Ch 15 Flashcards
Louis XIV
Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715.
Peter the great
A Russian czar of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries who tried to transform Russia from a backward nation into a progressive one by introducing customs and ideas from western European countries.
William the great elector
Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death
Czar
an emperor of Russia before 1917.
Abolitionism
The belief that slavery should be abolished. In the early nineteenth century, increasing numbers of people in the northern United States held that the nation’s slaves should be freed immediately, without compensation to slave owners.
Boyar
a member of the old aristocracy in Russia, next in rank to a prince.
Ivan iv
Ivan IV Vasilyevich, commonly known as Ivan the Terrible or Ivan the Fearsome, was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547, then “Tsar of All the Russias” until his death in 1584. The last title was used by all his successors.
Divine right
The doctrine that kings and queens have a God-given right to rule and that rebellion against them is a sin. This belief was common through the seventeenth century and was urged by such kings as Louis xiv of France. (See absolute monarchy.)
Henry iv
Henry of Bolingbroke /ˈbɒlɪŋbrʊk/, born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, was King Henry IV of England and Lord of Ireland from 1399 to 1413, and asserted the claim of his grandfather, Edward III, to the Kingdom of France.
War of Spanish succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a major European conflict of the early 18th century, triggered by the death in 1700 of the last Habsburg King of Spain, the infirm and childless Charles II.
Thirty years war
The Thirty Years’ War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million casualties.
Catherine the great
An empress of Russia in the late eighteenth century who encouraged the cultural influences of western Europe in Russia and extended Russian territory toward the Black Sea. She is also known for her amorous intrigues, including affairs with members of her government.
Window to the west
It was, in Peter the Great’s terms, enlightened, his big and bright window on the western world. Until the founding of St Petersburg, Russia had seemed, at least to western Europe, a rather frightening Byzantine labyrinth.
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg
Pragmatic sanction
dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.
