The nature of change: humanism, Reformation and state power
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Question
What was the Renaissance?
Answer
A "rebirth" of ancient Greek and Roman learning in Europe (roughly 1400–1550) that reshaped ideas, art and scholarship.
Question
Define humanism.
Answer
A movement that revived classical texts and stressed human dignity, reason, and the study of history and languages.
Question
Who was Erasmus and why did he matter?
Answer
The leading humanist; he produced a fresh Greek New Testament and, in *In Praise of Folly* (1509), mocked corrupt clergy and urged a simpler Christianity.
Question
What did Machiavelli's *The Prince* (1513) argue?
Answer
That rulers should study how power is really gained and kept, separating politics from religious morality.
Question
Why is Leonardo da Vinci a symbol of the Renaissance?
Answer
As painter, engineer and anatomist he embodied the curious "universal man" who studied nature closely.
Question
What started the Reformation?
Answer
In 1517 Martin Luther attacked the sale of indulgences, sparking a movement that split Western Christianity.
Question
Name the three main Protestant churches.
Answer
Lutheran (Luther, Germany/Scandinavia), Calvinist (Calvin, Geneva), and Anglican (Church of England).
Question
What was the Council of Trent (1545–1563)?
Answer
A series of Church meetings that reaffirmed Catholic doctrine, ended abuses like indulgence sales, and improved priest training.
Question
Who were the Jesuits?
Answer
The Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1540; educated, obedient priests who ran schools and missions to win people back to Catholicism.
Question
How did Henry VIII tie religion to royal power?
Answer
In the 1530s he broke with Rome; the Act of Supremacy (1534) made him head of the Church of England and let him seize monastic wealth.
Question
How did printing and literacy change society?
Answer
The printing industry spread books cheaply and literacy rose, letting new ideas travel fast and strengthening a growing merchant and professional class.
Question
What did Copernicus argue in 1543?
Answer
The heliocentric theory — that the Earth orbits the Sun — challenging Church and ancient authority and beginning the Scientific Revolution.
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Topic 9.2 hub
Case study 1 — Renaissance and Reformation Europe (Europe)
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