Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment Lecture Notes

Vocabulary practice cards covering the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution based on the lecture notes.

Francesco Petrarch

Often called the father of Italian Renaissance humanism.

Cosimo de Medici

Important supporter of the Renaissance; member of the wealthy family that controlled part of Italy.

Machiavelli

Renaissance author who wrote about power in his book, The Prince.

humanism

An intellectual movement of the Renaissance based on the study of the humanities, including grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, and history.

Leonardo da Vinci

A Renaissance man who was a painter, inventor, and sculptor.

Dante Alighieri

Renaissance writer known for writing the Divine Comedy.

vernacular

The language of everyday speech in a particular region.

Johannes Gutenberg

The inventor of the printing press.

fresco

A painting done on fresh, wet plaster with water-based paints.

perspective

Artistic techniques used to give the effect of three-dimensional depth to two-dimensional surfaces.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

An accomplished painter, sculptor, and architect who was a master of the High Renaissance.

Raphael Sanzio

One of Italy's best painters, admired for his numerous madonnas (paintings of Mary, the mother of Jesus).

Christian humanism

A movement in northern Europe combining classical learning with the goal of reforming the Catholic Church.

salvation

The state of being saved through faith alone or through faith and good works.

indulgences

A release from all or part of punishment for sin by the Catholic Church, reducing time in purgatory.

Frederick the Wise

Also known as $Frederick \, III$, the elector of Saxony who protected Martin Luther and amassed more than $5,000$ relics.

Martin Luther

Leader of the Reformation, author of the $95$ Theses, and founder of Lutheranism.

Erasmus

A figure who criticized the church prior to the start of the Reformation.

95 Theses

Martin Luther’s writings against the church that initiated the Reformation.

Diet of Worms

An assembly where Luther was excommunicated and declared an outlaw by King Charles V via the Edict of Worms.

Henry VIII

The monarch who broke from the Catholic Church to annul his marriage and solve personal issues.

Act of Supremacy

A declaration that made the king the most powerful secular ruler of the Church of England.

Counter Reformation

A Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation that reformed the papacy and established clear doctrines.

philosophers

People who seek wisdom or enlightenment; scholars or thinkers.

geocentric

The concept of an Earth-centered universe.

spheres

In ancient astronomy, the concentric, transparent shells in which the stars, sun, planets, and moon were set.

heliocentric

The concept of a Sun-centered universe.

Johannes Kepler

German mathematician who used astronomical data to establish his laws of planetary motion.

Galileo Galilei

Scientist who discovered mountains on the moon, four moons revolving around Jupiter, and sunspots.

Ren Descartes

French philosopher who brought a philosophical perspective to natural sciences and founded rationalism.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Mathematician who proposed the heliocentric conception in his book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres.

Universal law of gravitation

Newton's law explaining that objects are attracted to each other by gravity, keeping planetary bodies in elliptical orbits.

Robert Boyle

A pioneer in chemistry who developed Boyle's Law, stating the volume of a gas varies with the pressure exerted on it.

Margaret Cavendish

Author of Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy who critiqued the belief that humans were masters of nature through science.

rationalism

A system of thought based on the belief that reason is the chief source of knowledge.

Scientific method

A systematic procedure for collecting and analyzing evidence crucial to modern science.

inductive reasoning

The doctrine that scientists should proceed from particular observations to general principles through systematic experiments.

empiricism

The theory that says knowledge is achieved through observation.

Francis Bacon

English philosopher who promoted the scientific method and believed scientists should not rely on ancient authorities.

philosophe

The French word for “philosopher”; applied to intellectuals during the Enlightenment.

Montesquieu

A French noble who wrote The Spirit of the Laws in $1748$ to study natural laws governing social and political relationships.

Separation of powers

A government form where executive, legislative, and judicial branches limit each other through checks and balances.

Voltaire

Enlightenment thinker known for criticizing Christianity and advocating for religious toleration.

Diderot

Editor of the $28$-volume Encyclopedia designed to change the general way of thinking between $1751$ and $1772$.

Laissez faire

The economic concept that the state should leave the economy alone and not impose regulations.

Free enterprise

A system where private businesses compete with little government control.

Adam Smith

Author of The Wealth of Nations, which discussed capitalism and the economy.

Social contract

The concept that society agrees to be governed by its general will for the best of the entire community.

salons

Elegant drawing rooms where intellectuals gathered to discuss Enlightenment ideas.

profit

The amount of money left over after paying for the costs of running a business.

Industrial Revolution

Significant changes in how work was done during the $18th$ and $19th$ centuries.

Natural resource

Materials provided by nature, such as wood and fossil fuels.

locomotive

A self-propelled vehicle that runs on rails.

investor

A person who expects to make a profit by lending money to businesses.

Raw material

Matter in its natural condition.

textile

Cloth made by weaving.

import

To bring goods into a country from other places.

Internal combustion engine

An engine that burns gas to produce power.