All flashcards
Flashcard 1: What was the main function of the French parlements in the 16th century?
Answer: Register royal edicts and act as high courts. They could delay implementation by refusing to register laws.
Flashcard 2: What term describes the Spanish policy of forced conversion and surveillance of converted Jews and Muslims?
Answer: Limpieza de sangre (purity of blood). This discriminatory system excluded those with Jewish or Muslim ancestry.
Flashcard 3: What was the main purpose of the Spanish Inquisition in the 16th century?
Answer: Enforce Catholic orthodoxy and royal religious unity. It suppressed heresy and ensured political loyalty through religious conformity.
Flashcard 4: What institution did Ferdinand and Isabella use to enforce religious conformity in Spain?
Answer: Spanish Inquisition. Established 1478 to root out heresy and enforce Catholic orthodoxy.
Flashcard 5: What term describes the Habsburg strategy of using marriages to gain territory and influence?
Answer: Dynastic marriage diplomacy. Strategic marriages expanded Habsburg lands without warfare.
Flashcard 6: What was the main aim of the Catholic Reformation’s Council of Trent (1545–1563)?
Answer: Reaffirm Catholic doctrine and reform clerical discipline. Counter-Reformation council clarified Catholic teachings against Protestant ideas.
Flashcard 7: What policy did the Spanish crown use to control the Americas through royal officials?
Answer: Viceroyalty system (viceroys governing in the king’s name). Viceroys ruled vast territories as direct representatives of the Spanish crown.
Flashcard 8: What was the encomienda system in Spanish America?
Answer: Grant of Indigenous labor/tribute to Spaniards under crown oversight. Colonists received labor rights but had to protect and convert natives.
Flashcard 9: What political theory did Jean Bodin use to justify strong centralized monarchy in the 1500s?
Answer: Sovereignty: absolute, perpetual authority of the state. Bodin argued rulers needed unlimited power to maintain order.
Flashcard 10: What English statute made the monarch the supreme head/governor of the Church of England?
Answer: Act of Supremacy. First passed 1534 under Henry VIII, revised 1559 under Elizabeth I.
Flashcard 11: What was the primary motive behind Henry VIII’s break with Rome in the 1530s?
Answer: Dynastic succession: annulment to secure a male heir. Catherine of Aragon couldn't produce a male heir; Henry wanted Anne Boleyn.
Flashcard 12: What was the name of the northern Dutch state formed after breaking from Spain?
Answer: Dutch Republic (United Provinces). Seven northern provinces declared independence from Spanish rule.
Flashcard 13: What 1588 event marked a major English naval success against Spain?
Answer: Defeat of the Spanish Armada. Storm and English tactics destroyed Philip II's invasion fleet.
Flashcard 14: What term describes the 1500s trend of monarchs increasing control over churches in their realms?
Answer: State-building through confessionalization (church-state integration). Rulers used religious uniformity to strengthen political authority.
Flashcard 15: What was the “Price Revolution” in 16th-century Europe?
Answer: Sustained inflation driven by population growth and New World silver. Massive silver imports devalued currency across Europe.
Flashcard 16: Which social group generally benefited most from 16th-century inflation: wage laborers or landowners?
Answer: Landowners (rents and prices rose faster than wages). Fixed rents lost value while agricultural prices soared.
Flashcard 17: What was a key demographic effect of the Columbian Exchange on 16th-century Europe?
Answer: Population growth supported by new staple crops (especially potatoes). American crops increased food supply and population capacity.
Flashcard 18: What new Catholic order founded in 1540 became central to education and missions?
Answer: Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Founded by Ignatius Loyola to spread Catholicism through education.
Flashcard 19: What agreement ended the first phase of German religious wars in 1555?
Answer: Peace of Augsburg. Allowed Lutheran and Catholic coexistence in the Holy Roman Empire.
Flashcard 20: What principle from the Peace of Augsburg let each German ruler choose the territory’s religion?
Answer: Cuius regio, eius religio. Latin phrase meaning "whose realm, his religion" - princes decide faith.
Flashcard 21: What 1572 event in France saw mass killings of Huguenots in Paris and beyond?
Answer: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Catholic mob violence killed thousands of French Protestants.
Flashcard 22: What 1598 French edict granted limited toleration and rights to Huguenots?
Answer: Edict of Nantes. Henry IV's compromise ended French Wars of Religion.
Flashcard 23: What was the primary cause of the Dutch Revolt against Spain (1560s–1580s)?
Answer: Resistance to Spanish centralization and Catholic repression. Philip II's harsh policies sparked rebellion in the Low Countries.
Flashcard 24: What 1534 statute made the English monarch the head of the Church of England?
Answer: Act of Supremacy (1534). This act formally broke England from papal authority.
Flashcard 25: What was the key social and economic effect of the 16th-century Price Revolution?
Answer: Sustained inflation that strained wage earners and benefited some landlords. New World silver caused widespread price increases across Europe.
Flashcard 26: What was the Estates-General in France primarily used for during major crises?
Answer: Consultative assembly to approve taxation and air grievances. Kings called it only when needing extraordinary revenue.
Flashcard 27: What was the main political purpose of Philip II’s use of the Escorial and court ceremony?
Answer: Project centralized, sacral monarchy and bureaucratic control. Architecture and ritual reinforced divine-right absolutism.
Flashcard 28: What was the principal cause of the Dutch Revolt (1560s–1580s)?
Answer: Resistance to Spanish taxation, centralization, and religious repression. Philip II's harsh policies sparked nationalist rebellion.
Flashcard 29: Which 1572 event intensified the French Wars of Religion by mass killing Huguenots in Paris?
Answer: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572). Catholic mobs killed thousands of Protestant leaders.
Flashcard 30: What 1598 French edict granted limited toleration and rights to Huguenots?
Answer: Edict of Nantes (1598). Henry IV's compromise ended decades of religious civil war.