39 Articles - Written in 1563 under the rule of Queen Elizabeth of England, this document outlined the basic beliefs of Anglicanism in order to clarify the differences between its doctrine and that of the Catholic Church. It was intentionally written in a vague manner so that Catholics would accept it as "close enough" to their own beliefs that it wasn't worth rebelling over. ~Ashley
Albrecht von Wallenstein-Supreme commander of the Hapsburg armies during the thirty years war, though he was eventually released because Ferdinand II (Holy Roman Emperor) feared his ambition. Kristen.
Von Wallenstein was also a brutal general who would stop at nothing to win battles. His armies targeted civilians as well, and enacted punishments and mass executions on conquered towns and cities. This total warfare left the Holy Roman Empire in a state of disrepair after the war, and it would not recover from the bloodshed for many decades. - Hayes
He was a mercenary who fought in the 30 Years War. He was hired by Ferdinand II to fight for the Hapsburgs, and gained repute by winning numerous battles. He eventually fought Adolphus, the Swedish general, and it came to a draw. However, Adolphus died and Wallenstein realized no one could beat him. He began to negotiate with the Protestants, and that made Ferdinand II mad. He released him and then had his assassinated by an Irish assassin with a spear to the gut. -Sam
Cardinal Richelieu-Louis XIII of France's cheif minister. He limited the power of the nobility to help centralize the power of the state. Tried to keep the power of the Hapsburgs in check and ensure French dominance in the thirty years war. Kristen.
Catherine de Medici - Catherine de Medici was the wife of Henry II (Valois), Queen of France, and mother of Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III. She was an extremely powerful within the politics of France, though not a very moral person. She engineered a plan to marry her daughter, Margaret, to Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot, in order to end the religious war between Protestants and Catholics. As the wedding drew nearer, though, the fighting got even worse. Catherine realized that her plan would not end the fighting, so she decided to end the fighting by killing all the Protestants in town for the wedding. This was St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, in 1572, which lasted weeks and sparked the War of the Three Henrys. - Leora
Columbian Exchange - This term refers to the transfer of goods, disease, livestock, crops, ideas, and people between Europe and the New World beginning with Columbus' expedition in 1492. ~Ashley
Throughout the entire process of the Columbian exchange, the Spaniards saw themselves as superiors, entitled by their military and technological might to teach the local population advanced, European ways and converting the natives from Paganism to Catholicism, forcing the natives to absorb Western ideas into their own cultures. —Connie
Cortez, Hernan - A Spanish explorer who reached Mexico with his expedition in 1519. He was the first European to encounter the Aztecs, and he would later trick their culture into thinking he was some divine entity (specifically Quetzacoatl, their Sun God), which helped him to conquer that people. ~Ashley
Cortez was often at arms with the spanish royalty, and had a hard time funding his expeditions. His great success in mexico was short lived, as he lost nearly all his fortune on the trips himself. He died exasperated and in heavy debt. - Hayes
defenestration of Prague (1618) After Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II promised toleration for Protestants in Bohemia, he died and his cousin Ferdinand, who was a pious Catholic, succeeded him and refused to honor Rudolf's promises, ordering the cessation of Protestant churches and dissolved the Protestant assembly. Later, the Protestant leaders defenestrated two powerful Catholic Lords Regent. This entire situation was a factor leading up to the 30 years war. —Connie
Dias, Bartholomew (1451-1500) - was a Portuguese explorer famous for reaching the East coast of Africa in 1488, past the Cape of Good Hope. This opened up the route to India, but before the Portuguese could send a fleet across the Indian ocean, their progress was halted by the supposed discovery of India by Christopher Columbus. It was in 1497 that Portugese explorer Vasco de Gama finally reached India. -Alexis
Duke of Alva (or Alba) - A vicious, Spanish military general whom Philip II sent to the Netherlands in 1567 to crush Dutch rebellions. The Duke brought many soldiers, and met the Dutch in various, violent, bloody battles. He also created the Council of Blood which arrested and executed thousands of Dutch rebels, but this only led to further unification of Dutch opposition. ~Ashley
Duke of Sully (France) - He was Henry IV's economic advisor who advocated for mercantilism and the paulette tax. Mercantilism was an economic philosophy that there was a fixed amount of wealth in the world, and in order to be successful one needed to acquire as much of that wealth as possible. To do this, France tried to export more than it imported and it established colonies to feed the mother country with natural resources. The goal was to keep their wealth in the loop of their country's economy. The paulette tax was a payment that gov't officials could pay every year in order for their nobility to become hereditary. This ends up splitting the nobility into the Nobility of the Sword (traditional nobles) and the Nobility of the Robes (upstarts), and the French gov't gained a lot of money from this tax. These economic policies helped turn France's economy around. ~Ashley
Dutch East India Company - Dutch joint stock company that dominated worldwide trade for much of the 1600's. It was started in 1602. The company had its own military and used force to protect its trade interests. Spices were the major trade good, and the company enjoyed massive profits that boosted its own power and the economy of the netherlands. - Hayes
Enclosures (Enclosure Movement) - Obviously the most important event in history, the Enclosure Movement occurred in the 16th century mostly in England. Elite landowners decided to enclose previously public land so as to grow crops and sheep for profit. This forced most people who used to live off this land to move to cities, which escalated urbanization. They also began looking for new markets and new land abroad. – Erin :)
The landowners closed the previously public lands off little by little, slowly forcing people into the cities. However, many people who lived off the land were able to resist being moved, as the Enclosure Movement persisted for a few centuries. -Sam
Encomienda System - was the Spanish system of labor used in the New World. Land owners were expected to extract tributes from the native people in the form of goods, labor or money, and in return, were expected to take care of the natives and educate them in Christianity. However, this system was easily manipulated, and gave many Spanish landowners the ability to enslave the native people. Their populations declined significantly due to this brutally oppressive system. -Alexis
Edict of Nantes - The Edict of Nantes, created in 1598, was passed by Henry IV as a politique move in order to balance the interests of Huguenots and Catholics within France. The edict legalized Calvinism only in certain towns (not other branches of Protestantism or other faiths and not everywhere, so it wasn’t religious freedom). This appeased Catholics because Calvinism wouldn’t spread and pleased the Huguenots because they could practice their faith. This shows Henry IV’s dedication to religious peace within France. - Leora
Magellan, Ferdinand - Magellan, a Portuguese man, was sponsored by the Spanish to circumnavigate the globe. Although Magellan himself did not survive the trip, one of his three ships returned, making this voyage the first successful circumnavigation of the globe. In the one ship that did return, there were enough spices to make a profit, which shows why people were willing to risk so much during this time of exploration. – Erin :)
Mary Tudor (aka “Bloody Mary”) (1553-1558) - Restored Roman Catholicism, the religion of her mother, Catherine of Aragon, to England shortly after her father had split from the Catholic Church, and proclaimed the Anglican church the official church of England. During her reign she exiled and executed religious dissenters, earning her the title of "Bloody Mary." In 1554, she married Philip II of Spain, the most powerful monarch in Europe and fellow Catholic. However, because they did not have any children, Mary's half sister Elizabeth I succeeded Mary after her death in 1558, and returned England to Protestantism. -Alexis
She ruled after Edward VI. Her marriage to Philip II made sense because they were both very Catholic, but it undermined her power. When she made decrees, people were suspicious that Philip II was simply ruling through her. This was a major reason why her sister, Elizabeth I, decided not to marry. -Sam
Mary Stuart (aka “Mary Queen of Scots”) Mary Stuart was Elizabeth I's cousin and the heir to the English throne. She was Catholic and was married to King Francis II of France. After his death, she returned to Scotland just as John Knox was gaining power, and the Scottish Calvinists (Presbyterians) started a rebellion and forced Mary to flee to England. Her arrival gave the English Catholics an opportunity to revolt against Protestant Elizabeth, who crushed what was called the "Northern Uprising." She executed 500 Catholic rebels and had her cousin arrested. While in prison, Mary was plotting ways to overthrow Elizabeth. Elizabeth found out, and after painful deliberation, had Mary killed. Her execution strengthened Elizabeth's reputation and showed that Elizabeth was willing to use force when religious dissent threatened her political power. -Grace
mercantilism - Economic mindset characterized by three main points: 1. Belief that there was a fixed amount of wealth in the world 2. Maintaining a high export/import ratio 3. Colonization for monetary gain. Henry IV was the first French king to embrace mercantilism and his economic policies reflected it. - Hayes
Moctezuma-Emperor when Europeans first met the aztecs. Lead by Hernan Cortez, the Spaniards were invited by Moctezuma to stay in Tenochtitlan, but after several months, disputes between the Aztecs and the Spanish broke out and while Cortes was away there was a massacre in the main temple and Moctezuma was held prisoner to assure the Spaniards safety. Moctezuma was eventually killed in one of the battles following Cortes' return to Tenochtitlan. Kristen.
paulette-a tax begun in France under the reign of Henry VI, but mainly created by his economic advisor the Duke of Sully, it allowed people to essentially pay their way into nobilty, creating a larger income for the king, but also creating a new nobility that the king has less control over and is less loyal to the crown. Kristen.
This was a tax paid by holders of government or judicious offices in order to be able to sell them at will. The tax was 1/60th the value of their office. -Sam
Peace of Westphalia In 1648, after seven years of negotiation in Westphalia, Germany, the treaties of the Peace of Westphalia were signed. The delegates at the conference represented all of the participants in the Thirty Years' War, rather than just the two or three key players, and the treaties dealt with almost every major issue. France gained the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, and Sweden, the other main aggressor in the last part of the war, received extensive territories in the Holy Roman Empire. The United Provinces and the Swiss Confederation gained independence, as did the German princes after promising never to join an alliance against the emperor. The treaties of the Peace of Westphalia were significant because they brought an end to an anarchic situation in Europe and established a new system for dealing with wars. -Grace
Pizarro, Francisco Francisco Pizarro led the conquest of the Incas in Peru. He was an example of a Spanish conquistador, a younger son of a noble family or an ambitious member of Catile's lower class who sought glory, land, and riches in the New World. Pizarro and his men took Cuzco in 1533, and in 1535, Pizarro founded the city of Lima and called it the City of Kings (La Ciudad de los Reyes). Like Cortés, Pizarro and his men allied with the local enemies of the civilization and treated the native people horribly. -Grace
politique A politique ruler is religiously moderate and sees religion as a secondary issue (or a non-issue) and attempts to minimize religious conflict within his/her nation in order to strengthen his/her political and economic. Examples include Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot who converted to Catholicism solely to have a stronger grip on Paris, while allowing for Calvinism to be practiced in some cities. —Connie
Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) was at the forefront of the Portuguese exploration movement, and was largely responsible for promoting exploration and funding both Portugese and Italian shipmakers, sailors, mapmakers and astronomers interested in discovery. He founded a navigation school in 1420, which helped create an atmosphere of exploration in Portugal. Although his efforts to support exploration did not succeed in reaching India without making contact with the Ottoman empire, Henry's sailors succeeded in opening gold, slave and ivory trade with West Africa. -Alexis
“putting-out system” - this system was a tactic used by entrepreneurs to operate without having to use guilds, for guilds did not emphasize profit-making. Entrepreneurs would deliver raw materials to workers in their homes and then pick up the finished products later. Workers operated under the putting-out system until about 1750 when factories organized where workers could work in a centralized location. - Erin :)
Spanish Armada- a huge fleet of ships sent by Philip II to the Low Countries to pick up a Spanish army and invade England. By 1588, Philip was extremely frustrated because of the English interference with his colonies and Elizabeth’s support of the Dutch rebels, and he wanted to stop the Protestant resistance to secure his Catholic Christendom. However, the invasion failed because the English set fire to their own ships and sent them toward the Spanish ships, which escaped to the North Sea only to be hit by a horrible storm near Ireland. The defeat of the Spanish Armada represented a dramatic shift in power in Europe from the Spanish to the English. -Grace
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre - St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre refers to the time in 1572 when Huguenots, having gathered in Paris for the wedding of Margaret and Henry of Navarre, were slaughtered over a period of weeks. This was arranged by Catherine de Medici, Margaret’s mother, in an attempt to end the religious conflict in France once and for all. Henry of Navarre, who happened to be a Huguenot, survived the massacre. This period of brutality led to the War of the Three Henrys, which ultimately led to Henry of Navarre’s crowning as King Henry IV. - Leora
Thirty Years War
Treaty of Tordesillas (Line of Demarcation) - This treaty, signed in 1494, divided the “new worlds” outside Europe between Spain and Portugal. Everything east to this line of demarcation went to Portugal so that they could keep their African trade routes, while everything to the West went to Spain, meaning they got almost all of the New World. The line was moved slightly in 1494 so that Portugal could claim enough of Brazil to call it a Portuguese territory. – Erin :)
War of the Three Henrys - The War of the Three Henrys was a religious war sparked by St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 and fought between Henry III (Valois, Catholic), Henry of Guise (backed by Philip II, Catholic) and Henry of Navarre (Hugenot). The conflict was a stalemate until 1588, when the English defeated the Spanish Armada. This weakening of Philip II was seen as a weakening of Henry of Guise, so Henry III arranged his assassination in 1589. After his death, one of Henry of Guise’s followers, assassinated Henry III and Henry of Navarre was the only Henry left. This was the end of the war and Henry was given the French crown and the title of King Henry IV. - Leora