Western Civilization Test Topics 12-14

Prince Henry the Navigator

1418

Prince Henry helped to spread the idea of navigation by boat by opening a school for people to attend. It helped for the re-birth of exploration as it gave people a way to learn how to explore ocean travel. People also started to find it interesting what was out across the seas and Prince Henry the Navigator helped to start the Age of Discovery.

Invention of Printing Press

1440

Johannes Gutenberg introduced the printing press to Europe after it was invented and it became a huge deal. It allowed books and other things to be copied in large quantities and in a quick amount of time. The printing press allowed the Bible to be copied onto many papers and books so that it could be sold and spread throughout the world, ultimately spreading religion. The printing press was said to be one of the most important inventions of all time.

Fall of Constantinople

1453

Constantinople was a great city for the Catholic Church as Catholicism was very popular within the city and they were a good trade place too. The Ottoman Empire was able to capture Constantinople in 1453 which hurt the Byzantine Empire and removed a great defense of the Christian religion against the Muslim religion.

Columbus Sails to the New World

1492

Christopher Columbus is one of the most famous travelers in the world as he was the one who "discovered" America. He actually landed in the Caribbean, but this discovery of new land allowed the Europeans to colonize the New World. This allowed a re-birth of the Europeans as they now seized new land and learned new tricks and discovered a new technology that allowed them to grow. This part of the Age of Discovery allowed for growth, much like the Renaissance.

Luther's 95 Theses

1517

Martin Luther brought ideas of reformation to the Catholic Church, but he was ultimately denied. He created a list of what he thought was wrong and nailed it to the church door. This became known as Luther's 95 Theses. He caused outrage as he went against the pope but many people agreed with what he had to say and followed him as he created a new religion. His courage to go against the Catholic Church allowed for a re-birth of new religions in Europe.

Calvinism

1519

John Cavilin played a big role in the Protestant Reformation. He helped to start a new religion by spreading the ideas of the Protestant religion while also helping it split from the Catholic Church. This relates to the Renaissance very well as during the Renaissance many new ideas were proposed and acted upon, just like the Protestant Reformation.

Development of Lutheranism

1520

Lutheranism is the religion that was made by Martin Luther and his followers after he split away from the Catholic Church once they did not listen to his reformation ideas. His views on Christianity were actually very popular among the people and he gained a large number of followers very quickly. They created Lutheranism to bring in the new changes that Luther wanted for the Catholic Church so that they could worship religion the way they saw fit.

Ferdinand Magellan

1522

The man from Portugal, Ferdinand Magellan, traveled around the entire world in 1522. He was the first person in history to accomplish this feat and he expanded travel due to this accomplishment. They gained much knowledge from his exploration that allowed Europe to grow its technology to become even better. He proved that the Earth was round, not flat and that the Age of Discovery is related to the Renaissance. It relates to the Renaissance because much knowledge was gained during this time.

Church of England

1534

King Henry Vlll was married to Catherine of Aragon but divorced her after they had two sons but only one daughter. However, the pope would not allow King Henry Vlll to have this divorce as it was against the ways of the Catholic Church. To combat this, Henry removed England from the church and created the Church of England. The Church of England allowed him to have the divorce he was seeking. King Henry revived culture by adding his thoughts, which is what the Renaissance was also about.

Start of the Jesuits

1540

The Jesuits were founded in 1540 by Ignatius de Loyola. The goal of the Jesuits was the spread of Catholicism and its positives to bring people back to the Catholic Church. This was very important for the church as it was becoming very unpopular among the people and it was also losing power. The Jesuits were successful in bringing some of the population back to the church. This relates to the Renaissance as changes were made to the church and people ultimately followed those changes.