Untitled Flashcards Set

The Black Death

Bubonic plague that peaked in Europe from 1347 to 1351, killing up to 50% of the population.

Jacquerie

A violent peasant revolt in France in 1358 as a response to taxation and feudal abuses.

English Peasants' Revolt

A major uprising in 1381 against poll taxes and feudal oppression, led by Wat Tyler and John Ball.

Dance of Death

An artistic motif from the late 14th century depicting Death summoning people from all walks of life.

Dante Alighieri

Italian poet and political thinker, author of The Divine Comedy, who died in 1321.

Geoffrey Chaucer

The author of The Canterbury Tales, recognized as the father of English literature.

Renaissance

Cultural revival from the 14th to the 16th centuries focusing on classical art, literature, and philosophy.

Petrarch

Italian poet and scholar known as the Father of Humanism who lived from 1304 to 1374.

Renaissance Humanism

Intellectual movement emphasizing human potential and classical learning from the 14th to the 16th centuries.

Leon Battista Alberti

Renaissance architect who promoted proportion and harmony in architecture.

Niccolò Machiavelli

Florentine political theorist and author of The Prince, known for pragmatic rule advice.

Baldassare Castiglione

Author of The Book of the Courtier, defining the ideal Renaissance gentleman.

Chiaroscuro

Artistic technique using light and shadow to create depth in painting.

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian polymath and master artist known for works like The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa.

Michelangelo

Florentine artist known for his sculpture of David and the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Il Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore)

Florence cathedral known for its innovative dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi.

Reorientation of Western Powers

The shift in European focus from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and overseas exploration.

End of the Byzantines

The fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 conquered by Ottoman Turks.

Reconquista

The Christian reconquest of Spain from Muslim rule culminating in 1492.

Ferdinand and Isabella

Catholic monarchs who united Spain and completed the Reconquista.

Printing Revolution

The spread of movable-type printing initiated by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century.

Erasmus

Dutch humanist scholar and reformer known for his work In Praise of Folly.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds after 1492.

Indentured Servitude

Labor system in which individuals worked to pay off their passage to the New World.