chapter 14-16

Copernican Hypothesis

The idea that the sun is the center of the universe, not the earth.

Viceroyalties

The name for the four administrative units of Spanish possessions in the Americas: New Spain, Peru, New Granada, and La Plata.

Peace of Westphalia

The name of a series of treaties that concluded the Thirty Years' War in 1648 and marked the end of large-scale religious violence in Europe.

Junkers

The nobility of Brandenburg and Prussia, who were reluctant allies of Frederick William in his consolidation of the Prussian state.

Reading Revolution

The transition in Europe from a society where literacy consisted of patriarchal and communal reading of religious texts to a society where literacy was commonplace and reading material was broad.

Caravel

A small, maneuverable three-mast sailing ship developed by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century that gave them a distinct advantage in exploration and trade.

Experimental Method

An approach pioneered by Galileo that emphasized repeatable experiments as the proper way to explore the workings of the universe.

Public Sphere

An idealized intellectual space that emerged in Europe during the Enlightenment, where the public came together to discuss important issues relating to society, economics, and politics.

Enlightenment

An influential intellectual and cultural movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries that introduced a new worldview based on the use of reason, scientific method, and progress.

Natural Philosophy

Early modern term for the study of the nature of the universe, its purpose, and how it functioned.

Cossacks

Free groups and outlaw armies originally comprising runaway peasants living on the borders of Russian territory, later forming an alliance with the Russian state.

Salon

Regular social gatherings held by the wealthy and educated Parisians in their homes, where philosophers, scientists, and artists would gather to discuss literature, philosophy, and science.

Conquistador

Spanish for 'conqueror'; Spanish soldier-explorers who sought to conquer the New World for the Spanish Crown.

Encomienda system

System whereby the Spanish crown granted the conquerors the right to forcibly employ groups of Indians in exchange for provisions, shelter, and Christian teaching.

Treaty of Tordesillas

The 1494 agreement giving Spain everything to the west of an imaginary line drawn down the Atlantic, and giving Portugal everything to the east.

Protectorate

The English military dictatorship (1653-1658) established by Oliver Cromwell following the execution of Charles I.

Haskalah

The Jewish Enlightenment of the second half of the 18th century, led by Prussian philosopher Moses Mendelssohn.

Constitutionalism

A form of government in which power is limited by law and balanced between the authority of the government and the rights and liberties of the citizens.

Republicanism

A form of government in which power rests in the hands of the people as exercised through elected representatives.

Philosophes

A group of French intellectuals who sought to bring the light of knowledge to their fellow humans during the Enlightenment.

Law of Inertia

A law formulated by Galileo that states that motion, not rest, is the natural state of an object, and that an object continues in motion forever unless stopped by an external force.

Cameralism

A political theory that believed monarchy was the best form of government, where all elements of society should serve the monarch, and in turn, the state should use its resources and authority to increase the public good.

Rococo

A popular style in Europe in the 18th century, known for its soft pastel colors, ornate interiors, sentimental portraits, and starry-eyed lovers protected by hovering cupids.

Ptolemy's Geography

A second-century C.E. work that synthesized the classical knowledge of geography and introduced the concepts of longitude and latitude.

Rationalism

A secular, critical way of thinking in which nothing was to be accepted on faith and everything was to be submitted to reason.

Peace of Utrecht

A series of treaties from 1713-1715 that ended the War of the Spanish Succession, ended French expansion in Europe, and marked the rise of the British Empire.

Fronde

A series of violent uprisings during the early reign of Louis XIV, triggered by growing royal control and increased taxation.

Mercantilism

A system of economic regulations aimed at increasing the power of the state based on the belief that a nation's international power was based on its wealth, specifically its supply of gold and silver.

Millet System

A system used by the Ottomans whereby subjects were divided into religious communities, each enjoying autonomous self-government under its religious leaders.

Enlightened Absolutism

A term coined by historians to describe the rule of 18th-century monarchs who, without renouncing their own absolute authority, adopted Enlightenment ideals of rationalism, progress, and tolerance.

Mexica Empire

Also known as the Aztec Empire, a large and complex Native American civilization in modern Mexico and Central America.

Cartesian Dualism

Descartes's view that all of reality could ultimately be reduced to mind and matter.

Colombian Exchange

Exchange of animals, plants, and diseases between the New and Old Worlds.

Test Act

Legislation passed by the English Parliament in 1673 to secure the position of the Anglican Church by stripping Puritans, Catholics, and other dissenters of various rights and privileges.

Puritans

Members of a 16th and 17th century religious movement within the Church of England that advocated purifying it of Roman Catholic elements.

Law of Universal Gravitation

Newton's law that all objects are attracted to one another and that the force of attraction is proportional to the objects' quantity of matter and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Sultan

Ruler of the Ottoman Empire, who owned all agricultural land of the empire and was served by an army and bureaucracy composed of highly trained slaves.

Janissary Corps

The core of the sultan's army, composed of slave conscripts from non-Muslim parts of the empire.

Stadholder

The executive officer in each of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, often held by the princes of Orange.

Boyar

The highest-ranking members of Russian nobility.

Inca Empire

Vast and sophisticated Peruvian empire centered at the capital city of Cuzco, at its peak from 1438 - 1532.