Module 9: Reformation and Upheaval

Elizabeth I

Queen of England from 1558 to 1603; a skillful politician and diplomat, she reasserted Protestant supremacy in England.

Peace of Augsburg

A 1555 agreement declaring that the religion of each German state would be decided by its ruler.

Reformation

A 16th-century movement for religious reform, leading to the founding of Christian churches that rejected the pope's authority.

Catholic Reformation

A 16th-century movement in which the Roman Catholic Church sought to make changes in response to the Protestant Reformation.

Inquisition

A Roman Catholic tribunal for investigating and prosecuting charges of heresy—especially the one active in Spain during the 1400s.

Calvinism

A body of religious teachings based on the ideas of the reformer John Calvin.

Heresy

A denial of Church teachings.

Theocracy

A government controlled by religious leaders.

Protestant

A member of a Christian church founded on the principles of the Reformation.

Lutheran

A member of a Protestant church founded on the teachings of Martin Luther.

Presbyterian

A member of a Protestant church governed by presbyters (elders) and founded on the teachings of John Knox.

Indulgence

A pardon releasing a person from punishments due for a sin.

Heretic

A person who is accused of having a religious belief that is contrary to the official teachings of the Church.

Nation-state

An independent geopolitical unit of people having a common culture and identity.

Huldrich Zwingli

Catholic priest from Zurich who attacked abuses in the Catholic Church.

Huguenots

Followers of John Calvin; French Protestants.

Martin Luther

German monk whose protests against the Catholic Church in 1517 (the Ninety-Five Theses) led to calls for reform and to the movement known as the Reformation.

Anabaptist

In the Reformation, a member of a Protestant group that believed in baptizing only those persons who were old enough to decide to be Christian and believed in the separation of church and state.

Henry VIII

King of England from 1509 to 1547; his desire to annul his marriage led to a conflict with the pope, England's break with the Roman Catholic Church, and its embrace of Protestantism. Henry established the Church of England in 1532.

Jesuits

Members of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Ignatius of Loyola.

Anglican

Relating to the Church of England.

John Knox

Scottish preacher who adopted Calvin's ideas and incorporated them into what became known as Presbyterianism.

Ignatius of Loyola

Spanish churchman and founder of the Jesuits (1534); this order of Roman Catholic priests proved an effective force for reviving Catholicism during the Catholic Reformation.

Predestination

The doctrine that God has decided all things beforehand, including which people will be eternally saved.

Excommunicate

The taking away of a person's right of membership in a Christian church.

Annul

To cancel or set aside.