Download John Calvin: French lawyer who converted to Protestant Christianity

Chapter 10 Vocabulary
Age of Absolutism was the time period from 1550 to 1800, when the new monarchs in France, England
and Spain began building strong states by organizing their resources, curbing the power of the feudal
nobility and creating strong centralized bureaucracies.
John Calvin: French lawyer who converted to Protestant Christianity and founded a Protestant
community in Geneva, Switzerland, where he became a sort of theological dictator and wrote his
theological ideas in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvinism made an even more radical break
from the Church of Rome than the Anglicans or the Lutherans as his community was founded on the
principles of strict morality and discipline.
Catherine the Great (1762-1795): continued Peter’s reforms and attempted to increase the
effectiveness of the bureaucracy by appointing officials who had been educated in the WesternEuropean style. She divided Russia into 50 administrative provinces, each supervised by a governorgeneral. She spelled out the rights and obligations of the nobility and the urban classes in her Charter of
the Nobility and in the parallel Charter of Towns. But Catherine was an autocrat who, on one hand did
not want to give autonomy to towns and nobility, but was wise enough, on the other hand, to keep the
nobility happy by confirming their privileges and extending their rights over the peasants.
Cervantes: Spanish author whose landmark novel, Don Quixote, was the first true novel of European
history
Charles V: King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor (reigned 1519-1556) who worked tirelessly, but in
spite of his power and wealthy, far-flung holdings, was unable to dominate Europe, nor create any real
Holy Roman Empire.
Nicolas Copernicus: Polish astronomer who published a treatise in 1543, On the Revolution of the
Heavenly Spheres, which broke with Ptolemaic theory and proposed that the sun was the center of the
universe and that the planets revolved around the sun.
Rene Descartes 1596-1650: French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, was a major influence in
this transition from medieval science and philosophy to the modern era and the scientific method.
Descartes called into question the authoritarian system of the scholastics and viewed the physical world
as a giant machine, which could be measured and observed. Descartes was convinced that this
mathematical method of study could be extended to all human studies. He expressed his idea in the Latin
Cogito, ergo sum (“I think, therefore I am) by which he meant that the external world must exist. And, if
it exists, it can be studied and understood.
Erasmus of Rotterdam was the leading Christian Humanist. He produced a Greek New Testament and
strongly fought for reform in the Church. He iniatially supported Martin Luther but broke with Luther
when Luther abandoned the Church.
Francis I: was king of France (1515 – 1547) who centralized authority in France, but also became a
great patron of the arts and even imported Italian craftsmen and artists (including Leonardo da Vinci);
He also learned from Machiavelli as he allied with the Ottoman Sultan to keep the Holy Roman
Emperor from becoming too strong
Galileo Galilei: Italian mathematician (1564-1642) who used the telescope to report that the universe
was flawed and dynamic. Thus he was able to observe previously unseen stars, unknown planetary
moons and even mountains on earth's moon. All this information led to the understanding that the
universe was much larger than had previously been known.
James I (1603-1625) and Charles I (1625-1649): Stuart kings of England who believed in the Divine
Right of Kings. Both quarreled with Parliament over taxation, imprisoning enemies without trial and
religious matters which very much offended the Puritans. Charles was beheaded in 1649 after the
English Civil War.
Edward Jenner: was the English physician whose discovery of a vaccine to prevent smallpox freed
Europe from a disease which had ravaged Europe for centuries
Johannes Gutenberg: a German metalworker and inventor who combined metal, movable type, oil
based inks and the printing press which allowed the rapid printing of written materials which caused an
information explosion in Europe. As a result books became common place and affordable. Literacy
began to increase and led to the spread of new ideas and new kinds of thinking: humanistic and personal.
King Henry the VIII was the English monarch (reigned 1509-1547) whose direct conflict with the
authority of the pope over the legality of an annulment legitimized the reformation and led to England's
eventual abandonment of Catholicism in favor of the Anglican Church. Henry VIII was succeeded by
the boy king, Edward VI, “Bloody Mary” and Elizabeth. Under Elizabeth, the Anglican Church would
become a Bridge Church as it kept much of the basic Catholic practices and theology, but adopted many
Protestant ideas. Henry and Elizabeth ruled strongly, but also worked well with Parliament.
Thomas Hobbes: argued in his book, Leviathan that people were “nasty, greedy and selfish” and
needed a strong and strict governmental contract. Hobbes argued that to escape their brutish lives,
people entered into a social contract, whereby they gave up their natural tendency for disorder for an
organized society, which was needed to impose order and compel obedience.
Johannes Kepler: German mathematician (1571-1630) who demonstrated that planetary orbits are
elliptical and not circular.
Bogdan Khmelnitsky was the Ukrainian adventurer who was angry because Polish forces had killed his
son; he united the peasants of the Ukraine against their Polish rulers and sought union with Moscow
because of common cultural and religious identities.
John Locke: English philosopher (1632-1704) who sought to identify the principles of psychology and
argued that all human knowledge comes from sense perceptions. Locke rejected Hobbes negative view
of humanity and his in Two Treatises of Government, Locke argued that the people formed
governments to protect their natural rights and the best form of government, he argued, had limited
power and was accepted by all the citizens.
King Louis XIV: French ruler who best epitomized absolutism (reigned 1643-1715). He was known as
le roi soleil, "the sun king." He once declared: “l’etat, c’est moi” He built a magnificent palace at
Versailles. Louis strongly encouraged the nobles to live at Versailles where his staff could keep an eye
on them. He maintained a huge army and fought many wars to enlarge France. Louis lavishly patronized
the arts, but promoted economic development, new industries, the building of roads and canals and
encouraged exports. He took France to a pinnacle of power, but yet bankrupted the country.
St. Ignatius Loyola: Founder of the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits, a missionary group in the
Roman Catholic Church that promoted global Catholicism through rigorous education and political skill.
The Jesuits won back some Protestants, but were most skillful as missionaries in India, China, Japan, the
Philippines, and the Americas, thus making the Roman Catholic Church to this day the largest and most
global Christian religion.
Martin Luther: German monk who challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church by
questioning the sale of indulgences. He made his challenge a public debate by nailing the Ninety Five
Theses on the doors of a Wittenberg church. Luther advocated the closure of monasteries, translation of
the bible from Latin into German, and an end to priestly and Episcopal authority, especially the pope. He
also attacked the doctrine of Transubstantiation, the Sacrifice of the Mass, the celibacy of the clergy,
denial of the cup to the laity, and held that two sacraments, Baptism and the Lords supper, to be
authentic sacraments. And he held that the bible alone was the source of all authority.
Baron de Montesquieu: French nobleman (1689-1755) who sought to establish a science of politics and
discover principles that would foster political liberty in a prosperous and stable state. In his On the
Spirit of Laws, he argued that a government elected by the people was the best form of government and
that the success of government depended upon maintaining the right balance of power and he used the
example of England, which divided power between the king (who enforced laws), Parliament (which
made laws), and the judges of the English courts (who interpreted laws) as good model. This line of
reasoning evolved into our American "Separation of Powers," i.e., to create separate branches of
government with equal but different powers.
Isaac Newton: English mathematician (1642-1727) whose work Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy offered precise mathematical explanations and laws that govern gravitation and motion.
Until the twentieth century Newton's universe served as the framework for the physical sciences.
Peter I or Peter the Great: Russian tsar (1682 to1725) instituted a policy of forced and rapid
modernization in Russia. He also reformed the Russian military, bureaucracy, and introduced many
social reforms such as forcing European dress on the boyars and breaking up the Terems. He built St.
Petersburg (his window to the west and city built upon bones) the center of his new government. After
Peter, Russia had two capitals: Moscow in the Russian heartland and the new administrative and home
of the czar on the Baltic.
King Philip II: son of Charles V; as King of Spain attempted to force England to return to the Roman
Catholic faith by launching the Spanish Armada. He built a strong navy and defeated the Ottoman navy
at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. He built the magnificent El Escorial as a tomb for the Spanish kings
and as a learning center to support the Counter Reformation.
Emelian Pugachev: led a rebellion in the steppes north of the Caspian Sea. The rebels (peasants,
Cossacks, exiles and serfs) wanted an end to taxes, government intrusion, the draft and went on a
rampage in which they killed thousands of noble landlords, governments officials and Orthodox priests
before their army was destroyed in 1774 and Pugachev executed in Moscow.
Claudius Ptolemy: Greek scholar from Alexandria who composed a work titled Almagest in the second
century C.E. The work theorized that the earth was the center of the universe.
Cardinal Richelieu: Architect of French absolutism, a prominent church official and chief minister to
King Louis XIII (1624-1642) who worked to undermine the power of the nobility and enhance the
authority of the king.
Mikhail Romanov was elected by the Boyars to be Tsar of Russia and he ruled from 1613 to 1645. He
reasserted the authority of the Tsars and founded a dynasty that would last until 1917.
Alexis I (Romanov) was the son of Mikhail Romanov and ruled Russia from 1645 to 1676. He
continued to strengthen the Tsar’s authority and abolished the assemblies of the Boyars. managed to
acquire Kiev and the Ukraine.
Adam Smith: Scottish philosopher who devoted special thought to the nature of capitalism and the
principles that made it work. In 1776 he published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations which championed free, unregulated markets and capitalist enterprise as principal
ingredients in prosperity.
Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet): French Philosophe (1694-1778) who more than others epitomized
the enlightenment. His prolific writings championed individual freedom and attacked any institution
sponsoring intolerant or oppressive policies. He viciously attacked the French monarchy and the Roman
Catholic Church. His battle cry against the Church, which he held responsible for fanaticism, intolerance
and incalculable human suffering, was ecrasez l’infame, “crush the damned thing!” He also remarked
that his trade was to say what he thought.
Absolute Monarchs: Rulers who governed their states by concentrating power in their own hands.
Absolutism: Power and authority based on the divine right of kings. This theory holds that kings derive
their authority from God and serve as "God's lieutenants on earth."
Austrian Empire: was created when Charles V’s second son, Ferdinand, inherited Charles’ Austrian
and German possessions. Ferdinand also inherited the title of HRE (Holy Roman Emperor) and from
him the Habsburg kings of Austria descend.
Balance of Power: was the political idea stemming from the Thirty Years war in which most European
states agreed to recognize each other as sovereign and equal.
Capitalism is the economic system in which private parties make their goods and services available on a
free market and seek to take advantage of market conditions to profit from their activities. Whether they
are single individuals or large companies, private parties own the land, machinery, tools, equipment,
building, workshops and raw materials needed for production. In Capitalism private parties also pursue
their own economic interests, hire workers and decide for themselves what to produce and make the
economic decisions necessary for production – and the government stays out.
The Charter of Nobility and the Parallel Charter of Towns were drawn up by Catherine the Great to
spell out the rights and obligations of the nobility and the urban classes
Constitutional States: States whose rulers share authority with representative institutions. The two
leading Constitutional States to evolve in the Early Modern Period in Europe were England and the
Netherlands.
Council of Trent: An assembly of bishops, cardinals, and other high officials of the Catholic Church
who met intermittently between 1545 and 1563 to address matters of doctrine and reform.
Deism: Belief in the existence of God but denial of the supernatural teachings of Christianity. To Deists,
the universe is an orderly realm, with a god that set it in motion and natural laws that govern it. A
supernatural god does not intervene in the affairs of the universe.
El Escorial: was built by Philip II of Spain both as a tomb for the Spanish kings and as a learning center
to support the Counter Reformation
Edict of Nantes: The act in 1598 by which the Huguenots, French Calvinists, were allowed to practice
their faith only in a few specified French cities. In time most Huguenots fled to other countries such as
Switzerland, Germany, England, and America.
Enlightenment: Intellectual movement inspired by Isaac Newton's vision that abandoned Aristotelian
philosophy; rational analysis rather than blind obedience to Christian religion. The Enlightenment
ultimately weakened the influence of organized religion, encouraged secular values arising from reason,
rather than from revelation, and subjected society to rational analysis and promoted progress and
prosperity
Free Market: is the system in which businessmen compete with each other and the forces of supply and
demand to determine the prices received for goods and services. The Free Market became the center of a
Capitalist System.
Glorious Revolution: After the restoration of Charles II, the king and Parliament lived in relative
harmony. In 1685 Charles II died and his brother James II began the struggle of his father (Charles I)
and grandfather (James I) and precipitated the Glorious Revolution which brought limited monarchy to
England.
Hohenzollern: was the name of the family which built a small, but powerful state in northeastern
Germany called Prussia. The kings of Prussia were Protestant and created an absolute monarchy and
perhaps the most efficient and strongest army in Europe. The Prussian king who put Prussia on Europe’s
map was Frederick II (the Great) who against tremendous odds annexed Silesia and outmaneuvered
his enemies militarily and politically.
Huguenots were French Calvinists many of whom were massacred in the St. Bartholomew’s Day
Massacre of 1572, but given some limited freedoms by the Edict of Nantes in 1598. In time most
Huguenots fled to other countries such as Switzerland, Germany, England, and America.
An Indulgence, in Roman Catholic theology, is the (full or partial) remission of temporal punishment
due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the church after the sinner
has confessed and received absolution. During the Renaissance, many church officials sold indulgences
to make money. Martin Luther bitterly attacked this practice.
Joint-stock Companies: Large trading companies that organized business ventures and spread the risks
attached to large business investments; laid the foundations of the global economy that would emerge in
early modern Europe.
The Ninety Five Theses were a list of complaints about corrupt practices in the Roman Catholic
Church. They were written in 1517 by Martin Luther and nailed to the doors of Wittenberg Cathedral
and are commonly considered to be the primary catalyst for the Protestant Reformation.
Philosophes: Prominent intellectuals of the Enlightenment who advanced the cause of reason.
Protestant Reformation: Early sixteenth century movement critical of the authority of the Roman
Catholic Church and motivated both by religious and political reasons.
Putting-out System: was the labor system used by capitalist entrepreneurs to deliver raw materials to
country homes where women and men would turn these goods into finished products. Labor was paid by
the piece and huge profits were made by the entrepreneur selling the finished product on the open
market.
Proto-industrialization: was a phase in the development of modern industrial economies that preceded,
and created conditions for, the establishment of fully industrial societies. Proto-industrialization was
marked by the increasing involvement of agrarian families in market-oriented craft production, mainly
through the putting-out system organized by merchant capitalists.
St. Petersburg was the capital city built by Peter the Great on the Baltic Sea to be a window to the west.
So many serfs died in its construction, the city was called the city built on bones.
Scientific Revolution: Movement that replaced the Ptolemaic model of the universe with the
Copernican (heliocentric) model. This resulted in the application of analytic methods to mechanics and
astronomy.
Spanish Armada: A huge flotilla of 130 ships and thirty thousand men, sent by King Phillip II of Spain
to force England to return to the Catholic Church.
Spanish Inquisition: Religious institution founded by Ferdinand and Isabella that relied on religious
justifications to advance state ends.
Table of Ranks was a government reform of Peter the Great which permitted officials advance through
14 levels of bureaucracy according to merit, not hereditary privilege.
Thirty Years' War: Massive continental conflict (1618-1648) that was complicated by religious as well
as political and economic reasons. Ended by the Treaty of Westphalia, this useless conflict was
reaffirmed the principle that whatever the religion of the local prince, that religion the people would
follow. (Cuius regio; Eius religio – Whose kingdom; his religion) There would not be so bloody a
conflict in Europe until the First World War, some 250 years into the future.
Transubstantiation was the Roman Catholic doctrine that stated that the bread and wine in the mass
literally changed into the Body and Blood of Christ even though they still appeared to be bread and
wine.
Versailles: was the royal palace of Louis the XIV built in 1670s was the largest building in Europe. This
palace was the center of the sun king's absolute monarchy.
Witch Hunts: Sixteenth century response to religious tensions that resulted in accusations, trials, and
executions of women and men who were suspected of having made pacts with the devil.