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| The seventy years (1305-1377) the papacy spent in Avignon under the watchful eye of the French kings. |
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| Known commonly as “The Black Death,” this deadly epidemic broke out in Europe around the year 1347, decimating the population. The disease took on three forms: The bubonic plague, carried by fleas which had bitten infested rats, was characterized by swelling lymph glands and black patches on the skin; the pneumonic plague spread quickly through coughing and sneezing and was more deadly than the bubonic; the septicemic plague was the deadliest form, infecting the blood stream and killing its victims the most quickly. |
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| Written by Pope Boniface VIII to King Philip the Fair in 1296, this letter asserted that kings did not have the right to tax clergy without permission from the pope. Philip responded by cutting off all French shipments of gold, silver, and jewels to Italy. The loss of Church revenues from this action forced Boniface to back down. |
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| Movement which supported the power of a council to appoint a candidate for the papacy, thus placing a council’s authority over that of the pope. |
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| Defensor Pacis (Defender of the Peace) |
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| Written by Marsiglio of Padua, a former rector of the University of Paris, this book made the first clear assertion of the supremacy of secular powers over the Church. He declared that the faithful were the true authority of the Church. |
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| The idea that the French Roman Catholic clergy favored the restriction of papal control and the achievement by each nation of individual administrative autonomy |
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| Movement started by Jan Hus which denied the authority of tradition, the existence of Purgatory, and the necessity of good works in salvation. It was especially popular in Bohemia. |
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| Rebellion of French peasants who opposed the taxes forced upon them during the Hundred Years War. The name comes from the traditional name of a French peasant. |
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| Put forth by William of Ockham, this theory taught that the human mind can only know individual, sensible objects, and that universal ideas, like truth, goodness, and humanity are only names – nomina. Only God guarantees that individual experience properly and consistently correspond to the nomina, which people have falsely assumed to be self-generated concepts. From this way of thinking it follows that moral and religious truths are inaccessible through mere human reason, and can only be known through revelation. |
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| Principle which, for much of the Middle Ages, kept European kings at peace by recognizing a common unity of Faith between European peoples who otherwise did not share common nationalities or customs. |
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| These “Mystical Marriages” were experienced by a number of great saints, mostly notably St. Catherine of Siena. They occur when Christ takes a soul as his bride, leading it to an increase in charity and familiarity with Christ. |
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| Letter written by Pope Boniface claiming that in order to save his or her soul, every human being –including the king– must be subject to the pope. King Philip responded by calling his own national council, the Estates General, to condemn and dispose the pope. |
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| Heretical movement founded by John Wycliffe which held that authority to rule depends on moral value; the Bible alone contains all divine revelation, preaching is more important than the sacraments or the Mass, and the ope has no primacy of jurisdiction. |
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| Bonae Litterae or Littarae Humaniores |
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| Latin for “good letters” or “more humane letters,” these terms were used by humanists to describe works which focused on man’s relation to the world rather than man’s relation to God and eternal salvation. |
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| Italian cities ruled by noble families whose interest in trade, wealth, and power helped form a society based on merchants and commerce in which merchants were free to trade with whomever they pleased. |
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| An intellectual and literary movement that began in the city-states of Italy during the late fourteenth century. Moving away from the Scholastic education of the Medieval era, the humanists thought that education had a moral purpose, the end of which is to make the individual a better, wiser, and more virtuous human being. To achieve this, they aimed to base every branch of learning on classical Greek and Roman culture. |
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| A political philosophy that developed from Machiavelli’s works, most notably The Prince, most simply understood as “the ends justify the means.” |
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| Jews who converted to Catholicism after the Reconquista to avoid being exiled |
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| Muslims who converted to Catholicism after the conquest of Granada to avoid being exiled. |
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| Humanism had a different effect in Northern Europe where there were not the same economic and social changes as there were in Italy. Life was much like it was during the Medieval age, and rather than redirecting study to classical, pagan culture, those in North sought to reconcile Humanism with Christianity. |
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| French for “re-birth,” this period is characterized by the popular desire to return to the civilization of the Greco-Roman world and re-awaken a sense of human beauty and personal achievement. |
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| Studies of the humanities which placed a great emphasis on Classical texts and literature, as well as revival of the study of Greek and Latin. |
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| Perpetual tax instituted by the French king Louis VI which made it possible for him to rule his domain without the need to call upon the Estates General for more funds. |
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| Meaning “no place,” this term was coined by St. Thomas More who, in his book by that name, describes a religious society, heavily influenced by divine revelation, in which goods were held in common and the state regulated business. |
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| Proclaimed King Henry VIII the supreme leader of the Church in England, which meant that the pope was no longer recognized as having any authority within the country, and all matters of faith, ecclesiastical appointment, and maintenance of ecclesiastical properties were in the hands of the king. |
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| A term describing Christ’s co-existence in the Eucharist. Luther taught that the Eucharist was not truly Christ, but that He was present in it as heat is in a hot iron. Accordingly, the substance of Christ’s body co-exists with the substance of the bread and his blood with the wine. |
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| Institutes of the Christian Religion |
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| Written by John Calvin, it contained four books which codified Protestant theology. Among the beliefs were the ultimate authority of the word of God, the depravity of man, and his belief that the Bible is the only source of Revelation. |
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| Within the Church, a bishop having control over more than one diocese. |
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| A doctrine of Calvin which taught that salvation depended solely on God’s pre-determined decision. According to this principle, those who are saved (the elect) are chosen by God through no effort of their own. God also chooses others to be damned. This damnation is necessary to show God’s great justice. |
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| The habit of imagining sin when none exists, or grave sin when the matter is not serious. |
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| “Scripture alone.” It is the belief that all man needs for salvation is the Bible. This is a tenet for most Protestants. |
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| During a year of intense prayer, St. Ignatius as inspired to write this guide for spiritual perfection, which is divided into reflections and meditations meant to help the believer emulate Christ. |
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| Issued by Elizabeth I, these provided for the foundation of the Anglican Church, maintaining all the outward appearances of Catholicism, but implanting Protestant doctrine into the Church of England. |
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| The change of the substance of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ with only the accidents (properties) of bread and wine remaining. |
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