AP Euro unit 1

• Renaissance


  Rebirth of learning in Europe due to the rediscovery of texts from the Greek and Roman world
• Humanism / Secular humanism


  Movement that shifted focus away from Christian theology and toward a focus on the individual and the secular world
• Printing press


  Significant technological development that led to the growth of local, vernacular literature
• Mercantilism


  Economic policies utilized by "new monarchs" to increase their wealth and power
• Columbian Exchange


  System of trade of goods from the Americas that led to a commercial revolution in Europe
• Vernacular


  Local language or dialect
• Compass


  Navigational technology that allowed Europeans to cross the Atlantic Ocean
• Seven Years' War


  Conflict between Britain and France and their colonies
• Dutch East India Company


  Wealthiest joint-stock company that emerged during this period
• Enclosure movement


  Privatization of communal land by wealthy Europeans
• The Renaissance was caused by the reintroduction of Greek and Roman texts that occurred in Europe as a result of the Crusades; revival of trade in Europe; increased interaction between different cultures; the rise of humanism by early humanists such as Petrarch; different artistic and technological innovations
• Machiavelli advocated for and promoted secular, rather than religious, political ideology
• Both the Italian and Northern Renaissances focused on humanistic achievement and were inspired by classical texts
• Differences between the Italian and Northern Renaissances

  • Italian: paintings focused more on classical ideal; commissioned by wealthy elites to promote status; in Italy
  • Northern: paintings focused more on domestic life, naturalism, and landscapes; the movement was used to promote social reforms and was Christian; in the Low Countries
• Examples of Italian Renaissance artists commissioned by rulers or popes to enhance their personal prestige

  • Michelangelo's paintings in the Sistine Chapel
  • Raphael's tapestries in the Sistine Chapel
  • da Vinci's Last Supper
  • Alberti's palaces and churches
  • Brunelleschi's dome in Florence
  • Palladio's architecture in Venice
  • Donatello's sculptures
• Bruegel the Elder's focus on domestic life, peasant life, naturalism, and his attention to detail are all attributes of artwork from the Northern Renaissance
• How monarchs in England, France, and Spain consolidated their power from 1450-1648

  • England: Henry VII - Star Chamber (courts to try nobles); Henry VIII - the Anglican Church and taking Catholic Church lands
  • France: Charles VII - taille (land tax); creation of an army; royal council of trusted advisors; Francis I - Concordat of Bologna
  • Spain: Ferdinand and Isabella - unification through marriage; reduction of ruling nobility; Reconquista; Inquisition; control of military
• Navigational technology that allowed Europeans to cross the Atlantic Ocean

  • Portolani and advancements in cartography
  • Compass
  • Lateen sail
  • Rudder
  • Quadrant
  • Astrolabe
• Motivations for exploration


  • Gold (in the form of natural resources)
  • Glory (for the monarch of the country)
  • God (in the form of Christianity/Catholicism/Catholic missionaries/Jesuits)
• Due to the Treaty of Tordesillas, Portugal increased its involvement in the Indian Ocean, while the Spanish colonized the Americas. Britain established colonies in North America and the Dutch/Netherlands established colonies in the East Indies and Asia
• Ways Europe's colonial expansion led to increased European dominance in world affairs

  • Wealth from American colonies
  • Resources such as gold from American colonies
  • Mercantilist economic policies
  • New trading networks
  • Control over Atlantic trade
  • Transatlantic slaving system
• Political and economic power in Europe shifts from the Mediterranean region to the Atlantic region due to the new trading systems
• Items, goods, or diseases exchanged between the Americas and Europe

  • From the Americas to Europe: Tomatoes, potatoes, squash, corn, tobacco, turkeys, peppers, peanuts, cacao, vanilla
  • From Europe to the Americas: Wheat, cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, smallpox, measles, sugar cane, rice, oats, malaria
• Negative impacts of the connection of the hemispheres on indigenous Americans and indigenous Africans

  • 90-95% of indigenous Americans wiped out due to disease such as smallpox
  • Demographic changes in Africa due to male-dominated slaving system
  • Subjugation of Africans and indigenous Americans due to slave labor
  • Rise of slaving kingdoms in Africa
• Innovations in banking and finance due to Europe's influx of wealth

  • Growth of a money economy
  • Growth of urban and financial centers such as London and Amsterdam
  • Creation of double-entry bookkeeping
  • Bills of exchange
  • New banks like the Bank of Amsterdam
  • New corporations and joint-stock companies, like the Dutch East India company and the British East India company
• The wealthiest joint-stock company that emerged during this period was the Dutch East India company
• According to the map, the imperial Dutch landholdings and trading centers included modern-day Indonesia, southern India and Sri Lanka, and South Africa
• Urbanization


  Process of many European farmers moving to cities due to less land to live on from the enclosure movement
• Negative impacts of urbanization that urban elites had to face

  • Sanitation problems caused by overpopulation
  • Employment problems
  • Increase in poverty
  • Increase in crime
  • Reduced living standards
  • Strained resources
  • Revolts due to a restricting of rights of peasants
• Differences in commercial and agricultural developments in western Europe and eastern Europe

  • In western Europe: new economic elites are growing; in some cases, peasants are no longer tied to the land and are gaining freedom; in some cases, landlords are restricting rights of peasants in order to gain more wealth for themselves; in some areas, agriculture is becoming commercialized rather than subsistent; a price revolution changes the elites' approach to agriculture
  • In eastern Europe: serfdom is codified