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Reformation and Discovery: Europe c.1492-1610

  • 13 subtopics
  • 39 things to know
  • A2 Unit 3
  • Unit 3, one breadth study of ten

What Reformation and Discovery: Europe c.1492-1610 covers

Reformation and Discovery: Europe c.1492-1610 is examined in Unit 3, the breadth study — one of ten options, of which a student takes one. It covers the condition of the Catholic Church around 1500, Luther and the challenge to Rome, the early reaction of the Catholic Church, the spread of the Reformation in the 1520s and 1530s, Zwingli, Calvin and the Reformed tradition, the Council of Trent and the Counter-Reformation, religious war and schism in France, the Netherlands and central Europe, change and continuity in European religion 1500 to 1600, motives for exploration and the role of monarchs, the early explorers: Columbus, da Gama, Cabot and Magellan, Spain, Portugal, England and the Netherlands overseas, the Spanish Main, colonisation and indigenous peoples and merchants, science and the changing world 1492 to 1610.

Where it is assessed

A2 Unit 3

The breadth study, one option of ten.

Check the WJEC specification ↗

The 13 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Define the two financial abuses of Church office, describe lay devotion around 1500, and say what Erasmus wanted instead.

Numbers

Who were the French Protestants, what began the wars of religion, which houses contended, and what happened in Paris in 1572?

Key term

How did religious change alter the authority of princes, the clergy, poor relief and the position of women?

Numbers

What was the Edict of Nantes?

Key term

What was Luther's own spiritual problem before 1517?

Key term

How did Rome first treat Luther's protest?

Key term

Why was the printing press decisive for the Reformation?

Numbers

Where did Zwingli lead the Reformation?

Numbers

Which pope finally summoned the Council of Trent?

Key term

Summarise the three classic motives for European exploration.

Key term

What did Columbus believe he would reach by sailing west?

Key term

What kind of empire did Portugal build in the east?

Key term

What was the Spanish Main?

Key term

Why did the Atlantic ports rise at the expense of the Mediterranean cities?

Key term

Define an indulgence.

Key term

Define sola fide.

Numbers

Why did Leo X move so slowly against Luther?

Key term

Why did reformed ideas take hold fastest in towns?

Key term

How did Luther and Zwingli differ over the Eucharist?

Key term

What did Trent rule about the Mass?

Key term

By 1600, which parts of Europe were solidly Protestant?

Key term

Why did Europeans want a sea route to Asia?

Key term

Name the three ships of Columbus's first voyage.

Key term

Name three key Portuguese bases in the Indian Ocean.

Key term

What happened at San Juan de Ulúa in 1568?

Who and when

Who were the Fuggers?

Key term

What is pluralism?

Key term

Define sola scriptura.

Numbers

What did the bull Exsurge Domine do, and when?

Numbers

Which prince turned the Teutonic Order's lands into a Lutheran duchy, and when?

Key term

What happened at the Marburg Colloquy in 1529?

Key term

Name three disciplinary reforms decreed at Trent.

Who and when

Who were the Huguenots?

Key term

Which regions that had seemed likely to turn Protestant were recovered for Rome?

Key term

Which spices were most sought after, and where did they grow?

Numbers

How many Atlantic voyages did Columbus make?

Who and when

Who was Afonso de Albuquerque?

Key term

What was a privateer?

Key term

Why did Amsterdam replace Antwerp?

Take Reformation and Discovery: Europe c.1492-1610 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • Union of Arras vs Union of Utrecht

    Union of Arras: the 1579 agreement by which the Catholic southern provinces of the Netherlands made their peace with Spain. Union of Utrecht: The 1579 agreement binding the northern provinces of the Netherlands together in continued resistance to Spain.

  • Bartolomeu Dias vs Vasco da Gama

    Bartolomeu Dias: the Portuguese captain who first rounded the Cape of Good Hope, in 1488, before turning back. Vasco da Gama: The Portuguese captain who sailed from Lisbon in 1497 and reached Calicut in 1498, opening the sea route from Europe to the spice markets.

  • Magellan vs Elcano

    Magellan: the commander who set out to reach the Spice Islands by sailing westwards, and was killed in the Philippines in 1521 before the voyage was completed. Elcano: The Basque officer who brought the Victoria home to Spain in 1522 with a handful of survivors, completing the first circumnavigation.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What did the Church teach about how a soul reached heaven, and why did that make it so powerful?

    Model answer

    That salvation came through grace and good works channelled by the sacraments, so the Church controlled the means by which a soul was saved.

  2. 2

    Define an indulgence.

    Model answer

    A remission of the temporal punishment due for sin, granted by the Church and increasingly obtained by a money payment.

  3. 3

    What was purgatory, and why did belief in it fuel the trade in indulgences?

    Model answer

    It was the place where souls were purged of sin before entering heaven, and indulgences promised to shorten that suffering for the buyer or a dead relative.

  4. 4

    What is pluralism?

    Model answer

    The holding of more than one church office, and its income, by a single clergyman at the same time.

  5. 5

    What is absenteeism, and how was it connected to pluralism?

    Model answer

    It is non-residence in a benefice; a pluralist could not live in all his livings, so parishes were left to poorly paid and often ignorant deputies.

  6. 6

    Define simony.

    Model answer

    The buying and selling of Church offices or spiritual benefits.

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Reformation and Discovery: Europe c.1492-1610 revision questions

What does Reformation and Discovery: Europe c.1492-1610 cover in WJEC A-Level History?
13 subtopics: the condition of the catholic church around 1500, luther and the challenge to rome, the early reaction of the catholic church, the spread of the reformation in the 1520s and 1530s, zwingli, calvin and the reformed tradition, the council of trent and the counter-reformation, religious war and schism in france, the netherlands and central europe, change and continuity in european religion 1500 to 1600, motives for exploration and the role of monarchs, the early explorers: columbus, da gama, cabot and magellan, spain, portugal, england and the netherlands overseas, the spanish main, colonisation and indigenous peoples and merchants, science and the changing world 1492 to 1610. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Reformation and Discovery: Europe c.1492-1610 organised?
By the WJEC 601-5817-7 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

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