Age of Exploration and Protestant Reformation - AP World History: Modern

Erasmus is one of the most celebrated men of the Northern Renaissance. He was born in the Netherlands and lived his whole life as a staunch Catholic. He was however greatly disturbed by the abuses of the clergy within the Catholic Church. He worked tirelessly to try and reform the Church from within. He had many supporters within the humanist and renaissance movement, but was widely condemned by the more polemical supporters from both the Catholic and Protestant camps.

The Diet of Worms convened in 1521, just four years after Luther posted his 95 Theses and somewhat inadvertently began the Protestant Reformation. The Diet was convened by Charles V and the Holy Roman Empire in order to discuss Luther's challenges to the church and what should be done about him. Luther was called to speak before the Diet, and when he did so was condemned as a heretic. The Diet of Worms resulted in the Edict of Worms, which declared Luther a heretic and all those who followed his teachings as giving up the right to life. Many Princes ignored this ruling, as did many common people, and Luther's influence continued to grow in spite of the church's best efforts.

The Presbyterian Church is a branch of Calvinism that arose in Scotland during the sixteenth century. It was widely influenced by the Scottish theologian and protestant reformer, John Knox, who lived and studied with Calvin in Geneva and then returned to Scotland, bringing the new faith with him.

The Munster Rebellion took place from 1534 to 1535 in Munster, Germany. The rebellion began when Anabaptist community leaders took control of the city and instituted an egalitarian religious government. Anabaptists believed that all people were equal before God and that all things, including wealth and income, should be shared equally. This, along with many of the other religious beliefs of the Anabaptists, was considered extremely dangerous to the established order, and the rebellion was put down brutally.

The Thirty Years' War began as a conflict between Catholic and Protestant forces in Central Europe and the Holy Roman Empire, but as the war wore on it evolved into a continuation of the centuries long battle for continental supremacy between the Bourbons of France and the Hapsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire. The Thirty Years' War is often broken down into four distinct phases—The Bohemian Phase, the Danish Phase, the Swedish Phase, and the French Phase.

Gustavus Adolphus was the commander of the Swedish forces throughout the Thirty Years' War. Victory of his army at the Battle of Brietenfield prevented the Hapsburg forces from reunifying the German-speaking world under the Catholic faith.

Beginning with Christopher Columbus' initial voyage in 1492, the Spanish began exploring, conquering, and colonizing the Americas. The Portuguese, having their own growing Empire across Asia and Africa, sought Papal advice on which king could rule which areas. The Treaty of Tordesillas drew a line in the Eastern portion of South America, which gave everything west to Spain and east to Portugal. Thus, the only portion of South America settled by the Portuguese was Brazil.

Columbus' original mission was to find a passage across the Atlantic to establish trade routes with the Far East. When Columbus arrived in the Carribean, he thought he was in the East Indies (hence the use of the term "Indians" for the indiginous people of the Americas). Later Spanish missions would attempt to establish colonies and spread Christianity.

Columbus' expeditions were funded by the Spanish king and queen, Ferdinand and Isabella.

All of these individuals were involved with Portugese exploration except for Christopher Columbus, who was actually born in Italy but sailed to the New World under the patronage of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella.

Caravels were invented in Portugal in the fifteenth century. They were extremely maneuverable and allowed Portugal to explore the African coast and the Indian ocean at remarkable speeds.

Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro were both Spanish Conquistadors who arrived in South America in the sixteenth century. Using similar tactics that relied on superior weaponry and manipulating old tribal rivalries, Cortes and Pizarro were able to tear down the two largest civilizations—the Aztecs (Cortes) and the Inca (Pizarro)—in what is now called Latin America.

The early Spanish explorers and colonizers were insatiable in their quest for gold and silver. Driven by the promise of rich reward, they sacrificed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans and mined deep into the heart of the South American continent. In one way, they were succesful—the amount of gold and silver they flooded into the European market was unprecedented; however, in the long term, the result was almost as bad for Spain as it was for South America. The Spanish companies and individuals owed so much debt to British and Dutch investment banks and companies that the profit ended up in the hands of others and the price of gold and silver in Spain plummeted.

Pogroms were organized attacks on Jewish communities in Russia carried out by the state in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Calvinism was the most effective Protestant faith at penetrating Polish society, and it was the dominant religion in the country for several decades at the height of the Protestant Reformation; however, the Catholic Counter-Reformation was wildly successful, and Calvinism survived only in limited numbers.

Gustavus Adolphus was the commander of the Swedish forces during the Thirty Years' War. Sweden fought on the side of Protestantism and the anti-Hapsburg side.

During the Protestant Reformation, France was still a primarily Catholic kingdom ruled by a Catholic king, but the number of French Protestants (called Huguenots) was growing rapidly. In an attempt to encourage secular unity, King Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598 to establish some religious toleration of Protestants in France.

The Edict of Nantes was issued in 1598 by the French King Henry IV. The purpose of the Edict was to bring to an end the French Wars of Religion and provide religious toleration of Protestants in the French kingdom.

The Protestant Reformation made rapid initial gains in both Poland and Hungary. In the century or so that followed the Protestant Reformation, the majority of both countries converted to Protestantism (either Lutheranism or Calvinism); however, both countries were overwhelmed by the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and most of the gains made by Protestants in the sixteenth century were undone in the seventeenth century.

During the Protestant Reformation, the Ottoman Empire invaded Hungary (then under control of the Hapsburg Holy Roman, and Catholic, Empire). The Ottomans conquered the territory and the Hungarian people lost faith in their Catholic rulers, and in Catholicism itself, to protect them. By 1600, the vast majority of the country had converted to Protestantism, although this would be undone by the Catholic Counter-Reformation.