Word/Person | Definition/Description |
Marco Polo (1254-1324) | Italian trader, he traveled to China and later wrote about his trip. During his time in China, he served as a government official in Kublai Khan's court. |
Interest | A fee that borrowers pay for the use of someone else's money. |
Cosimo de' Medici (1389-1464) | Italian banker and leader of Florence, he wanted to make Florence the greatest city in the world. His actions helped bring about the Renaissance. |
Renaissance | The period of "rebirth" and creativity that followed Europe's Middle Ages. |
Humanism | The study of history, literature, public speaking, and art that led to a new way of thinking in Europe in the late 1300s. |
Dante Alighieri | Italian Renaissance poet, he wrote The Divine Comedy in the Italian language. |
Niccolo Machiavelli | Italian writer and politician, he wrote The Prince in which he advised leaders on how to rule. |
Perspective | A method of showing a three-dimensional scene on a flat surface so that it looks real. |
Michaelangelo | Italian Renaissance artist, he designed buildings, wrote poetry, and created sculptures and paintings. |
Leonardo da Vinci | Genius of the Renaissance, he was a painter, sculptor, inventor, engineer, town planner, and mapmaker. |
Petrarch | Early Italian Renaissance scholar, he wrote about the importance of knowing history. |
Johann Gutenberg | German printer, he developed a printing press that used movable type. |
Christian Humanism | The combination of humanist and religious ideas. |
Desiderius Erasmus | Dutch priest, he published In Praise of Folly in which he criticized corrupt clergy. His criticisms helped inspire the Protestant Reformation. |
Albrecht Durer | German Renaissance artist, he is famous for his prints and woodcuts. |
Miguel de Cervantes | Spanish writer, he wrote Don Quixote. |
William Shakespeare | English Renaissance writer and playwright, he is considered by many to be the greatest English writer of all time. |
Reformation | A reform movement against the Roman Catholic Church that began in 1517; it resulted in the creation of the Protestant churches. |
Indulgence | A document given by the pope that excused a person from penalties for sins he of she had committed. |
Purgatory | In Catholic teaching, a place where souls go [to be cleansed of their sins] before going to heaven |
Martin Luther | German priest credited with starting the Reformation, he nailed a list of complaints about the Catholic Church to a church door in Wittenburg, Germany. |
Protestants | A Christian who protested against the Catholic Church. |
John Calvin | Christian Reformer, he taught about predestination, living good lives, and obeying God's laws. |
King Henry VIII | King of England, he split with the Catholic Church and declared himself head of the Church of England, or Anglican Church. |
Catholic Reformation | The effort of the late 1500s and 1600s to reform the Catholic Church from within; also called the Counter-Reformation. |
Ignatius of Loyola | Spanish noble and saint, he founded the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits. |
Jesuits | Members of a Catholic religious order created to serve the pope and the church. |
Francis Xavier | Jesuit priest and missionary, he introduced Catholicism to parts of India and Japan. |
Huguenots | A French Protestant. |
Edict of Nantes | A decree issued in 1598 by King Henry IV that granted religious freedom in most of France. |
Thirty Years' War | A series of wars that lasted from 1618 to 1648 that involved many of the countries of Europe. |
Congregation | An assembly of people who belong to the church. |
Federalism | The sharing of power between local governments and a strong central government |
Scientific Revolution | A series of events that led to the birth of modern science; it lasted from about 1540 to 1700. |
Science | A particular way of gaining knowledge about the natural world and the knowledge gained through the process. |
Theory | A well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations. |
Ptolemy | Ancient Greek astronomer and geographer, he studied the skies and made maps of the Mediterranean region. |
Rationalist | Someone who looks at the world in a reasonable and logical way. |
Alchemy | A forerunner of chemistry. |
Nicolaus Copernicus | Polish astronomer, his book On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres helped begin the Scientific Revolution. |
Tycho Brahe | Danish astronomer of the Scientific Revolution, he emphasized the importance of careful observation. |
Johannes Kepler | German astronomer, he proved that the planets orbit the sun. |
Galileo Galilei | Italian scientist, he was the first scientist to routinely use experiments to test theories. He was placed on trial for supporting theories that contradicted Church teachings. |
Sir Isaac Newton | English scientist, he studied and simplified the work of earlier scientists. He identified four laws that explained how the physical world works. |
Barometer | A scientific instrument that measures air pressure. |
Francis Bacon | English philosopher, he argued that science could be pursued in a systematic, logical fashion. His ideas helped develop the scientific method. |
Rene Descartes | French philosopher, he believed that nothing should be accepted as true until proven. His ideas helped develop the scientific method. |
Scientific Method | A step-by-step method for performing experiments and other scientific research. |
Hypothesis | A possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific question. |
Classical | Referring to the cultures of ancient Greece or Rome. |
Affect | To change or influence. |
Method | A way of doing something. |
Agreement | A decision reached by two or more people or groups. |
Logical | Reasoned, well thought out. |
Procedure | A series of steps taken to accomplish a task. |
Principles | Basic beliefs, rules, or laws. |