Renaissance

A rebirth of art and learning.

Skepticism

A doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind.

Individualism

Belief in the importance of the individual and in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence.

Humanism

A Renaissance intellectual movement that focused on human potential and achievements.

Classicism

Knowledge of the literature and art of ancient Greece and Rome.

Protestant

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

Reformation

A movement for religious reform that rejected the pope’s authority.

Printing Press

A machine by which images are transferred to paper by means of ink – helped spread Renaissance and Reformation ideas quickly.

Excommunication

The taking away of a person’s membership in the Roman Catholic Church.

Vernacular

The everyday language of people in a region or country.

Inquisition

A Roman Catholic court created to investigate and prosecute charges of heresy.

Counter Reformation

Efforts to oppose the Protestant Reformation and reform of the Catholic Church.

Heresy

The rejection of a belief that is a part of a church teaching.

Indulgence

A payment collected by the Catholic Church that released a person from punishments due for a sin.

Absolute Monarch

A king or queen who has unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects of society.

Divine Right

The idea that monarchs are God’s representatives on earth and therefore answerable only to God.

Westernization

An adoption of the social, political, or economic institutions of Western countries.