Chapter 13-19 Glossary Terms

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Christian (northern) humanism

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an intellectual movement in northern Europe in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries that combined the interest in the classics of the Italian Renaissance with an interest in the sources of early Christianity, including the New ­Testament and the writings of the church fathers.

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Huguenots

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French Calvinists.

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indulgence

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the remission of part or all of the temporal punishment in purgatory due to sin; granted for charitable contributions and other good deeds. Indulgences became a regular practice of the Christian church in the High Middle Ages, and their abuse was instrumental in sparking Luther’s reform movement in the sixteenth century.

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justification by faith

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the primary doctrine of the Protestant Reformation; taught that humans are saved not through good works, but by the grace of God, bestowed freely through the sacrifice of Jesus.

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millenarianism

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belief among some Christian groups that the end of time and therefore the kingdom of God was at hand.

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pluralism

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the practice in which one person holds several church offices simultaneously; a problem of the late medieval church.

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politiques

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a group who emerged during the French Wars of Religion in the sixteenth century; placed politics above religion and believed that no religious truth was worth the ravages of civil war.

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popular culture

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as opposed to high culture, the unofficial, written and unwritten culture of the masses, much of which was passed down orally; centers on public and group activities such as festivals. In the twentieth century, refers to the entertainment, recreation, and pleasures that people purchase as part of mass consumer society.

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predestination

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the belief, associated with Calvinism, that God, as a consequence of his foreknowledge of all events, has predetermined those who will be saved (the elect) and those who will be damned.

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Puritans

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religious reformers in England who hoped to cleanse the Church of England of any traces of Catholicism

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sacraments

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rites considered imperative for a Christian’s salvation. By the thirteenth century consisted of the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper, baptism, marriage, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and confirmation of children; Protestant reformers of the sixteenth century generally recognized only two—baptism and communion (the Lord’s Supper).

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transubstantiation

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Catholic doctrine that the bread and wine used in the Eucharist were miraculously transformed into the body and blood of Jesus.

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audiencias

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advisory group who assisted the viceroy in governing Spanish territories in the New World.

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capital

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material wealth used or available for use in the production of more wealth.

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conquistadors

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“conquerors.” Leaders in the Spanish conquests in the Americas, especially Mexico and Peru, in the sixteenth century.

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encomienda

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a system that allowed Spanish settlers to collect tribute and use the labor of Native Americans.

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joint-stock company

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a company or association that raises capital by selling shares to individuals who receive dividends on their investment while a board of directors runs the company.

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mercantilism

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an economic theory that held that a nation’s prosperity depended on its supply of gold and silver and that the total volume of trade is unchangeable; therefore, advocated that the government play an active role in the economy by encouraging exports and discouraging imports, especially through the use of tariffs.

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price revolution

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the dramatic rise in prices (inflation) that occurred throughout Europe in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

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viceroy

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chief civil and military official over Spanish possessions in the New World.

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absolutism

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a form of government where the sovereign power or ultimate authority rested in the hands of a monarch who claimed to rule by divine right and was therefore responsible only to God.

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boyars

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members of the Russian nobility; crushed by Ivan the Terrible as he expanded the authority of the tsar in the sixteenth century.

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divine-right monarchy

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a monarchy based on the belief that monarchs receive their power directly from God and are responsible to no one except God.

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gentry

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well-to-do English landowners below the level of nobility; many converted to Puritanism.

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intendants

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royal officials in seventeenth-century France who were sent into the provinces to execute the orders of the central government.

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procurator

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lay official of the Russian church; represented the interests of the tsar and extended control of the tsar over the church.

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Cartesian dualism

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Descartes’ principle of the separation of mind and matter (and mind and body) that enabled scientists to view matter as something separate from themselves that could be investigated by reason.

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empiricism

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the practice of relying on observation and experiment.

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geocentric conception

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the idea that the earth is at the center of the universe and that the sun and other celestial objects revolve around the earth.

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heliocentric theory

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the idea that the sun (not the earth) is at the center of the universe.

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Hermeticism

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an intellectual movement beginning in the fifteenth century that taught that divinity is embodied in all aspects of nature; included works on alchemy and magic as well as theology and philosophy. The tradition continued into the seventeenth century and influenced many of the leading figures of the Scientific Revolution.

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querelles des femmes

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“arguments about women.” A centuries-old debate about the nature of women that continued during the Scientific Revolution as those who argued for the inferiority of women found additional support in the new anatomy and medicine.

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rationalism

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a system of thought based on the belief that human reason and experience are the chief sources of knowledge.

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scientific method

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a method of seeking knowledge through inductive principles; uses experiments and observations to develop generalizations.

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Scientific Revolution

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the transition from the medieval worldview to a largely secular, rational, and materialistic perspective; began in the seventeenth century and was popularized in the eighteenth.

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world-machine

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Newton’s conception of the universe as one huge, regulated, and uniform machine that operated according to natural laws in absolute time, space, and motion.

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cultural relativism

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the belief that no culture is superior to another because culture is a matter of custom, not reason, and derives its meaning from the group holding it.

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deism

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belief in God as the creator of the universe who, after setting it in motion, ceased to have any direct involvement in it and allowed it to run according to its own natural laws.

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Enlightenment

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an eighteenth-century intellectual movement, led by the philosophes, that stressed the application of reason and the scientific method to all aspects of life.

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feminism

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the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes; also, organized activity to advance women’s rights.

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high culture

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the literary and artistic world of the educated and wealthy ruling classes.

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laissez-faire

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“to let alone.” An economic doctrine that holds that an economy is best served when the government does not interfere but allows the economy to self-regulate according to the forces of supply and demand.

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natural laws

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a body of laws or specific principles held to be derived from nature and binding upon all human society even in the absence of positive laws.

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natural rights

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certain inalienable rights to which all people are entitled; include the right to life, liberty, and property, freedom of speech and religion, and equality before the law.

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Neoclassicalism

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artistic and architectural style that imitated the dignity and simplicity and classical Greece and Rome.

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philosophes

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intellectuals of the eighteenthcentury Enlightenment who believed in applying a spirit of ra­tional criticism to all things, including religion and politics, and who focused on improving and enjoying this world, rather than on the afterlife.

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Pietism

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European religious movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized the need for individuals to establishment a more emotional connection with God.

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Rococo

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artistic movement that began to flourished in the 1730s; emphasized grace and gentle action and often made use of natural objects.

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salons

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gatherings of philosophes and other notables to discuss the ideas of the Enlightenment; so-called from the elegant drawing rooms (salons) where they met.

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skepticism

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a doubtful or questioning attitude, especially about religion.

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agricultural revolution

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the application of new agricultural techniques that allowed for a large increase in ­productivity in the eighteenth century.

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balance of power

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a distribution of power among several states such that no single nation can dominate or interfere with the interests of another.

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cottage industry

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a system of textile manufacturing in which spinners and weavers worked at home in their cottages using raw materials supplied to them by capitalist entrepreneurs.

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enclosure movement

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in the eighteenth century, the fencing in of the old open fields, combining many small holdings into larger units that could be farmed more efficiently.

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enlightened absolutism

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an absolute monarchy where the ruler follows the principles of the Enlightenment by introducing reforms for the improvement of society, allowing freedom of speech and the press, permitting religious toleration, expanding education, and ruling in accordance with the laws.

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infanticide

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the practice of killing infants.

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limited (constitutional) monarchy

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a system of government in which the monarch is limited by a representative assembly and by the duty to rule in accordance with the laws of the land.

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orders/estates

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the traditional tripartite division of European society based on heredity and quality rather than wealth or economic standing, first established in the Middle Ages and continuing into the eighteenth century; traditionally consisted of those who pray (the clergy), those who fight (the nobility), and those who work (all the rest).

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patricians

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wealthy ruling class that dominated town and city councils in western and central Europe.

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primogeniture

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an inheritance practice in which the eldest son receives all or the largest share of the parents’ estate.

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reason of state

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the principle that a nation should act on the basis of its long-term interests and not merely to further the dynastic interests of its ruling family.

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serf

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a peasant who is bound to the land and obliged to provide labor services and pay various rents and fees to the lord; considered unfree but not a slave because serfs could not be bought and sold.

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tithe

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a tenth of one’s harvest or income; paid by medieval peasants to the village church.

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bicameral legislature

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a legislature with two houses.

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civil rights

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the basic rights of citizens including equality before the law, freedom of speech and press, and freedom from arbitrary arrest.

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Continental System

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Napoleon’s effort to bar British goods from the Continent in the hope of weakening Britain’s economy and destroying its capacity to wage war.

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nation in arms

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the people’s army raised by universal mobilization to repel the foreign enemies of the French Revolution.

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sans-culottes

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the common people who did not wear the fine clothes of the upper classes (sans-culottes means “without breeches”) and played an important role in the radical phase of the French Revolution.

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old regime/old order

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the political and social system of France in the eighteenth century before the Revolution.

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revolution

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a fundamental change in the political and social organization of a state.