| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Catholic Reformation | A movement within the Catholic Church from the mid-16th century onward that sought to reform church practices, combat Protestantism, and revitalize Catholic spirituality. |
| commercial capitalism | An economic system based on trade, merchant activity, and the pursuit of profit through commerce that increasingly shaped European society in the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| folk ideas | Traditional beliefs, customs, and practices held by common people that often reflect pre-Christian or non-official religious elements. |
| nuclear family | A family unit consisting of parents and their children, which was one of several family forms that served as a primary social and economic institution in early modern Europe. |
| political centralization | The concentration of political power and authority in a central government, a process that occurred unevenly across European states in the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| Protestant Reformation | A 16th-century religious movement that challenged Catholic Church authority and led to the creation of Protestant churches and significant changes in theology and religious practice. |
| religious pluralism | The coexistence of multiple religious beliefs and denominations within a society, challenging the medieval concept of religious unity in Europe. |
| secular systems of law | Legal systems based on civil authority rather than religious doctrine, which played a central role in the development of new political institutions in the early modern period. |
| sovereign state | A political entity with supreme authority over its territory and population, independent from religious or external control, central to early modern European political development. |
| state control of religious institutions | The process by which European states increased their authority over churches and religious organizations during the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Anabaptists | A radical Protestant group that rejected infant baptism and refused to recognize the subordination of the church to secular state control. |
| Calvinists | Followers of John Calvin who believed in predestination and often viewed economic success as evidence of God's favor. |
| Catholic abuses | Corrupt or improper practices within the Catholic Church that reformers criticized, such as the sale of indulgences. |
| Christian doctrine | The official teachings and beliefs of the Christian Church regarding faith and salvation. |
| Predestination | The theological doctrine that God has already determined which individuals will achieve salvation and which will not. |
| Priesthood of all believers | A Protestant doctrine asserting that all Christians have direct access to God and can interpret scripture without requiring a priestly intermediary. |
| Primacy of scripture | The Protestant principle that the Bible is the ultimate authority for Christian doctrine and practice, above church tradition and papal authority. |
| religious practices | The rituals, ceremonies, behaviors, and convictions through which people express and live out their faith. |
| Salvation by faith alone | The Protestant belief that salvation is achieved through faith in God and Christ alone, without the need for works or church sacraments. |
| wealth accumulation | The gathering and increase of material possessions and economic resources. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Anabaptists | A radical Protestant group that rejected infant baptism and refused to recognize the subordination of the church to secular state control. |
| Calvin | A major Protestant reformer who developed Calvinist theology and refused to subordinate the church to secular state authority. |
| Huguenots | French Protestants who challenged the French monarch's control of religious institutions during the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| printing press | A mechanical device invented in the 1450s that enabled the mass production and dissemination of printed texts, revolutionizing the spread of ideas in Europe. |
| Protestant reformers | Religious leaders who challenged Catholic Church authority and doctrine, seeking to reform Christian practices and beliefs during the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| Puritans | English Protestants who challenged the monarch's control of religious institutions and sought further reform of the Church of England. |
| religious conflicts | Disputes and violence arising from differences in religious beliefs and practices, often used as a basis for challenging monarchical authority over religious institutions. |
| religious reform | Movements to change or purify religious practices and doctrine, particularly within Christianity during the 15th-17th centuries. |
| vernacular Bibles | Translations of the Bible into common languages spoken by ordinary people, rather than Latin, making scripture accessible to the general population. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Catholic unity | The attempt to maintain religious uniformity under Catholic doctrine across European territories controlled by Habsburg rulers. |
| Edict of Nantes | A 1598 French royal decree that granted religious toleration to Huguenots while maintaining royal authority over religious matters. |
| French wars of religion | A series of civil conflicts in 16th-century France between Catholic and Protestant (Huguenot) factions that influenced political power struggles. |
| Habsburg rulers | Monarchs of the Habsburg dynasty who controlled vast European territories and attempted to maintain Catholic unity during the Reformation era. |
| Holy Roman Empire | A political entity in Central Europe that existed from 962 to 1806, composed of numerous German and Italian states under an elected emperor. |
| Ottoman Empire | The multi-ethnic empire centered in Turkey that controlled much of southeastern Europe, western Asia, and North Africa until its decline in the 19th century. |
| Peace of Westphalia | A series of treaties signed in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years' War and established the principle of state sovereignty in Europe. |
| religious pluralism | The coexistence of multiple religious beliefs and denominations within a society, challenging the medieval concept of religious unity in Europe. |
| religious reform | Movements to change or purify religious practices and doctrine, particularly within Christianity during the 15th-17th centuries. |
| St. Bartholomew's Day massacre | A 1572 massacre of Protestants in France that exemplified the violence of the French wars of religion. |
| Thirty Years' War | A major 17th-century European conflict (1618-1648) in which states exploited religious divisions between Catholics and Protestants for political and economic gain. |
| universal Christendom | The medieval ideal of a unified Christian Europe under a single religious authority, which declined after the Reformation and Peace of Westphalia. |
| War of the Three Henrys | A conflict during the French wars of religion involving competing claims to the French throne among three Henry-named figures. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Catholic Reformation | A movement within the Catholic Church from the mid-16th century onward that sought to reform church practices, combat Protestantism, and revitalize Catholic spirituality. |
| Council of Trent | A major church council (1545-1563) that defined Catholic doctrine, reformed church practices, and established responses to Protestant challenges. |
| Index of Prohibited Books | A list maintained by the Catholic Church of books deemed heretical or immoral that Catholics were forbidden to read. |
| Jesuit Order | A Catholic religious order founded in the 16th century known for its emphasis on education, missionary work, and strict discipline in service to the Pope. |
| Roman Inquisition | An institution established by the Catholic Church to investigate and suppress heresy, particularly in response to Protestant reform movements. |
| St. Teresa of Avila | A Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun of the 16th century who reformed her order and exemplified Catholic spiritual renewal during the Catholic Reformation. |
| Ursulines | A Catholic religious order founded in the 16th century dedicated to education and charitable work, particularly the education of girls. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| aristocratic privileges | Special rights and exemptions granted to the nobility, including tax advantages and legal protections unavailable to lower classes. |
| Carnival | A communal leisure activity organized by the religious calendar that city authorities sometimes restricted as part of regulating public morals. |
| charivari | A ritual of public humiliation used to enforce communal norms by mocking individuals who violated social expectations. |
| class | A social division based on economic status and occupation that helped define social hierarchy in rural and urban settings. |
| communal norms | Shared standards of behavior and conduct enforced by local and church authorities through public rituals and punishments. |
| female education | Intellectual training and schooling for women, a topic of debate during the Renaissance and Reformation. |
| gender hierarchies | Structured systems of social ranking based on gender that determined roles, rights, and social status for men and women. |
| La Querelle des Femmes | A literary and intellectual debate about women's nature, capabilities, and proper roles in society that emerged during the Renaissance. |
| land ownership | Control of agricultural property that served as a primary source of prestige and social status in 16th-century society. |
| Protestant Reformation | A 16th-century religious movement that challenged Catholic Church authority and led to the creation of Protestant churches and significant changes in theology and religious practice. |
| public morals | Standards of behavior and conduct enforced by city governments and authorities to maintain social order and religious propriety. |
| Renaissance | A cultural and intellectual movement from the 14th-17th centuries that challenged traditional ideas about education and women's roles in society. |
| rural households | Family units in countryside settings where men and women performed separate but complementary economic tasks. |
| Saint's day festivities | Communal celebrations organized according to the religious calendar that served as leisure activities for rural and urban populations. |
| social dislocation | Disruption of traditional social structures and community bonds, often resulting from economic and religious changes. |
| social hierarchies | Structured systems of social ranking based on class, religion, and gender that determined status and social position in 16th-century European society. |
| urban households | Family units in cities where men and women performed separate but complementary economic tasks. |
| witchcraft accusations | Charges of practicing witchcraft that peaked between 1580 and 1650, often reflecting social upheaval and targeting women. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| artistic expression | The creative communication of ideas, emotions, and values through visual art forms and techniques. |
| Baroque | An artistic style from the late 16th to 18th centuries characterized by dramatic use of light, shadow, emotion, and movement to create theatrical and powerful visual effects. |
| distortion | The deliberate alteration or exaggeration of forms and proportions in art to create emotional or dramatic effects. |
| drama | The use of intense emotion, conflict, and theatrical elements in artistic composition to engage and move the viewer. |
| illusion | Artistic techniques used to create the appearance of depth, movement, or reality that may differ from the actual physical properties of the artwork. |
| Mannerism | An artistic style of the 16th century characterized by the use of distortion, drama, and illusion to create emotionally intense and stylistically complex works. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Catholic Reformation | A movement within the Catholic Church from the mid-16th century onward that sought to reform church practices, combat Protestantism, and revitalize Catholic spirituality. |
| commercial capitalism | An economic system based on trade, merchant activity, and the pursuit of profit through commerce that increasingly shaped European society in the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| folk ideas | Traditional beliefs, customs, and practices held by common people that often reflect pre-Christian or non-official religious elements. |
| nuclear family | A family unit consisting of parents and their children, which was one of several family forms that served as a primary social and economic institution in early modern Europe. |
| political centralization | The concentration of political power and authority in a central government, a process that occurred unevenly across European states in the 16th and 17th centuries. |
| Protestant Reformation | A 16th-century religious movement that challenged Catholic Church authority and led to the creation of Protestant churches and significant changes in theology and religious practice. |
| religious institutions | Organized structures and organizations through which religious beliefs and practices are maintained and transmitted in society. |
| religious pluralism | The coexistence of multiple religious beliefs and denominations within a society, challenging the medieval concept of religious unity in Europe. |
| secular systems of law | Legal systems based on civil authority rather than religious doctrine, which played a central role in the development of new political institutions in the early modern period. |
| sovereign state | A political entity with supreme authority over its territory and population, independent from religious or external control, central to early modern European political development. |
| state authority | The power and legitimacy of the state to govern and enforce laws over its territory and subjects. |
| urbanization | The rapid growth of cities and the movement of populations from rural to urban areas as a result of industrial development. |