Europe Flashcards
Italian peninsula
a peninsula extending from the southern Alps in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea
the Medici family
Medici family, Italian bourgeois family that ruled Florence and, later, Tuscany during most of the period from 1434 to 1737, except for two brief intervals.
Florence
a city in western central Italy, the capital of Tuscany, on the Arno River; population 365,659 (2008). Florence was a leading center of the Italian Renaissance, especially under the rule of the Medici family during the 15th century.
Humanism
an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.
Thomas Aquinas
Between antiquity and modernity stands Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225–1274). The greatest figure of thirteenth-century Europe in the two preeminent sciences of the era, philosophy and theology, he epitomizes the scholastic method of the newly founded universities.
Renaissance
the revival of art and literature under the influence of classical models in the 14th–16th centuries.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Italian painter, scientist, and engineer. His paintings are notable for their use of the technique of sfumato and include The Virgin of the Rocks (1483–85), The Last Supper (1498), and the Mona Lisa (1504–05). He devoted himself to a wide range of other subjects, from anatomy and biology to mechanics and hydraulics: his 19 notebooks include studies of the human circulatory system and plans for a type of aircraft and a submarine.
Michelangelo
Alian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet; full name Michelangelo Buonarroti. A leading figure of the High Renaissance, Michelangelo established his reputation with sculptures such as the Pietà (c.1497–1500) and David (1501–04). Under papal patronage he decorated the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome (1508–12) and painted the fresco The Last Judgment (1536–41), both important mannerist works. His architectural achievements include the completion of St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome (1546–64).
Systems of patronage
The system of patronage is a system in which a powerful person holds authority and influence over a less powerful person, whom he protects by granting favors in exchange for loyalty and allegiance.
The printing press
a machine for printing text or pictures from type or plates.
Martin Luther
German theologian; the principal figure of the German Reformation. He preached the doctrine of justification by faith rather than by works and railed against the sale of indulgences and papal authority.
95 Theses
ninety-five Theses, propositions for debate concerned with the question of indulgences, written in Latin and possibly posted by Martin Luther on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a religious reform movement that swept through Europe in the 1500s. It resulted in the creation of a branch of Christianity called Protestantism, a name used collectively to refer to the many religious groups that separated from the Roman Catholic Church due to differences in doctrine.
Henry VIII
Henry VIII was Kin-g of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated by the pope.
The church of England
the English branch of the Western Christian Church, which combines Catholic and Protestant traditions, rejects the pope’s authority, and has the monarch as its titular head.
