Vocab
What does the word Renaissance mean?
Rebirth
In which two ancient civilizations did Renaissance thinkers look for inspiration?
Ancient Greece and Rome
Who wrote the Ninety-Five Theses criticizing practices of the Catholic Church?
Martin Luther
What was the Enlightenment?
An intellectual movement that emphasized reason and questioned traditional ideas about government, society, and authority.
Name two causes of the French Revolution.
Social inequality among the Three Estates, government debt, high taxes, food shortages, and Enlightenment ideas.
What is Absolutism?
A system of government in which a monarch holds extensive, often nearly unlimited, power.
Which Renaissance city in Italy was a major center of banking, trade, and artistic achievement?
Florence
What was an indulgence, and why did Martin Luther criticize its sale?
An indulgence was associated with a reduction of temporal punishment for sin. Luther criticized the selling of indulgences as an abuse of Church authority.
What is divine right?
The belief that a monarch's authority comes from God.
What was the Reign of Terror?
A period during the French Revolution, especially 1793–1794, when revolutionary authorities executed thousands of people and suppressed suspected opponents.
What is the Nationalism?
A strong sense of pride and loyalty to one's nation, often based on shared history, culture, language, or identity.
What does it mean to be a patron of the arts?
To provide financial support to artists, writers, or scholars.
How did the printing press contribute to the Protestant Reformation?
It helped spread Luther's writings and other reformers' ideas quickly across Europe.
It also helped spread the German translation of the Bible, making the text more accessible.
What did John Locke mean by natural rights?
Rights people possess by nature, including life, liberty, and property.
What was the Scientific Revolution, and why was it important?
The Scientific Revolution was a period of major advances in science during the 1500s and 1600s. It was important because it changed how people understood the natural world by emphasizing observation, experimentation, and reason rather than relying solely on traditional beliefs and authorities. It also helped lay the groundwork for the Enlightenment.
What is the Nation-State?
A country in which most people share a common national identity and are governed by one central government.
What was humanism, and what did it encourage people to study?
An intellectual movement emphasizing human potential, achievement, and the study of classical Greek and Roman texts.
What was one major difference between Catholicism and Protestantism?
Protestants challenged Catholic authority and emphasized different sources of religious authority (i.e. the Pope). They also believed you did not need a mediator like a bishop to be the middle man of your faith.
Beliefs varied among Protestant groups.
What is a social contract?
An agreement, explicit or implied, in which people accept government authority in exchange for order, protection, or the safeguarding of rights.
How did the French Revolution challenge the old social order?
It attacked privilege based on birth, weakened aristocratic and royal authority, and promoted legal equality and citizenship.
What is individual sovereignty?
The idea that individuals have the right to govern themselves and make their own choices, rather than being controlled by an absolute ruler.
How did the Renaissance help lay the groundwork for later intellectual movements?
Its emphasis on classical learning, observation, human potential, and inquiry helped encourage later developments in science and philosophy.
How did the Reformation change the relationship between religion and political power?
It weakened the pope's authority in many regions. This allowed some rulers to leave Catholicism, control or establish their own national churches, or take the land and holdings the Church once had for themselves.
How could the ideas of Locke and Rousseau be used to justify a revolution?
If government violates people's rights or loses the consent of the governed, people may have the right to change or replace it.
How did the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment both challenge traditional authority
Both emphasized reason and questioning traditional beliefs. The Scientific Revolution challenged traditional explanations of the natural world, while the Enlightenment challenged traditional ideas about government and political authority.