AP European History: Chapters 12–18 Comprehensive Review

Vocabulary terms and definitions from AP European History lecture notes covering the Late Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, Absolutism, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment.

Dalimil Chronicles

The first historical work written in the Old Czech language instead of Latin, chronicling the history of Bohemia and illustrating Czech hostility toward Germans.

Statute of Laborers (English Statute of Labor)

A law passed by the English Parliament attempting to freeze workers' wages at pre-plague levels to combat the labor shortages caused by the Black Death.

Statute of Kilkenny

A set of laws enacted in Ireland prohibiting marriage between English immigrants and native Irish in an effort to maintain racial purity and prevent assimilation.

Flagellants

Medieval religious extremists who whipped and scourged themselves as penance for societal sins, believing the Black Death was God's punishment for human wickedness.

Conciliarists

Reformers who believed church authority should derive from a general council rather than solely from the pope, and advocated for shared power between state and church and personal Bible reading.

Utraquism

A theological doctrine associated with Jan Hus asserting that both bread and wine should be administered to all believers during Holy Communion.

Mudejars

Muslims who remained in Spain following the Christian Reconquista, seeking to preserve their cultural identity and live under Islamic law.

English Peasants' Revolt of 1381

A major social outburst in England provoked by rising peasant expectations combined with the reimposition of a head tax on all adult males.

Popolo

Heavily taxed, disenfranchised commoners in Renaissance Italian communes who used force to seize power and demanded political representation and equal taxation.

Court of Star Chamber

An English judicial body utilized by Tudor monarchs that used secret, unconventional tactics to curb and discipline unruly nobles.

Concordat of Bologna (1516)

An agreement between King Francis I of France and Pope Leo X allowing the French Crown to appoint bishops and abbots while conceding financial rights to the papacy.

Florence Office of the Night

A municipal task force composed of middle-aged, married men established in Renaissance Florence to investigate and suppress sodomy.

Politique

A ruler or political figure, such as Elizabeth I of England, who values state stability, unity, and central authority over strict religious orthodoxy and compromise.

Edict of Nantes (1598)

A decree issued by King Henry IV of France granting French Calvinists (Huguenots) freedom of conscience and public worship in 150 fortified towns.

Peace of Augsburg (1555)

A treaty signed by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V that officially recognized Lutheranism, allowing German princes to determine the religion of their own lands.

Peace of Westphalia (1648)

The treaties ending the Thirty Years' War that confirmed the permanent status of the Peace of Augsburg, recognized the sovereignty of over 300 German princes, acknowledged Dutch independence, and ceded Alsace to France.

Council of Trent (1545–1563)

A series of Catholic ecumenical gatherings aimed at reforming clergy discipline, reaffirming the seven sacraments, suppressing heresy, and defending traditional doctrine.

Transubstantiation

The Roman Catholic doctrine asserting that the bread and wine consecrated during the Eucharist physically transform into the actual body and blood of Christ.

Consubstantiation

The Protestant Eucharistic doctrine, favored by Martin Luther, stating that the bread and wine undergo a spiritual change rather than a physical alteration.

Predestination

John Calvin's theological teaching that God has already determined the eternal fate and salvation of every soul prior to human action.

Noblesse de Robe

The newer French judicial nobility ('nobility of the robe') made up of educated bourgeois individuals who purchased government and judicial offices.

Raison d'État

A political doctrine championed by Cardinal Richelieu stating that the survival and welfare of the state supersede all moral and legal constraints.

Mercantilism

A collection of state economic regulations designed by Jean-Baptiste Colbert to maximize national gold reserves by promoting exports and minimizing imports.

English Navigation Act (1651)

Legislation enacted under Oliver Cromwell mandating that all goods imported into England be transported exclusively on English ships.

Paulette

An annual fee or tax introduced in France under Henry IV that royal officials paid to make their government positions hereditary.

Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659)

The treaty ending the Franco-Spanish War in which Spain ceded substantial territories to France, signifying the decline of Spanish dominance in Europe.

The Protectorate

The military dictatorship in England established and ruled by Oliver Cromwell following the execution of Charles I.

Millets

Self-governing religious communities in the Ottoman Empire that collected their own taxes, preserved legal codes, and maintained order under leaders loyal to the sultan.

Pragmatic Sanction

A dynastic law formulated by Charles VI stating that all Habsburg lands must remain undivided and pass intact to a single heir, male or female.

Junkers

The aristocratic, landowning nobility of Prussia who controlled provincial estates and held the power to consent to taxes.

Boyars

The highest-ranking members of the Russian landed aristocracy who possessed hereditary estates and occasionally rivaled the power of the tsars.

Cossacks

Autonomous groups of Russian peasants and outlaws who fled south and east, forming free warrior communities that frequently clashed with the centralized state.

Time of Troubles (1598–1613)

A chaotic period of political instability, foreign intervention, and civil strife in Russia following the death of Ivan the Terrible's heir, Theodore.

Empiricism

A philosophy of inductive reasoning formalized by Francis Bacon requiring that knowledge be based on direct observation and systematic experimentation rather than theoretical speculation.

Cartesian Dualism

René Descartes's philosophical principle dividing all existence into two fundamental substances: physical matter and the spiritual or thinking mind.

Tabula Rasa

John Locke's epistemological concept from Essay Concerning Human Understanding asserting that humans are born with a blank mind shaped entirely by education and experience.

General Will

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's political doctrine describing the common, long-term interests of the sovereign citizenry, distinct from majority consensus and sometimes articulated by a minority.

Parlements

The thirteen high judicial appellate courts in France that possessed the power to evaluate royal decrees and veto royal laws and tax measures.

Edict of 1749

A French financial law enacted after the War of the Austrian Succession that levied a direct 5% income tax on every subject regardless of their noble or social status.