Key Historical Concepts of the Renaissance and Reformation

Institutions and Governance in Castile

• Inquisition: An institution introduced in Castile in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs to monitor Catholic orthodoxy among converts, serving as the primary tool for achieving religious unity.
• Aldermen: Royal officials who presided over the council to exercise direct control over cities.
• Holy Brotherhood: A body established in 1476 responsible for prosecuting criminals and ensuring order in the Kingdom of Castile.
• Tips (Advisers): A system consisting of royal advisers, typically lawyers, chosen by the king.
• Real Hearing: A court charged with ensuring control over justice and increasing its effectiveness.
• Guadalupe Arbitration Case: A 1486 decision by King Ferdinand of Aragon to stop peasant unrest in Catalonia by abolishing feudal rights known as the "bad uses."
• Mayorazgo: A Castilian institution that kept a set of interlinked goods intact. Property passed to the eldest son to ensure family assets did not spread but only increased.

Cultural and Religious Movements

• Erasmus of Rotterdam: A humanist who sought to unite classical culture, scientific interest, and Christian values. He was a leading exponent of Christian humanism.
• Humanism: A cultural renewal movement born in Italy during the 15th century. Its characteristics included anthropocentrism, inspiration from Greco-Roman culture, interest in science, and the use of local languages.
• Martin Luther: A Catholic priest who began criticizing the Church in 1517 with the publication of The 95 Theses. He denied the value of indulgences and church hierarchy, proposing a new spirituality based on salvation by faith, the priesthood of all believers, and the authority of the Bible. His doctrine spread through Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, England, and Switzerland.
• Council of Trent: A series of sessions held between 1545 and 1563 to lead the Counter-Reformation, attended by high ecclesiastical authorities and monarchs.

Art and Economy

• Perspective: A technique for representing objects on a plane while maintaining proportions and distances, allowing for the representation of three-dimensional reality.
• Commercial Capitalism: A period marked by the emergence of the first capitalist enterprises in towns linked to maritime trade routes, such as Genoa, Venice, Bruges, Lisbon, and Hamburg.