Untitled Flashcards Set

disce aut discede

- Latin term that means “learn or leave.”

Black Death

- A bacterial disease that devastated many areas of the world. It’s

arrival in Europe in 1348 led to the deaths of millions and a profound

change in society.

Bubonic Plague

- A synonym for the Black Death

Constantinople

- A city first established by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 300’s

CE. It was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and later the Ottoman

Empire.

urban

- Of, or pertaining to cities.

rural

- Of, or pertaining to the countryside.

flagellants

- An extremist Catholic religious movement that believed that physical

punishment of the flesh (whipping) could atone for the sins of man.

They believed the plague was a punishment from God.

ghetto

- Originally it referred to a specific section of a European city where

Jews were allowed to reside. It was often walled off from Christian

areas.

pogrom

- Term for periodic violent attacks on the Jewish population. They were

especially prominent in Eastern Europe (Russia).

anti-Semitism

- The hatred of the Jewish population.

first-hand

- Something directly witnessed or experienced by the person relating it.

second-hand

- Something explained by someone who did not directly witness or

experience it.

Florentine

- Of, or pertaining to the Italian city of Florence.

vernacular

- Any language spoken by the general population of a region, as

opposed to Latin, the language of the Church and education.

siege

- A military tactic where an enemy is completely surrounded and starved

into submission.

Balkan Peninsula

- The vast region of southeastern Europe that includes nations such as

Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, and Serbia.

antiquity

- Of, or pertaining to anything ancient, or to a period of ancient history.

Middle Ages

- The European historical era following the fall of the Roman Empire in

476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance (1400’s).

medieval

- A synonym for the Middle Ages.

transcribe

- The action of copying by hand something written.

literate

- The ability to read.

illiterate

- Lacking the ability to read.

secular

- Anything that is not religious in its character or purpose.

classical

- Of, or pertaining to ancient Greece and/or ancient Rome.

Italian Renaissance

- A distinct period in the 1400’s and 1500’s in which there was a

renewed interest in culture, art, and learning.

papal / papacy

- Of, or pertaining to the office of the Pope of the Catholic Church.

lion’s share

- An expression that means the biggest and best portion of something.

Doge

- The title held by the man elected as ruling prince of the city of Venice.

textile

- Of, or pertaining to cloth or to the production of cloth.

Medici

- A powerful, wealthy family that dominated the politics of the city of

Florence for much of the Renaissance.

humanism

- A Renaissance intellectual movement that rejected medieval focus on

religious causes for all events and looked to Greek and Roman values

for inspiration. Humanists emphasized the potential and goodness of

man and sought rational ways to solve human problems.

oligarchy

- Any government dominated by a few wealthy people.

S’forza

- A powerful, wealthy family that dominated the politics of the city of

Milan.

mercenary

- A soldier who fights for anyone who pays for their services.

patron

- Someone who supports the arts or a specific artist.

liberal arts

- Courses of study that focus on man and his accomplishments.

skepticism

- The philosophical belief that certain knowledge is impossible, to doubt.

theology

- The study of religion.

ethics

- The study of moral principles and behavior.

Dark Ages

- A synonym for the Middle Ages.

philology

- The study of the historical development and origin of language.

Vatican

- An independent state in the heart of the city of Rome that is ruled by

the Pope. It is the center of the Catholic Church’s governing authority.

Donation of Constantine

- A medieval document that was falsely claimed to be a Roman deed

that gave the Catholic Church control over much of Western Europe.

universal truths

- Values that are common to all humanity, such as honesty and

kindness.

“Renaissance Man”

- Term coined by Castiglione to refer to the ideal man who can do

everything and do it all well.

Civic Humanism

- Renaissance intellectual movement that sought to design a more ideal

form of government, inspired by classical Greek and Roman models.

political science

- The study of different forms of government.

Christian Humanism

- Renaissance intellectual movement that focused on trying to return the

Church to earlier and more authentic practice of the faith.

Flanders

- An ancient name for a major region of modern Belgium.

Vulgate Bible

- The ancient Latin translation of the Bible used by the medieval Catholic

Church.

Northern Renaissance

- Term for the spread of the Renaissance into Northern and Western

Europe, especially Germany and the Netherlands. It was more

focused on religious issues than was the Italian Renaissance.

Low Countries

- Collective term to refer to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

hierarchical

- A societal structure that divides people into different ranks from highest

to lowest.

clergy

- The formal leaders of any given religion. Examples of clergy would be

priests, bishops, ministers, rabbis, and imams.

laymember

-someone who is a part of a faith but does not have a job within the

religion.

peasants

- One of the lower classes, they are rural, agricultural free laborers.

serfs

- One of the lower classes, they are rural, agricultural labor who are

bound to the land.

artisans

- A type of skilled worker who produces items by hand, such as a tailor,

a shoemaker, or a potter.

guild

- A medieval trade organization made up of workers from a common

industry. The guild controlled the training of new members, the quality

of goods produced, and pricing.

rationalize

- To attempt to explain or justify an action or belief that other might find

offensive.

primogeniture

- The ancient law that the first born male in a family inherited all property

and titles.

feminist

- The movement that seeks to elevate the status and opportunities for

females.

querelles de femmes

- Term for the centuries long debate about the proper role for women in

European society.

perspective

- The artistic technique of creating three-dimensional depth on a flat

surface.

contrapposto

- Artistic technique of showing a human figure with the weight on a

single limb.

Gothic

- Architectural style associated with the late-Middle Ages and often

characterized with pointed arches, flying buttresses, and the use of

stained glass windows.

New Monarchs

- Historical term for those rulers who came to power in the 1500’s and

were able to establish stronger control over their nation’s than

medieval kings ever could.

War of the Roses

- A civil war in England from 1455 – 1485 fought for control of the

throne.

Tudor

- The family that controlled the English throne from 1485 – 1603.

regicide

- The act of killing a ruling monarch.

usurper

- Term refers to someone who seizes power that does not rightfully

belong to them.

dynasty

- A succession of members of a single family who control or rule a

nation.

Moors

- A Muslim people of North African origin who conquered the Iberian

Peninsula in the Middle Ages and ruled much of the region for

centuries.

Iberian Peninsula

- Term for the geographic region of southwestern Europe that includes

the nations of Portugal and Spain.

Inquisition

- Term for religious courts set up by Catholic authorities in Spain to root

out anyone suspected of practicing the Jewish or Muslim religions.

The courts could use torture and death to enforce their power.

centralized

- The concentration of authority and control in a single person or place.

Habsburg

- The family that ruled over the Holy Roman Empire,

evangelized

- The act of preaching a religious belief in hopes of winning converts.

lucrative

- Something that is profitable or valuable.

New Monarchs

- Historical term for those rulers who came to power in the 1500’s and

were able to establish stronger control over their nation’s than

medieval kings ever could.

caravel

- Revolutionary Portuguese designed sailing ship capable of handling

the dangers of ocean voyages. The vessels utilized three triangular

sails, a rudder, and a rounded hull.

backstaff / astrolabe / sextant

- Each are tools used by navigators to track speed and location using

the sun, moon, stars, and the horizon.

portolani

- Term for ancient, medieval maps used by early explorers in the 1300’s

and 1400’s. They were highly inaccurate.

Cape of Good Hope

- The strategic passage of water at the bottom of the African continent,

marked by stormy seas caused by the meeting of the Atlantic and

Indian oceans.

Malacca

- An old name for the islands of Indonesia coveted for their spices and

strategic location.

Treaty of Tordesillas

- 1494 agreement negotiated by Pope Alexander VI that split the

unknown world between Spain and Portugal.

circumnavigate

- The act of sailing around the world.

conquistadors

- Spanish term for the soldiers who brutally conquered the New World

native population in the 1500’s.

Smallpox

- A viral infection that caused high fever and an outbreak of painful

blisters all over the body. Over 90% of the infected died.

encomienda

- These were large land grants from the Spanish king to Spanish

soldiers serving in the New World. They were given the right to

demand labor from Native Americans living there.

Middle Passage

- Term for the horrific journey of the captive African slaves across the

Atlantic to the slave markets of the New World. Millions did not survive

the voyages.

Mestizos

- A mixed race people of European and Native American blood.

Mulattos

- A mixed race people of European and African blood.

rationalize

- To attempt to explain or justify an action or belief that other might find

offensive.

relativism

- The belief that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to

culture, society, or historical context and are not absolute.

demographic

- The study of people and population.

Columbian Exchange

- Term for the back-and-forth, give-and-take relationship between

Europe and the New World. It was marked by the movement of

people, crops, and goods between both hemispheres.

bullion

- Precious metals (gold and silver) in bulk form, valued by weight.

inflation

- A general increase in prices and a decline in the purchasing power of

the money.

Price Revolution

- Term for an economic upheaval that struck Spain and then all of

Europe in the 1500’s and 1600’s. It was marked by inflation that drove

up prices.

barter

- The economic system where goods are traded for other goods without

the use of currency.

Global Economy

- Term for the beginnings of an intertwined worldwide economy that

linked the four corners of the world through the exchange of goods.

Triangle Trade

- Term for the economic relationship between Europe, Africa, and the

New World.

coffee houses

- Businesses that emerged in European cities selling coffee, sugar, and

tobacco products imported from the New World. They are good

examples of the global economy.

commercial

- A synonym for business.

commercial capitalism

- An early form of trade that focused on the movement of goods from a

place where had low value to a place where these same goods could

be sold for more. It is a forerunner of free-trade.

joint-stock corporations

- A business model that was based on shared risk and shared reward.

Shares (a portion of ownership) were sold to investors who owned a

share in the entire business.

British East Indies Company

- First chartered by Queen Elizabeth I in 1600, the company came to

dominate trade in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, and Singapore) and

Qing China. At its peak, it accounted for 50% of all world trade.

Dutch East Indies Company

- First chartered in 1602, this company is considered the world’s first

multi-national conglomerate. It built ships, and transported goods such

as Java coffee, Taiwanese sugar, Indian tea and cotton, and South

African wines.

Fuggers

- A powerful and wealthy family that dominated the banking industry in

Northern Europe, especially Germany.

bourgeoisie

- Term referring to the urban, educated middle and upper classes.

mercantilism

- The dominant economic policy of the 1500s – 1750s, it was based on

the formation of self-sufficient national economies. This was achieved

by limiting imports through high tariffs, the development of national

industries, and the acquisition of colonies. It emphasized the

amassing of bullion.

import

- A good that is brought into a country from a foreign source.

tariff

- A tax placed on imported goods to keep out foreign competition.

domestic

- Of, or pertaining to one’s own country.

free-trade

- A system of economics that rejected the theory of mercantilism. The

idea is to put as few barriers to trade as possible. The system rejects

all tariffs.

Hanseatic League- German merchant guild that formed during the middle ages

to protect their mutual trading interests