Renaissance Culture & People
This sculpture by Michelangelo, depicting a powerful nude youth, symbolized the Florentine Republic’s defiance against its enemies.
What is David?
This Swiss reformer established a theocracy in Geneva, creating a model for Presbyterian and Puritan communities.
Who is John Calvin?
This Spanish explorer's crew was the first to successfully circumnavigate the globe (though he himself died in the Philippines).
Who is Ferdinand Magellan?
The term used to describe the late 17th and 18th-century alliance system intended to prevent any single European power (usually France) from dominating the continent.
What is the Balance of Power?
The dominant form of labor for most Europeans during the 17th and 18th centuries, where the majority of the population was engaged in this.
What is agriculture (or farming)?
A style of art and architecture, characterized by elongated figures and deliberate distortion, which emerged in reaction to the harmonious ideals of the High Renaissance.
What is Mannerism?
This group of radical reformers rejected infant baptism and advocated for a complete separation of church and state.
What are the Anabaptists?
The period of rising prices and inflation in Europe during the 16th century, primarily fueled by the massive influx of silver from the New World.
What is the Price Revolution?
This dynasty ruled Austria and the Holy Roman Empire for centuries, establishing a multinational empire in Central Europe.
What is the Habsburg Dynasty?
This new commercial class emerged in cities during the early modern period, composed of merchants, bankers, and professionals.
What is the bourgeoisie (or middle class)?
This term refers to Renaissance education that focused on grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, and moral philosophy.
What are the liberal arts (or humanities)?
The Catholic Church's attempt to halt the spread of Protestantism through censorship, using this list of prohibited books.
What is the Index of Prohibited Books?
This term refers to a financial panic or speculative bubble, like the one that occurred in the Netherlands over tulip bulbs in the 1630s.
What is a speculative bubble (or the Tulip Mania)?
This Prussian king and military genius successfully defended the right of Maria Theresa to the Austrian throne while also stealing the resource-rich province of Silesia from her.
Who is Frederick II (Frederick the Great)?
The common 17th-century practice of noble families retaining all or most of their estate intact by ensuring that the eldest male heir inherited everything.
What is primogeniture?
He was the first major painter to use oil paint extensively, pioneering the Northern Renaissance style with works like the Ghent Altarpiece.
Who is Jan van Eyck?
The massacre of thousands of French Huguenots in 1572, which signaled the start of intensified religious civil war in France.
What is the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre?
The Dutch East India Company pioneered this financial concept by issuing tradable shares to investors, raising capital while limiting personal risk.
What is the joint-stock company?
The military conflict where Britain gained French Canada and French influence was removed from India, greatly expanding Britain's global empire.
What is the Seven Years' War (or French and Indian War)?
The belief that the monarch's authority comes directly from God, a central justification for absolutism.
What is the Divine Right of Kings?
This 15th-century Roman Pope and patron of the arts was nicknamed the "Warrior Pope."
Who is Pope Julius II?
Martin Luther secured the protection of this German prince, allowing him to defy the Holy Roman Emperor.
Who is Frederick the Wise of Saxony?
What was the name of the most valuable company (in their vernacular language) in history?
What is the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie?
Peter the Great's policy of forcing Russian nobles to cut their long, traditional beards to promote a more Western appearance.
What is the Beard Tax?
This group of English political theorists advocated for religious tolerance, the extension of the franchise, and a more egalitarian social structure during the English Civil War era.
Who are the Levellers?