Term | Definition |
Simony | Sale of church offices |
Pluralism | An official holding more than one
office at a time |
Nepotism | Favoring family members in the
appointment of Church offices |
Absenteeism | An official not participating in
benefices but receiving payment and privileges |
Indulgences | people paying money to the Church to absolve their sins or sins of their loved ones |
Clerical Ignorance | many priests were virtually illiterate |
Erasmus: In Praise of Folly | Criticized the corruption in the church and the hypocrisy of the clergy |
Martin Luther | Augustinian monk; taught at the University of
Wittenberg in Saxony |
Johann Tetzel | was authorized by Pope Leo X to sell
indulgences |
95 Theses | Luther criticized the selling of indulgences but went
further than others before him by questioning the
scriptural authority of the pope to grant indulgences. |
Johann Eck | Luther debated with him (one of the great Catholic theologians) at Leipzig in 1519 |
“priesthood of all
believers” | One of Luther's ideas that there was not hierarchical system. |
Diet of Worms | Charles demanded that Luther recant his writings. Luther refused |
Charles V | sought to stop Protestantism and
preserve the hegemony of Catholicism |
German Peasants War, Twelve Articles | 1525: peasants demanded end of serfdom and tithes, and other practices of feudalism that oppressed the peasantry (e.g. hunting rights) |
League of Schmalkalden | Formed by newly Protestant (Lutheran) priests to defend themselves against Charles V's drive to re-Catholicize Germany. |
Habsburg-Valois Wars | five wars between 1521 and 1555 between France and the Hapsburgs over Italy |
Peace of Augsburg (1555) | Temporarily ended the struggle in Germany over
Lutheranism. Resulted in permanent religious division of Germany |
Anabaptists | (formed in 1525 in Zurich, Switzerland) Voluntary association of believers with no
connection or allegiance to any state. Children could not be baptized, only adults. |
Ulrich Zwingli / Zurich | Swiss Reformation. Student of humanism who preached from Erasmus’edition of the New Greek Testament.Zwingli adopted Lutheranism and established what
amounted to a theocracy in Zurich. |
John Calvin | Created Calvinism. Influenced by humanism, especially Erasmus. Exiled to Switzerland due to his reform ideas |
Predestination | Since God is all-knowing, He already knows who is going to Heaven and who is destined for Hell. |
Geneva | Geneva became the new center of the
Reformation in Europe. Geneva became home to Protestant exiles from England, Scotland, and France |
Protestant Work Ethic | Calvinists later emphasized the importance of hard work and accompanying financial success as a sign that God was pleased |
John Knox | Created Presbyterianism in 1560. |
Presbyterianism | Presbyters governed the church. Became the dominant religion in Scotland |
Huguenots | French Calvinists; brutally suppressed in France |
Puritans | Pressured Elizabeth I for more reforms but
were largely kept at bay. Later established colonies in America |
English Reformation | William Tyndale, a humanist, translated the Bible into English in 1526. Tyndale was hunted down and executed in 1536
after thousands of English Bibles had made their way to England |
Henry VIII | Had earlier been a conservative Catholic and was critical of Lutheranism and reform. Had supported Catholicism and the Pope: |
Catherine of Aragon | Only one daughter, Mary, had survived out of five childbirths Having a son was necessary to preserve the strength of the Tudor dynasty. |
Anne Boleyn | Henry VIII also fell in love with Anne a mistress of his and then married her and she bore Elizabeth |
Church of England (Anglican Church) | Henry VIII broke from the Catholic church and formed the Church of England. |
Act of Supremacy | (1534) made the king officially the head of the Church. Catholic lands (about 25% of all land in England) were confiscated |
Edward VI (r.1547-1553) | Ten-years-old when he became king. Those who
governed on his behalf were strongly Protestant. England moved towards Protestantism during his reign by adopting Calvinism. Died at age 15. |
Mary Tudor "Bloody Mary" (r.1553-1558) | tried to reimpose Catholicism. Daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon. Beheaded 300, mostly Protestants. |
Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603) | Catholics saw her as an “illegitimate” child and thus rejected her legitimacy regarding the throne. She held strongly Protestant views Effectively oversaw the development of Protestantism in England |
Politique | she was a practical politician who
carefully navigated a middle ground between
Anglicanism and Protestantism. Puritans (Calvinists) sought to reform the church |
“Elizabethan Settlement" | Elizabeth and Parliament required conformity to the Church of England but people were, in effect, allowed to worship Protestantism and Catholicism privately |
Thirty-Nine Articles | Defined the creed of Anglican Church. Followed Protestant doctrine but vague enough to accommodate most of the English, except Puritans. |
Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots) | Catholics wanted Mary Stuart to replace Elizabeth. Mary executed by order or Eliz. |
Ursuline Order of Nuns | Started by by Angela Merici to provide education and religious training for young girls in the Catholic church (1530) |
Catholic Reformation (“Counter Reformation”) | The Catholic Reformation was both a response to the gains of Protestantism and the response to critics within the church that abuses needed to be reformed. |
Council of Trent | Approved the Index of Forbidden Books. Church reforms: abuses in sale of indulgences
curtailed, sale of church offices curtailed, bishops given greater control over clergy, seminaries established to train priests |
Jesuits | Society of Jews founded by Ignatius Loyola. reform the church through education, spread the Gospel to pagan peoples, fight Protestantism. |
Ignatius Loyola | Founded Jesuits and organized them. |
Baroque Art | Part of Catholic reformation. Focused on how light affected things.Reflected power of Catholic Church. |
Bernini | personified baroque architecture and sculpture. Colonnade for piazza in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was his greatest architectural achievement. |
Colonnade for piazza in front of St. Peter’s
Basilica | Made by Bernini. |
Caravaggio, tenebrism | Roman painter. Sharp contrasts of light and dark to create drama (tenebrism). |
Italian Renaissance | Renaissance (c. 1300-1600) Occurred first in Italy c. 1300 and lasted until 1527. Renaissance spread to Northern Europe around 1450 |
Republic of Florence | (included Republic of Genoa) Center of the Renaissance during the 14th and 15th
centuries. |
Medici family | Rich banking family that dominated the Republic of Florence. |
Cosimo de’ Medici | allied with other
powerful families of Florence and became unofficial ruler of the republic
o Most powerful of the Medici rulers |
Lorenzo de’ Medici (the Magnificent) | significant patron of the arts (son of Cosimo) |
Girolamo Savonarola | became the unofficial
leader of Florence between 1494 and 1498.
Pledged to rid Florence of its decadence and
corruption |
Machiavelli, The Prince | Stated that politically, “the ends justifies the means”Stated that for rulers, “it was better to be feared than to be loved” |
Cesare Borgia | Rulers had to be practical and cunning, in addition to being aggressive and ruthless |
Sack of Rome, 1527 | by armies of Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V (who was also king of Spain) symbolized the end of the Renaissance in Italy |
Charles V | King of Spain sacked Rome |
humanism | Strong belief in individualism and the great potential of human beings |
Petrarch | “father of humanism” Considered the first modern writer. In his writings, literature was no longer subordinate to religion |
Boccaccio, Decameron | Decameron is his most famous work
Consisted of 100 earthy tales that comprise a social commentary of 14th century Italy
Aimed to impart wisdom of human character and behavior |
Leonardo Bruni | First to use the term “humanism”
Among the most important of the civic humanists. Served as a chancellor in Florence
Wrote a history of Florence and wrote a narrative using primary source documents |
Latin Vulgate | Foremost expert on the Latin language. Exposed the Donation of Constantine as an 8th
century fraud, using textual criticism |
Pico Della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man | Perhaps the most famous Renaissance work on the nature of humankind. Humans were created by God and therefore given tremendous potential for greatness, and even
union with God if they desired it. |
Baldassare Castiglione, Book of the Courtier | Perhaps most important work on Renaissance social etiquette. Specified qualities necessary to be a true gentleman |
Johann Gutenberg, printing press, | Allowed quick production of books |
moveable type | the ability to rearrange letters to used in the printing press |
quattrocento, 1400s | Florence leader in renaissance art. Massive patronage of arts from wealthy. |
cinquecento, 1500s | Rome center of Ren. art. in this time |
Pope Alexander VI | Huge patron of arts |
perspective | 3-D effects on a 2-dimensional surface |
chiaroscuro | use of dark and light colors to create
the illusion of depth |
stylized faces | Medieval art used more generic faces / ren. art used emotion |
sfumato | developed by Leonardo; a technique of
blurring or softening sharp outlines |
Giotto | considered perhaps the first
Renaissance painter; use of chiaroscuro |
Brunelleschi, Il Duomo | atop Santa Maria del Fiore is
his masterpiece; it was the largest dome in Europe at the time of its construction. Father or perspective. |
Lorenzo Ghiberti, “gates of paradise” | sculptor. Won a contest in 1403 against Brunelleschi that earned him the commission to sculpt the bronze doors for Florentine baptistery. 2nd set of doors known as gates of paradise |
Donatello, David | – sculptor. His bronze statue of David (1408-09) was the first since antiquity. 1st to used nude figure in sculpture. |
Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus | – painter: Birth of Venus (c. 1485-86) The painting is a good example of humanism as the subject is Venus, the Roman goddess of love. |
“High Renaissance” | centered in Rome (16th century) The worldly “Renaissance Popes”—Alexander VI, Julius
II and Leo X—provided tremendous patronage to the arts |
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa | The quintessential “Renaissance Man”. Considered one of the great masterpieces in all of art history, Leonardo developed the technique of sfumato |
Raphael, School of Athens | painter. Created numerous “Madonna and Child” paintings. School... quintessential
example of humanism |
Michelangelo, David; ceiling of Sistine Chapel; dome on St. Peter’s basilica, Pieta | Painting: ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-1512)Commissioned by Pope Julius II
David - Humanistic marble sculpture
Pietà (1499): Mary holds the limp body of
Christ. Designed the enormous dome atop
St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Vatican |
Titian | Greatest painter of the Venetian school. Use of vivid color and movement |
Mannerism | Reaction against the Renaissance ideals of balance, symmetry, simplicity and realistic use of color |
El Greco | Greek artist; did most of his greatest work in Spain. Perhaps the greatest of the Mannerists with his use of elongated figures and unnatural pigments |
Northern Renaissance | Emphasized early Church writings that provided
Emphasized education and power of human intellect to
bring about institutional change and moral
improvement. |
Christian humanism | Emphasized early Church writings that provided
answers on how to improve society and reform the Church |
Erasmus, In Praise of Folly | Most famous and celebrated of all northern humanists. Criticized immorality and hypocrisy of Church leaders and the clergy. The book inspired renewed calls for reform and influenced Martin Luther |
Thomas More, Utopia | Prime example of a civic humanist; he rose to the highest government position of any humanist
More’s humanistic masterpiece. Mixes civic humanism with religious ideals to describe a perfect (utopian) society |
Francois Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel | His secular writings portrayed his confidence in human nature and reflected Renaissance tastes Gargantua (1534) and Pantagruel (1532)
Folk epics and comic masterpieces that satirized French society |
Michel de Montaigne, skepticism, essay form | (1533-1592) Developed the essay form, Doubt that true knowledge could be obtained |
William Shakespeare | (1564-1616) – Elizabethan era. Greatest of the English Renaissance authors. His works reflected the Renaissance ideas of classical
Greek and Roman culture, individualism and
humanism |
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote | (1605-15)
Among the greatest pieces of Spanish literature. Critical of excessive religious idealism and chivalric romance |
Flemish style | the Low Countries produced especially
important artists. Heavily influenced by the Italian Renaissance /More detail throughout paintings |
Jan van Eyck | Most famous and innovative Flemish painter of the 15th century.Perfected oil painting "Arnolfini and his Wife" |
Peter Brueghel, the Elder | Focused on lives of ordinary people. Not influenced much by the Italian Renaissance. |
Albrecht Dürer | First northern artist to master Italian Renaissance
techniques of proportion, perspective, & modeling |
Hans Holbein the Younger | Premier portrait artist of his era: painted Erasmus, More, numerous portraits of King Henry VIII and also his family members |
Christine de Pisan | A new debate emerged over the proper role of women in society. Women enjoyed increased access to education |
Isabella d’Este | “First Lady” of the
Renaissance. Set an example for women to break away from their traditional roles as mere ornaments to their husbands |
Artemisia Gentileschi | Perhaps the first female artist to gain
recognition in the post-Renaissance era. First woman to paint historical and religious scenes: e.g. her series of “Judith” paintings |
Black Death, bubonic plague | Killed most people and spread due to bad hygiene |
Hundred Years’ War | the English crown lay claim to the duchy of
Aquitaine in France. The French king confiscated that territory from English
control. Most of the war was fought intermittently in France.
and in the Low Countries |
Joan of Arc | French peasant girl claimed she heard voices of saints and persuaded the king to allow her to be with the troops. In 1429 led the French army to victory at Orléans during a crucial stage of the war |
John Wyclif, Lollards | Believed the church should only follow Scripture.This view foreshadowed Martin Luther’s reformation in the early 16th century |
John Hus, Hussites | ideas close to Wyclif. Led a nationalist movement in Bohemia (Modern day Czech republic) |
Babylonian Captivity | 1305, a struggle between the pope and the French king led to the election of a French pope who set up his leadership in Avignon, France |
Great Schism | . Further conflict occurred in 1377 with election of two popes—one in Rome, one in France—neither of whom recognized the other. |
Conciliar movement | Failed as a movement; the newly elected Pope Martin V ensured that papal power still remained supreme 3 Popes. |
vernacular | local language |
Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy | (also considered an early Renaissance figure) |
Scholasticism, Thomas Aquinas | Scholasticism became the cornerstone of late-medieval philosophy. Aquinas attempted to reconcile faith and reason by using
logic to support Christian doctrine |