Chapter 15

Renaissance

A French word meaning rebirth, used to describe a cultural movement that began in fourteenth-century Italy and looked back to the classical past.

Protestant

Originally meaning "a follower of Luther," this term came to be generally applied to all non-Catholic western European Christians.

debate about women

A discussion, which began in the later years of the fourteenth century, that attempted to answer fundamental questions about gender and to define the role of women in society.

indulgence

A papal statement granting remission of a priest-imposed penalty for sin. (No one knew what penalty God would impose after death.)

humanism

A program of study designed by Italians that emphasized the critical study of Latin and Greek literature with the goal of understanding human nature.

Protestant Reformation

A religious reform movement that began in the early sixteenth century that split the Western Christian Church.

Diet of Worms

An assembly of the Estates of the Holy Roman Empire convened by Charles V in the German city of Worms. It was here, in 1521, that Martin Luther refused to recant his writings.

predestination

Calvin's teaching that, by God's decree, some persons are guided to salvation and others to damnation; that God has called us not according to our works but according to his purpose and grace.

politiques

Catholic and Protestant moderates who sought to end the religious violence in France by restoring a strong monarchy and granting official recognition to the Huguenots.

patronage

Financial support of writers and artists by cities, groups, and individuals, often to produce specific works or works in specific styles.

Huguenots

French Calvinists.

Christian humanists

Humanists from northern Europe who thought that the best elements of classical and Christian cultures should be combined and saw humanist learning as a way to bring about reform of the church and deepen people's spiritual lives.

Jesuits

Members of the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola and approved by the papacy in 1540, whose goal was the spread of the Roman Catholic faith through humanistic schools and missionary activity.

Union of Utrecht

The alliance of seven northern provinces of the Netherlands, all of which were Protestant, that declared independence from Spain and formed the United Provinces of the Netherlands.