CE History Words

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abdicate when a King or Queen gives up the throne.

alliance a union or agreement to co-operate.

ambassador an important representative from another country.

attainder a method of attacking powerful nobles or royal ministers through parliament voting that they were guilty.

ballot a method of voting.

blockade surrounding and blocking a port to prevent supplies and communications getting in or out.

borough a town represented in the Parliament according to royal charter.

cardinal a very important Catholic churchman, directly responsible to the Pope.

Catholic someone who accepts the Pope as the true head of the Christian Church.

Cavalier a supporter of the monarchy (Charles I) during the English Civil War of 1642-165.

charter a royal grant to a town giving various privileges.

clergy all the ministers within the Church.

colony an island or area nationalised by foreigners and run under the same rules as their native land.

council assembly formed to consider matters affecting the Church/state.

court the King or Queen and the people associating with them.

courtier people who are part of the court.

customs tax owed from importing goods.

debt money owed to a lender.

Divine Right an idea that the monarch was specially arranged by God, and was therefore God’s representative on earth.

divorce the ending of a marriage.

election voting to appoint Members of Parliament.

enclosure was a system of re-allocating village farmland and common land from the medieval strips into bigger blocks.

exclusionist someone who supported the movement during Charles II’s reign to exclude his Catholic brother James from becoming King. James later became James II.

Fidei Defensor "Defender of the Faith", a title bestowed on Henry VIII by the Pope, following Henry’s book denouncing Martin Luther.

fireship small ship turned into a floating fire-bomb used in the Spanish Armada.

freeholders someone who owns land without being tied to a landlord.

gentry the nobility – wealthy landowners.

heir the person who receives (inherits) the property and/or title(s) of someone who dies.

heresy beliefs different from those accepted by the Church. This included Catholics (when the Church was Protestant) and Protestants (when the Church was Catholic).

Holy League an alliance formed in1511 to defend the Pope’s lands in Italy. England joined it, but were replaced by France in 1524.

Huguenot French Protestants.

humanist someone who was part of a movement to break the stranglehold that the medieval Church had on learning.

illegitimate a child whose parents were not married.

imperial associated with an empire.

impostor someone who pretends to be something or someone that they are not.

invasion the entry of an enemy into another country.

Jacobite a supporter of James II, or his son James (the "Old Pretender"), or his grandson Charles (the "Young Pretender").

Jesuit a member of the Society of Jesus which was founded in 1539 to train "religious soldiers" to defeat the Pope’s enemies.

joust single combat between armoured men, usually with blunted weapons.

Lancastrian a follower of the House of Lancaster (the red roses) during the Wars of the Roses.

levellers political group which aimed for greater democracy.

martyr a person who is put to death because of what they believe.

merchants people who trade goods either for other goods or for money (or a mixture).

monastery the building(s) in which monks live.

monopoly a sole right to import or sell particular goods. A monopoly was granted or sold by the monarch.

musket a firearm with a long barrel that could be either flintlock or matchlock.

mutiny rebellion against authority, either in the army or navy, or on any ship (against the Captain).

Navigation Act(s) first passed in 1651, these said that trade goods brought into or taken out of England had to be carried in English ship. This was to encourage English shipping, and led to trade wars with the Dutch.

noble a member of the aristocracy.

nonconformist a group of Protestants who refused to obey the Act of Uniformity – they would not conform to the Church of England’s rules and rites.

papal to do with the Pope.

Parliament the government – makes the laws and controls the running of the country.

pension money paid for people to live on after they have retired.

petition a plea made to a noble or someone in Parliament to encourage a particular situation to be looked at.

pike a weapon like a spear.

pillory a wooden device, like stocks, which held the neck and wrists of someone standing – used to shame a person.

plague a deadly disease, which is contagious and spreads rapidly over a large area.

plot an area allocated to a person for farming.

"pocket" borough a borough (town represented in Parliament) which had unusually few people. Same as a "rotten" borough.

poverty poorness, or the state of being poor.

progresses a royal journey around England.

Protestant someone who generally agreed with Luther’s protest against the Roman Catholic Church and who was part of the division of Christianity that was formed from the Roman Catholic Church by the Reformation.

Puritan A person who was part of a small division of Christianity which wanted to reform the Church even more than the ordinary Protestants.

quarrel an argument.

realm a kingdom.

recusant a Catholic who refused to attend Church of England services after the Act of Uniformity.

Reformation the name given to the movement to reform (change) the Church, which Luther started.

Renaissance a rebirth of learning (1400-1600) – great advances in art, architecture, science and learning.

rent money paid by a person to the owner of land (or a building) to allow them to use it.

riot a crowd that disturbs the peace – public disorder.

"rotten borough" a borough (town represented in Parliament) which had unusually few people. Same as a "pocket" borough.

Roundhead the name given to a supporter of the Parliamentary party (Oliver Cromwell’s side) in the Civil War.

the Rump a name given to the Parliament that was left after Pride’s Purge – only MP’s who did not support Charles I. Ejected by Cromwell in 1653.

Self-Denying Ordinance a trick by Parliament to get rid of their unsuccessful noble generals (1644-5).

ship money a medieval tax to provide money for ships to repel an invasion. It was revived by Charles I in 1634 until John Hampden refused to pay.

slavery slaves are owned by other people and are forced to work, without being paid.

Speaker the person who is in charge of the running of the House of Commons (the Parliament).

Star Chamber a royal court, strengthened by Henry VII, to deal with powerful barons and warlords – used fines as the main punishment to weaken them and build up the royal treasury.

state a country that does not have a King or a Queen.

trade buying and selling between nations.

traitor a person who is not loyal to his country (commits treason).

treason words or behaviour that could endanger the monarch (and therefore the whole kingdom) – Henry VIII widely accused people of treason, including Wolsey for failing to get him what he wanted.

treaty an agreement between countries, usually about trade or armies and navies.

Triangular Trade trade taking place between three different countries.

tunnage and poundage a tax imposed on imported and exported goods.

Vulgate the official Roman Catholic version of the Bible, in Latin (1592).

widow a woman whose husband has died.

witchcraft witches seemed a genuine threat in Tudor and Stuart times, and a great many women were "discovered" by witch-finders and executed.

Yorkist a follower of the House of York (the white roses) during the Wars of the Roses