Key Terms Flashcards
Humanism
The scholarly interest in the study of classical text, values, and styles of Greek and Rome. Humanism contributed to the promotion of a liberal arts education based on the study of classics, rhetoric, and history.
Christian Humanism
A branch of humanism associated with northern Europe. Like their Italian counterparts, the Christian humanists closely study classical text. However, they also sought to give humanism a specifically Christian context. Christian humanist like does the Desiderius Erasmus were committed to a religious piety and institutional reform.
Vernacular
The every day language of a region or country. Miguel de Cervantes, Geoffrey Chaucer, Dante, and Martin Luther all encouraged the development of their national languages by writing in the vernacular. Desiderius Erasmus, however, continue to write in Latin.
New Monarchs
European monarchs who created professional armies and a more centralized administrative bureaucracy. The new monarchs also negotiated a new relationship with the Catholic Church. Key new monarchs include Charles VII, Louis XI, Henry VII, and Ferdinand and Isabella.
Taille
A direct tax on the French peasantry. The taille was one of the most important sources of income for the French monarchs until the French revolution.
Reconquista
The centuries long Christian “reconquest” of Spain from the Muslims. The Reconquista culminated in 1492 with the conquest of the last Muslim stronghold, Granada.
Indulgence
If certificate granted by the pope in return for the payment of the fee to the church. The certificate stated that the soul of the dead relative or friend of the purchaser would have his time in purgatory reduced by many years or cancelled altogether.
Anabaptist
Protestants who insisted that only adult baptism conformed to Scripture. Protestant and Catholic leaders condemned Anabaptist for advocating the complete separation of church and state.
Predestination
Doctrine espoused by John Calvin that God has known since the beginning of time who will be saved and who will be damned. Calvin declared that “by an internal and immutable counsel, God has once and for all determined, both whom he would admit to salvation, and whom he would condemn to distruction.”
Huguenots
French Protestants who follow the teachings of John Calvin.
Politiques
Rulers who put political necessities above personal believes. For example, both Henri IV of France and Elizabeth I of England subordinated theological controversies in order to achieve political unity.
Columbian exchange
The interchange of plants, animals, diseases, and human populations between the old world and the New World.
Mercantilism
Economic philosophy that called for clothes government regulations of the economy. Mercantilist theory emphasize building a strong, self-sufficient economy by maximizing exports and limiting imports. Mercantilists supported the acquisition of colonies as sources of raw materials and markets for finished goods. This favorable balance of trade would enable a country to accumulate reserves of gold and silver.
Putting out system
A pre-industrial manufacturing system in which an entrepreneur would bring raw materials to rural people who worked on them in their own homes. For example, watch manufactures in Swiss towns employed villagers to make parts for their product. The system enabled entrepreneurs to avoid restrictive guild regulations.
Joint stock company
A business arrangement in which many investors raise money for a venture too large for any of them to undertake a loan. They share the profits in proportion to the amount they invest. English entrepreneurs used joint stock companies to finance it establishment of New World colonies.
Absolutism
A system of government in which the ruler claim soul and uncontestable power. Absolute monarchs were not limited by constitutional restraints.
Divine right of kings
The idea that rulers receive their authority from God and are answerable only to God. Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, A French bishop in court preacher to Louis XIV, provided The theological justification for the divine right of kings by declaring that “the state of monarchy is the supremists thing on earth, for kings are not only gods lieutenants upon earth and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God himself are called gods. In the Scriptures kings are called gods, and their power is compared to the divine right powers.”
Intendants
French royal officials who supervise provincial governments in the name of the king. And tendons played a key role in establishing French absolutism.
Fronde
A series of rebellions against royal authority in France between 1649 and 1652. The Fronde played a key role in Louis XIV’s decision to leave Paris and build the Versailles palace.
Robot
System of forced labor juice and Eastern Europe. Peasants usually owed three or four days a week of forced labor. The system was abolished in 1848.
Junkers
Prussia’s land owning nobility. The junkers supported the monarchy and served in the army in exchange for absolute power over their serfs.
Scientific method
The use of inductive logic and controlled experiments to discover regular patterns in nature. These patterns or natural laws can be described with mathematical formulas.
Philosophes
18th century writers who stressed reason and advocated freedom of expression, religious toleration, and a reformed legal system. Leading philosophes of such as Voltair fight irrational prejudice and believe that society should be open to people of talent.
Deism
The belief that God created the universe but allowed it to operate through natural laws of nature. Deists believe that natural laws could be discovered by the use of human reason
