Charles I
King of England from 1625 until his execution in 1649
Charles V
Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 to 1556
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
minister of finances of France from 1665-1683. He achieved recognition for improving french manufacturing and bringing back the french economy
Oliver Cromwell
was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland
Elizabeth I
was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty
Frederick II
was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous
Henry IV
was King of England and Lord of Ireland (1399-1413). He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France
Henry VIII
Besides his six marriages, is known for his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church
Isabella of Castile
She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain
James II
He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland and is best known for his belief in the Divine Right of Kings and his attempts to create religious liberty for English Roman Catholics against the wishes of the English Parliament
Mary Tudor
is remembered for her restoration of Roman Catholicism after the short-lived Protestant reign of her brother. In the process, she had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian Persecutions. Her Protestant opponents gave her the sobriquet of "Bloody Mary". Her re-establishment of Roman Catholicism was reversed after her death in 1558 by her successor and younger half-sister, Elizabeth I.
Philip II
was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland.[1][2] He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count.
Richelieu
was a French clergyman, noble, and statesman.King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642
Robespierre
is one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. He largely dominated the Committee of Public Safety and was instrumental in the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended with his arrest and execution in 1794.
Francis Bacon
was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method
Tycho Brahe
was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations.
Edmund Burke
He is mainly remembered for his support of the cause of the American Revolutionaries, and for his later opposition to the French Revolution.statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party
John Calvin
was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism
Copernicus
was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe
Denis Diderot
was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent persona during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie
Erasmus
lived through the Reformation period, but while he was critical of the Church, he could not bring himself to join the cause of the Reformers. In relation to clerical abuses in the Church, he remained committed to reforming the Church from within.
Galileo
was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope
William Harvery
was an English physician who was the first person to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart
Thomas Hobbes
was a champion of absolutism for the sovereign but he also developed some of the fundamentals of European liberal thought: the right of the individual; the natural equality of all men; the artificial character of the political order
John Locke
widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers
Ignatius of Loyola
was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits
Martin Luther
was a German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could be purchased with money
Thomas More
also known by Catholics as Saint, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. More coined the word "utopia" - a name he gave to the ideal, imaginary island nation whose political system he described in Utopia, published in 1516
Rembrandt van Rijn
was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history and the most important in Dutch history
Jean-Jacques Rosseau
was a major Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy heavily influenced the French Revolution, as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought
Adam Smith
is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. is widely cited as the father of modern economics and capitalism.
Vesalius
was an anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body). is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy
Voltaire
was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion and free trade
John Wesley
was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. he is largely credited as founding the Methodist movement
absolutism
The acceptance of or belief in absolute principles in political, philosophical, ethical, or theological matters
baroque
is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music. The style started around 1600 in Rome, Italy and spread to most of Europe
Bill of Rights
is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. originates from England
classical
music is a specific time from 1750 to 1825, which roughly corresponds to a period of increased interest in classicism throughout European arts.
Council of Trent
was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils
deism
in the philosophy of religion is the standpoint that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is a creation and has a creator
Dutch East India Company
It was also arguably the first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies. Spice trade
Edict of Nantes
issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic
Estates General
assembly of all the estates, last one in France 1789
freemasons
A member of an international order established for mutual help and fellowship that holds elaborate secret ceremonies. The original freemasons were itinerant skilled stonemasons of the 14th century, who are said to have recognized fellow craftsmen by secret signs
the Fronde
was a civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The word fronde means sling, which Parisian mobs used to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin. was divided into two campaigns, the Fronde of the parlements and the Fronde of the nobles
Glorious Revolution
is the overthrow of King James II of England (James VII of Scotland and James II of Ireland) by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange). William's successful invasion of England with a Dutch fleet and army led to his ascending the English throne as William III of England jointly with his wife Mary II of England
Gunpowder Plot
was a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby.
Huguenot
were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries (Calvinism)
humanism
An outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters
indulgences
is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution
Jacobins
was the most famous and influential political club in the development of the French Revolution
mercantilism
is the economic doctrine that says government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of a state
Peace of Augsburg
was a treaty between Charles V and the forces of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes, on September 25, 1555
Peace of Westphalia
was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic.
Potemkim Village
is an idiom based on a historical myth. According to the myth, there were fake settlements purportedly erected at the direction of Russian minister Grigory Potemkin to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787
Philosophe
Few were primarily philosophers; rather they were public intellectuals who applied reason to the study of many areas of learning, including philosophy, history, science, politics, economics and social issues
Royal Society of London
is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence
Salon
a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation
sans-culottes
were the radical militants of the lower classes, typically urban laborers
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations, followed by a wave of Roman Catholic mob violence, both directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants), during the French Wars of Religion