Years War

1618-1648 War that took place mostly in Germany resulting in widespread death and destruction involving most states in Europe.

Exploration

That spurred the growth of Portugal's colonial empire.

Sir Francis Drake

English sea captain, robbed Spanish treasure ships; 'singed the king beard'; involved in the armada.

Ferdinand Magellan

(1480?-1521) Portuguese navigator. While trying to find a western route to Asia, he was killed in the Philippines (1521). One of his ships returned to Spain (1522), thereby completing the first circumnavigation of the globe.

Bartholomew Diaz

(1487-1488) Portuguese, first European to reach the southern tip of Africa.

Conquistadores

Spanish 'conqueror' or soldier in the new World.

Northwest Passage

A water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific through northern Canada and along the northern coast of Alaska. Sought by navigators since the 16th century.

John Cabot

Italian-born navigator explored the coast of New England, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Gave England a claim in North America.

Sir Walter Raleigh

(1552?-1618) English courtier, navigator, colonizer, and writer. A favorite of Elizabeth I, he introduced tobacco and the potato to Europe. Convicted of treason by James I, he was released for another expedition to Guiana and executed after its failure.

Pedro Cabral

Claimed Brazil for Portugal.

Entrepot

Big commercial center for importing and exporting commodities.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Set the Line of Demarcation which was a boundary established in 1493 to define Spanish and Portuguese possessions in the Americas.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

Monarchs who united Spain; responsible for the reconquista.

Encomienda

Indians were required to work a certain number of days for a land owner, but had their own land to work as well.

Giovanni de Verrazano

(1485?-1528?) Italian explorer of the Atlantic coast of North America.

Vasco da Gama

Sailed from Portugal for India.

Prince Henry the Navigator

(1394-1460) Prince of Portugal who established an observatory and school of navigation at Sagres and directed voyages.

Absolutism

When sovereignty is embodied in the person of the ruler.

Bill of Rights

1689, no law can be suspended by the king; no taxes raised; no army maintained except by parliamentary consent. Established after The Glorious Revolution.

Jules Mazarin

Became a cardinal in 1641, succeeded Richelieu and dominated the power in French government.

Cardinal Richelieu

Became President of the Council of ministers and the first minister of the French crown.

Louis XIII

Influenced by Richelieu to exult the French monarchy as the embodiment of the French state.

William Laude

Archbishop of Canterbury, tried to impose elaborate ritual and rich ceremonies on all churches. Insisted on complete uniformity of the church and enforced it through the Court of High Commission.

Jean-Babtiste Colbert

An advisor to Louis XIV who proved himself a financial genius who managed the entire royal administration.

Constitutionalism

Limitation of government by law, developed in times of absolutism.

Leviathan

Written by English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, maintained that sovereignty is ultimately derived from the people, who transfer it to the monarchy by implicit contract.

Oliver Cromwell

As Lord Protector of England he used his army to control the government and constituted military dictatorship.

French Classicism

Art, literature, and advancements of the age of Louis XIV.

Louis XIV

King of France who ruled as an absolute monarch, even as a child.

Fronde

1648-53. Brutal civil wars that struck France during the reign of Louis XIV.

John Locke

Believed people were born like blank slates and the environment shapes development (tabula rasa). Wrote Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and Second Treatise of Government.

Thomas Hobbes

Leading secular exponent of absolutism and unlimited sovereignty of the state.

Absolutism

Produced civil peace and rule of law.

Sun King

Louis XIV had the longest reign in European history. Helped France to reach its peak of absolutist development.

Mercantilism

The philosophy that a state's strength depends upon its wealth.