Chapter 11- The Transformation of Europe- Vocab Flashcards
Absolutism
Political philosophy that stressed the divine right theory of kingship: the French king Louis XIV was the classic example.
Anglicans
A Christian tradition born out of the Protestant Reformation; the Church of England.
Calvinists
Followers of Calvin, expected to dress simply, study the Bible regularly, and refrain from worldly activities.
Capitalism
An economic system with origins in early modern Europe in which private parties make their goods and services available on a free market.
Carolingian
Germanic dynasty that was named after its most famous member, Charlemagne.
Catherine the Great
1729–1796 C.E. Catherine II was the longest-serving female ruler of Russia (from 1762 to 1796). She came to power by overthrowing her husband, Peter III, in a coup.
Catholic Reformation
Sixteenth-century Catholic attempt to cure internal ills and confront Protestantism; it was inspired by the reforms of the Council of Trent and the actions of the Jesuits.
Charles V
Reigned 1519–1556. Emperor who inherited the Hapsburg family’s Austrian territories as well as the Kingdom of Spain. When he became emperor in 1519, his empire stretched from Austria to Peru.
Constitutional States
States where England had a constitutional monarchy and the Netherlands had a representative republic. This government strengthened the state and enabled merchants to flourish like never before.
Council of Trent
1545–1563. Assembly of high Roman Catholic church officials which met over a period of years to institute reforms in order to increase morality and improve the preparation of priests.
Émilie du Châtelet
A female scientist living from 1706 to 1749 who worked with German mathematician Gottfried Libniz and translated Isaac Netwon’s monumental work and explained his complex mathematics in graceful prose.
English Civil War
1642–1649. A series of armed conflicts between the English crown and the English Parliament over political and religious differences.
Galileo Galilei
1564–1642 C.E. Italian astronomer, engineer, and physicist from the town of Pisa, whose observations had a huge impact on the development of modern science.
Glorious Revolution
1688–1689. The events that led to the replacement of the Catholic English King James II by his Protestant daughter Mary II and her Dutch husband William of Orange.
Habsburgs
A family with extensive dynastic holdings in Austria that dominated the Holy Roman Empire after 1438.
Isaac Newton
1643–1727 C.E. English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer who played a key role in the Scientific Revolution.
Johannes Gutenberg
German Inventor in the early 1400s that introduced printing to Europe and invented mechanical movable type printing. He translated the Bible into German, stimulating the spread of religious books.
Johannes Kepler
A German scientist (1571-1630) that demonstrated that planetary orbits are elliptical, not circular as in Ptolemaic theory.
Joint-Stock Companies
Early forerunner of the modern corporation; individuals who invested in a trading or exploring venture could make huge profits while limiting their risk.
Louis XIV
1638–1715 C.E. Also known as the Sun King, his seventy-two-year reign was the longest of any monarch in European history.
Martin Luther
1483–1546. German monk and Catholic priest who became a critical figure in what became known as the Protestant Reformation after challenging the corruption of the church in his Ninety-Five Theses, published 1517.
Nicolaus Copernicus
1473–1543 C.E. Polish astronomer who theorized that the Sun, rather than the Earth, lay at the center of the universe.
Ninety-Five Theses
A document published by Martin Luther in 1517 that denounced the sale of indulgences.
Peace of Westphalia
A treatise in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years’ War that laid the foundation for a system of Independent, competing states in Europe (recognizing each other as sovereign and equal).
Peter the Great
Reigned 1682–1725. Russian tsar of the Romanov family who sought to modernize Russia based on the model established by western European states.
Protestant Reformation
Sixteenth-century European movement during which Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and others broke away from the Catholic church.
Protoindustrialization
Also called the “putting- out system,” in which entrepreneurs delivered raw materials to families in the countryside, who would then spin and weave the materials into garments. The entrepreneurs would then pick up the garments, pay the families, and sell them on the market.
Ptolemaic Universe
A conception of the universe based on the work of Greek Scholar Ptolemy of a motionless earth surrounded by hollow spheres that revolved around it.
Richelieu
A prominent cardinal who served as minister to King Louis XIII from 1624 to 1642 who worked systematically to undermine the nobility and enhance the king’s power by crushing aristocratic conspiracies and building a large bureaucracy staffed by loyal commoners.
Romanov
Russian dynasty (1610–1917) founded by Mikhail Romanov and ending with Nicholas II.
Scientific Revolution
A reliance on observation and mathematics that transformed the study of the natural world in the 16th and 17th centuries that replaced the existing Greek views.
Serfdom
Peasants who, though not chattel slaves, were tied to the land and who owed obligation to the lords on whose land they worked.
Society of Jesus
Members of this society started by St. Ignatius in 1540 had to complete a rigorous and advanced education, serving as counselors to rulers and promoting Roman Catholic policies.
Spanish Inquisition
Institution organized in 1478 by Fernando and Isabel of Spain to detect heresy and the secret practice of Judaism or Islam.
St. Ignatius Loyola
1491–1556 C.E. A Basque nobleman and soldier who later devoted his life to religion and founded the missionary Society of Jesus (the Jesuits).
Thirty Years’ War
A massive continental conflict (1618-1648) opening after the Holy Roman empire tried to force his subjects into Catholicism. This war damaged lives, economies, and societies throughout Europe and was the most destructive European conflict before the 20th century.
Versailles
Palace of French King Louis XIV.
Witch-hunts
Period in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in which about 110,000 people (mainly women) were tried as witches in western Europe.
Yemelian Pugachev
Soldier who mounted an uprising in the steppes north of the Caspian Sea against the government in 1773.
