Download Person / Event

Key People/Events of the West’s Rise to Power
Person / Event
Location / Participants
Leonardo da Vinci
Italy
Niccolo Machiavelli
Italy
William Shakespeare
England
Johannes Gutenburg
Germany
Martin Luther
Germany
Henry VIII
England
Jean Calvin
Switzerland
Jesuits
Italy, then worldwide
Edict of Nantes
Western Europe
30 Year’s War
Germany, Holy Roman
Empire, Spain, France
Treaty of Westphalia
N/A
Nicolaus Copernicus
Poland
Johannes Kepler
Not available
William Harvey
England
John Locke
England
Baron de Montesquieu
Germany
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
France
Louis XIV
France
Adam Smith
England
Mary Wollstonecraft
England
Achievement
-realistic portrayal of human body
-advances in science and engineering
-philosophy of government…how to gain and maintain
power through fear/intimidation
-literary advances that combined classic themes with
more human elements
-development of moveable type
-rise in literacy rates across Europe
-author of the 95 theses
-protested the sale of indulgences for salvation
-creation of Anglican branch of Protestantism
-attempted to limit papal power
-founder of Calvinist faith
-believer in “predestination” or prior selection of those
whom God will save
-highly educated group of Catholic priests
-attempted to re-popularize the Catholic Church both in
Europe and throughout the world
-grants religious freedom and tolerance to Western
Europeans
-religious war between Catholics and Protestants
-weakens power of Germany
-ends the Thirty Year’s war in 1648
-grants “territorial tolerance”: individual states/cities can
choose their brand of Christianity
-questions the traditional earth-centered (geocentric)
model of the universe
-adopts a new, sun-centered (heliocentric) model
- discovers the shape of planetary orbits, as well as
dabbling in astrology
-discovery of the function of the heart as a means of
re-circulating blood through the body
-belief that all individuals possess “natural rights”: life,
liberty and property
-pushed for democratic reforms
- proponent of the separation of government powers into
3 branches (executive, legislative, judicial)
-belief in a “social contract” between government and
people
-people voluntarily submit to authority in interest of
greater good
-quintessential absolute monarch
-creation of multi-billion dollar palace – Versailles
-author of Wealth of Nations
-believed in capitalist economic model  people are
motivated by self interest, competition advances
economies
-advocate for women’s rights
-protested the male-centered views of society
Major Terms/Themes of the West’s Rise
Humanism
Deism
Divine
Right
Protestantism
Absolute
Monarchy
Agricultural
Revolution