17: The Transformation of the West, 1450-1750

Question 1

humanism

Answer 1

-Focus on humankind as center of intellectual and artistic endeavor; method of study that emphasized the superiority of classical forms over medieval styles, in particular the study of ancient languages.

Question 2

Northern Renaissance

Answer 2

-Cultural and intellectual movement of northern Europe; began later than Italian Renaissance c. 1450; centered in France, Low Countries, England, and Germany; featured greater emphasis on religion than Italian Renaissance.

Question 3

Francis I

Answer 3

-King of France in the 16th century; regarded as Renaissance monarch; patron of arts; imposed now controls on Catholic church; ally of Ottoman sultan against Holy Roman Emperor.

Question 4

Gutenberg, Johannes

Answer 4

-Introduced movable type to western Europe in 15th century; credited with greatly expanded availability of printed books and pamphlets.

Question 5

European-style family

Answer 5

-Originated in 15th century among peasants and artisans of western Europe, featuring late marriage age, emphasis on the nuclear family, and a large minority who never married.

Question 6

Luther, Martin

Answer 6

-German monk; initiated Protestant Reformation in 1517 by nailing 95 theses to door of Wittenberg church; emphasized primacy of faith over works stressed in Catholic beliefs in 1517; included many varieties of religious beliefs.

Question 7

Protestantism

Answer 7

-General wave of religious dissent against Catholic church; generally held to have begun with Martin Luther’s attack on Catholic beliefs in 1517; included many varieties of religious belief.

Question 8

Anglican church

Answer 8

-Form of Protestantism set up in England after 1534; established by Henry VIII with himself as head, at least part to obtain a divorce form his first wife; became increasingly Protestant following Henry’s death.

Question 9

Calvin, Jean

Answer 9

-French Protestant who stressed doctrine of predestination; established center of his group at Swiss canton of Geneva; encouraged ideas of wider access to government, wider public education, Calvinism spread from Switzerland to northern Europe and North America.

Question 10

Catholic Reformation

Answer 10

-Restatement of traditional Catholic beliefs in response to Protestant Reformation; established councils that revived Catholic doctrine and refuted Protestant beliefs.

Question 11

Jesuits

Answer 11

-A new religious order founded during the Catholic Reformation; active in politics, education, and missionary work; sponsored missions to South America, North America, and Asia.

Question 12

edict of Nantes

Answer 12

-Grant of tolerance to Protestants in France in 1598; granted only after lengthy civil war between Catholic and Protestant factions.

Question 13

Thirty Years War

Answer 13

-War within the Holy Roman Empire between German Protestants and their allies (Sweden, Denmark, France) and the emperor and his ally, Spain; ended in 1648 after great destruction with Treaty of Westphalia.

Question 14

Treaty of Westphalia

Answer 14

-Ended Thirty Years War in 1648; granted right to individual rulers within the Holy Roman Empire to choose their own religion— either Protestant or Catholic.

Question 15

English Civil War

Answer 15

-Conflict from 1640 to 1660; featured religious disputes mixed with constitutional issues concerning the powers of the monarchy; ended with restoration of the monarchy in 1660 following execution of previous king.

Question 16

proletariat

Answer 16

-Class of working people without access to producing property; typically manufacturing workers, paid laborers in agricultural economy, or urban poor; in Europe, product of economic changes of 16th and 17th centuries.

Question 17

witchcraft perescution

Answer 17

-Reflected resentment against the poor, uncertainties about religious truth; resulted in death of over 100,000 Europeans between 1590 and 1650; particularly common in Protestant areas.

Question 18

Machiavelli, Niccolo

Answer 18

-Author of The Prince; emphasized realistic discussions of how to seize and maintain power; one of most influential authors of Italian Renaissance.

Question 19

Scientific Revolution

Answer 19

-Culminated in 17th century; period of empirical advances associated with the development of wider theoretical generalizations; resulted in change of traditional beliefs of Middle Ages.

Question 20

Copernicus

Answer 20

-Polish monk and astronomer; disproved Hellenistic belief that the earth was at the center of the universe.

Question 21

Johannes Kepler

Answer 21

-Was an astronomer and mathematician who was a prominent figure in the scientific revolution.

Question 22

Galileo

Answer 22

-Published Copernicus’s findings; added own discoveries concerning laws of gravity and planetary motion; condemned by the Catholic Church for his work.

Question 23

Harvey, William

Answer 23

-English physician who demonstrated circular movement of blood in animals, function of heart as pump.

Question 24

Francis Bacon

Answer 24

-Was an English philosopher, statesman, author, and scientist. He was an influential member of the scientific revolution, and is best known for his work on the scientific method.

Question 25

Descartes, Rene

Answer 25

-Established importance of skeptical review of all received wisdom; argued that human reason could then develop laws that would explain the fundamental workings of nature.

Question 26

Newton, Issac

Answer 26

-English scientist; author of Principia; drew together astronomical and physical observations and wider theories into a neat framework of natural laws; established principles of motion; defined forces of gravity.

Question 27

Deism

Answer 27

-Concept of God current during the Scientific Revolution; role of divinity was to set natural laws in motion, not to regulate once process was begun.

Question 28

Locke, John

Answer 28

-English philosopher who argued that people could learn everything through senses and reason and that power of government came from the people, not divine right of kings; offered possibility to overthrow tyrants.

Question 29

absolute monarchy

Answer 29

-Concept of government developed during the rise of nation-states in western Europe during the 17th century; featured monarchs who passes laws without parliaments, appointed professionalized armies and bureaucracies, established state churches, imposed state economic policies.

Question 30

Louis XIV

Answer 30

-French monarch of the late 17th century who personified absolute monarchy.

Question 31

Glorious Revolution

Answer 31

-English overthrow of James II in 1688; resulted in affirmation of parliament as having basic sovereignty over the king.

Question 32

parliamentary monarchy

Answer 32

-Originated in England and Holland, 17th century, with kings partially checked by significant legislative powers in parliaments.

Question 33

Frederick the Great

Answer 33

-Prussian king of the 18th century; attempted to introduce Enlightenment reforms into Germany; built on military and bureaucratic foundations of his predecessors; introduced freedom of religion; increased state control of economy.

Question 34

Enlightenment

Answer 34

-Intellectual movement centered in France during the 18th century; featured scientific advance, application of scientific methods to study of human society; belief that rational laws could describe social behavior.

Question 35

Smith, Adam

Answer 35

-Established liberal economics; argued that government should avoid regulation of economy in favor of the operation of market forces.

Question 36

Denis Diderot

Answer 36

-A French Enlightenment figure best known for his work on the first encyclopedia.

Question 37

Wollstonecraft, Mary

Answer 37

-Enlightenment feminist thinker in England; argued that new political rights should extend to women.

Question 38

mass consumerism

Answer 38

-Mass consumerism refers to the spread of deep interest in acquiring material goods with a growing economic capacity to afford some of these goods. While hints of mass consumerism can be found in several premodern societies, it developed most clearly, beginning in Western Europe, from the 18th century onward.