"rebirth"; following the Middle Ages, a movement that centered on the revival of interest in the classical learning of Greece and Rome

A Spanish conqueror of the Americas

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.

An adoption of the social, political, or economic institutions of Western—especially European or American—countries.

A political system in which a ruler holds total power

Belief that a rulers authority comes directly from god.

The dramatic military, social, and political changes accompanying the introduction and development of gunpowder weapons in Europe, beginning in the fourteenth century, made previous means of defense less reliable and placed a premium on land and larger political units.

A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials

the expansion of the trade and business that transformed European economies during the 16th and 17th centuries.

An economic system based on private ownership of capital

Non-religious

A person of mixed Native American and European ancestor

A general and progressive increase in prices

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

the devastation of American Indian populations by diseases brought over from Europe

A Renaissance intellectual movement in which thinkers studied classical texts and focused on human potential and achievements

A religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches.

the reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to the Reformation reaffirming the veneration of saints and the authority of the Pope (to which Protestants objected)

The intellectual movement in Europe, initially associated with planetary motion and other aspects of physics, that by the seventeenth century had laid the groundwork for modern science.

A movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions.