Vocabulary List #6
European History Part 1
Renaissance
• A time of a renewed interest
in art and learning in Europe;
"rebirth“. Inspired by Ancient
Greece and Roman ideas of
architecture, painting
• Artists were Michelangelo and
DaVinci.
Humanism
• The study of secular, or
nonreligious, subjects such as
history and philosophy.
• Think about thinking…Plato,
Socrates, Albert Einstein, no
religion involved.
Perspective
• A technique that allows
artists to portray a threedimensional space on a
flat surface
Reformation
• Religious movement in which calls for
reform led to the emergence of nonCatholic, or Protestant, churches
• Martin Luther, a German monk,
posted 95 theses on a church door.
His writing challenged some portions
of Roman Catholic doctrine and a
number of specific practices.
Catholic Reformation
• Changes made by the Catholic
Church to keep Catholicism strong;
response to the Reformation.
• A response to the Protestant
Reformation, Catholics
reaffirmation of the doctrine and
structure of the Catholic Church.
Cartography
• The science of making accurate
maps and globes
• From Latin:
Carte (map or chart)
Graphy (drawing, writing, recording)
Caravel
• Small triangular-sailed oceangoing
ships.
• Designed for speed,
maneuverability, and safety. Early
European explorers sailed on
caravels.
• Used by Portuguese and Spanish
for ocean travel.
Plantation
• Large commercial farm.
• Prince Henry developed sugar
plantations
Northwest Passage
• Hypothetical North American
passage
between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
• One of the world’s most treacherous sea
challenges, the route is located 500 miles
north of the Arctic Circle and less than
1,200 miles from the North Pole. It
consists of a deep channels, a hazardous
voyage through a stream of about 50,000
giant icebergs, and a polar ice cap presses
down on Alaska’s shallow north coast
much of the year.
Triangular Trade
• Three-staged trade pattern that
carried goods and enslaved people
among Europe, Africa, and the
Americas
• The “first leg” was transporting
manufactured good from Europe to
Africa. The “middle passage” brought
enslaved Africans from Africa to the
Americas. The final stage brought raw
materials from the Americas back to
Europe.
Absolutism
• Centralized and unlimited government
power
• The European monarchies, especially
those of France, Spain, and Russia,
between the fifteenth and eighteenth
centuries provide perhaps the clearest
examples of absolute rule, although forms
of absolutism have existed in most parts
of the world. It was not until the end of
the eighteenth century that the prevalence
of absolute rule in Europe began to wane.
Scientific Revolution
• A series of major advances in science
during the 1500s and 1600s
• Compound Microscope, Telescopes,
Elliptical orbits, Sunspots, Ocean
Tides, Light Spectrum, Speed of
Light, Barometer, Laws of Gravity,
Calculus
• Galileo, Isaac Newton, Copernicus
Enlightenment
• A period during the 1600s and
1700s when scholars studied culture
and society by applying reason and
natural law.
• a European intellectual movement
of the emphasizing reason and
individualism rather than tradition.
English Bill of Rights
• An act passed in 1689 that limited the power of
the English monarch and increased
Parliament's power.
• The Parliament of England passed the Bill of
Rights on December 16, 1689. The Bill:
•
•
•
•
Created separation of powers
Limited powers of the king and queen
Enhanced democratic election
Bolstered freedom of speech
French Revolution
• A political movement that removed
the French king from power and
formed a republic
• The French Revolution was a period
of far-reaching social and political
upheaval in France that lasted from
1789 until 1799, and was partially
carried forward by Napoleon. The
Revolution overthrew the monarchy,
established a republic, and experienced
violent periods of political turmoil.
Industrial Revolution
• A time in which new technologies
transformed manufacturing and
changed society forever.
• Some inventions included: Steam
engine, Water frame spinning
machine, process creating wrought
iron, steel making machine, power
loom.
Doctrine
• teaching or principle
• a belief or set of beliefs held and
taught by a church, political party,
or other group
• Catholics and Protestants felt
certain that their own beliefs were
the only correct doctrine.
Finance
• to raise or provide funds
• Christopher Columbus promised to
reach Asia by sailing Westward
across the Atlantic. Spain’s rulers
agreed to finance his voyage.
Columbian Exchange
• A period of cultural and biological
exchange between the American &
Afro-Eurasian hemispheres
following Columbus's 1492 voyage.
Items included animals, plants,
culture, human populations
(including slaves), communicable
disease, technology and ideas.
Consent
• agreement or approval
• During Enlightenment, many
people wrote about society and
government. Some believed people
were born with right to life, liberty
and property, and government
depended on people’s consent.