Early Modern World History: Exploration, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and Political Revolutions

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the Age of Exploration, Protestant Reformation, Scientific Revolution, English Civil War, Enlightenment philosophies, and the French Revolution based on the lecture unit notes.

Francis Drake

The first English explorer to circumnavigate the globe, completing his voyage around 1577–1580.

Commercial Revolution

A 16th-century economic shift marked by European maritime nations competing for overseas markets and colonies, the rise of new economic systems, and the evolution of mercantilism.

Prince Henry the Navigator

The Portuguese pioneer who established and promoted the study of navigation, shipbuilding, and early maritime exploration.

Mercantilism

An economic theory and system adopted by European colonial powers based on the principle that colonies exist for the economic benefit of the mother country to achieve self-sufficiency.

Vasco da Gama

The explorer who successfully headed the notable maritime voyage to find an alternate sea route from Europe to India.

Ottoman Empire

An Islamic empire originating in Asia Minor that expanded across Southwest Asia, Southeast Europe, and North Africa; it captured Constantinople, renamed it Istanbul, traded coffee and ceramics, and maintained stability under a centralized Sultan.

Mimar Sinan's Mosque

A major architectural achievement of the Ottoman Empire that contributed to the empire's prestige and longevity.

Edict of Nantes

A decree issued by the French Catholic monarchy that granted French Calvinist Protestants, known as Huguenots, freedom of worship.

Cardinal Richelieu

A French leader who shifted the focus of the Thirty Years' War from a religious conflict to a political one.

Sikhism

A monotheistic religion founded in India by Guru Nanak, centered at the holy city of Amritsar, with the Adi Granth as its holy text and the Khanda as its symbol.

Francisco Pizarro

The Spanish conquistador who sailed to South America and conquered the Incan civilization in the Andes Mountains.

Hernán Cortés

The Spanish explorer and conquistador who sailed to and explored Central America, conquering the Aztec Empire.

Bambara Empire

A West African state known for its distinctive ironworking, cultural identity, and continued practice of traditional West African religions.

Sakoku (Japanese Isolationism)

The foreign policy adopted by Japan from the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s to strictly limit and control foreign influence on Japanese society.

Columbian Exchange

The global transfer of goods, plants, animals, and diseases between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres; introduced horses, pigs, bananas, and influenza into the Americas.

Martin Luther

A German Reformation leader who taught that salvation is achieved by faith alone, the Bible is the ultimate religious authority, and all humans are equal before God.

Albrecht Dürer

A painter, printmaker, and writer widely considered one of the greatest artists and figures of the Northern Renaissance.

Jan Hus and John Wycliffe

Early religious dissenters whose challenges to Catholic Church practices and doctrines prefigured the Protestant Reformation.

Counter-Reformation

The Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation, characterized by the Council of Trent, the founding of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), and the use of the Spanish Inquisition.

Dutch Revolt

A conflict led by William of Orange in which the Netherlands sought independence from King Philip II of Spain, ending with the Peace of Westphalia and the creation of an independent Protestant nation.

Triangular Trade

A transatlantic trading network linking Europe, West Africa, and the Americas; Leg 1 brought manufactured goods from Europe to Africa, Leg 2 transported enslaved people across the Atlantic, and Leg 3 transported raw materials like sugar, tobacco, and rum from the Americas to Europe.

Middle Passage

The second leg of the Triangular Trade network, in which enslaved Africans were forcibly shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

Magna Carta

A charter signed in 1215 by King John under pressure from English nobles that established legal protections and limited the monarch's power.

Constitutional Monarchy

A system of government where a monarch serves as head of state while governing within the constraints of written law and alongside an elected parliament.

Roundheads

Supporters of Parliament and opponents of King Charles I during the English Civil War, led by Oliver Cromwell.

Royalists

Supporters of King Charles I during the English Civil War, who fought to uphold the King's supreme royal authority.

Oliver Cromwell

The commander of the Roundheads in the English Civil War who defeated the Royalists, oversaw the trial and beheading of Charles I in 1649, and governed England as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth.

The Restoration

The reestablishment of the English monarchy in 1660 when Parliament voted to invite King Charles II to return to the throne following the rule of the Commonwealth.

Glorious Revolution

The peaceful 1688–1689 transfer of the English throne to Protestants William and Mary after Catholic King James II fled to France, resulting in the establishment of a constitutional monarchy without bloodshed.

English Bill of Rights

A 1689 document signed by William and Mary that limited royal power, banned rule by divine right, protected the rights of Englishmen, and solidified Parliamentary supremacy.

Scientific Revolution

A 16th- to 18th-century movement emphasizing reason, systematic observation, measurement, and the scientific method across astronomy, physics, mathematics, and anatomy.

Nicolaus Copernicus

The Polish astronomer (1473–1543) who formulated the heliocentric theory and provided mathematical explanations of Earth's motions and precession.

Johannes Kepler

The astronomer (1571–1630) who discovered the laws of planetary motion and made significant advances in optics and telescope design.

Galileo Galilei

The Italian scientist (1564–1642) who used the telescope to gather evidence supporting the heliocentric theory and laid foundational work in physics and the study of motion.

Isaac Newton

The English physicist and mathematician (1643–1727) who published Principia Mathematica, discovering the law of universal gravitation and the three laws of motion.

William Harvey

The English physician (1578–1657) who discovered the systemic circulation of blood through the body pumped by the heart.

René Descartes

A French philosopher and mathematician known for the statement 'I think, therefore I am,' who emphasized logic, deductive reasoning, and the formalization of the scientific method.

David Hume

A Scottish Enlightenment thinker who championed empiricism (learning through experience) and advocated skepticism, questioning assumptions lacking factual proof.

Thomas Hobbes

An English political philosopher (1588–1679) who wrote Leviathan; he argued that humans in a state of nature are naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish, requiring an absolute government to maintain order.

John Locke

An English philosopher (1632–1704) who authored Two Treatises of Government, arguing that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and that government power derives solely from the consent of the governed.

Baron de Montesquieu

A French Enlightenment writer (1689–1755) who authored The Spirit of the Laws, advocating for the separation of government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent tyranny.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A Swiss-born Enlightenment philosopher (1712–1778) who wrote The Social Contract, asserting that government must carry out the General Will of the community.

Voltaire

A French Enlightenment philosopher and author of Candide who championed religious toleration, freedom of speech, fair trials, and the separation of church and state.

Johann Sebastian Bach

A prominent German composer of the Baroque musical era during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

A celebrated Austrian Classical composer of the 18th century.

Miguel de Cervantes

A Spanish writer who authored Don Quixote, widely recognized as the first modern European novel.

Eugène Delacroix

A French Romantic painter known for historical and emotional masterworks, including Liberty Leading the People.

Three Estates

The rigid social hierarchy of pre-revolutionary France, divided into the First Estate (Clergy), Second Estate (Nobility), and Third Estate (Commoners and everyone else).

Estates-General

The French representative legislative body convened in May 1789 by King Louis XVI for the first time in 175 years to resolve national bankruptcy and severe financial crises.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge taken by members of the Third Estate after being locked out of the Estates-General meeting, promising not to disband until they had drafted a new constitution for France.

Storming of the Bastille

The attack on a royal fortress and prison on July 14, 1789, by French citizens seeking gunpowder and ammunition; it serves as the symbolic spark and beginning of the French Revolution.

Reign of Terror

A radical period of the French Revolution (1793–1794) led by Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, during which over 16,000 suspected political opponents, including Marie Antoinette, were executed by guillotine.

Napoleonic Code

A comprehensive French civil legal code introduced by Napoleon Bonaparte that institutionalized French Revolutionary principles by declaring all men equal before the law.

Nationalism

A strong sense of loyalty, devotion, and national pride toward one's country, which expanded across Europe in response to the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.