Basic Terms Flashcards
Anti-clericalism
Hostility to, and unpopularity of, the church and its priests
Anglo-Catholicism
English Catholic Church set up in 1534 with King Henry VIII as the head
Arable
Farming land set aside for the growing of crops
Bondmen
Peasant farmers who had no freedom to choose where they lived and worked. They were tied to the manor on which they were born and brought up
Book of Homilies
A book containing a list of sermons and other religious tracts for use in daily worship
Burgesses
The most powerful members of a town’s citizens. They were often descended from a the town’s original founders and they also tended to hold the most important offices in the town’s administration
Calvinism
The influence and religious ideas and teachings of John Calvin of Geneva, a radical Protestant religious reformer who attacked the Catholic church’s wealth and privileges
Chancellor
Senior minister in the royal government who had control of the Great Seal used to authenticate and give legal force to laws
Chantries
Small religious houses endowed with lands to support one of more priests whose duty it was to sing masses for the souls of the deceased founder of members of the founding organisation
Christian humanism
The teaching of the original classical texts in their original Latin and Greek, and the study of the humanities as the basis of civilised life
Commonwealth
A community of shared interests where everyone, in theory, works for the common good
Consubstantiation
The belief that the sacramental bread and wine given by the priest to parishioners in church were a symbolic representation of the body and blood of Christ and therefore remained unchanged at communion
Convocation
An assembly of clergy that discussed Church matters, passed Church laws and regulated the way that the church was run
Cottagers
Poorer peasant farmers who were obliged to work on landowner’s land either for free or for a fixed some or money
Counter-reformation
Catholic reaction against the spread of Protestantism. Led by the Pope, the Catholic Church attempted to reconvert Protestants and bring them back to the Catholic faith
Craft guilds
Similar to trade unions, formed to protect and promote the particular trade of members
Debasement of the coinage
A process whereby the government tried to preserve its gold and silver reserves by reducing the amount of precious metal that went into making coins
Deflation
The reduction of the amount of money in circulation in order to increase its value
Diocese
A district under pastoral care of a bishop
Divine right
Belief that monarchs were chosen by God to rule the kingdom and that their word was law. To challenge their right to rule was the same as challenging God
Enclosure
The enclosing of lands by fences or hedges in order to divide large, open fields into smaller more manageable units
Entry fines
A custom by which a fixed sum of money was paid on taking up a tenancy by inheritance or by sale
Eucharist
The Christian sacrament commemorating the Last Supper in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed
Husbandmen
Tenant-farmers who rented their land from the local landowners