International movement to abolish slavery. The movement began during the 1600s among dissenting Protestants and Quakers. During the 1700s, antislavery ideas were preached in the Great Awakening and urged on the reading public by Voltaire, Rousseau, and other writers of the Enlightenment.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAbsolute Monarchy
B
Complete control of government by a hereditary ruler. The strongest example of an absolute monarch was Louis XIV of France. Louis XIV had to put down occasional rebellions of nobles, Protestant Huguenots, discontented peasants, and others unhappy with his reign.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAcademicism
B
Eighteenth-century art movement characterized by rigidly posed models, formal rules, and adherence to Classical models of the Greeks and Romans.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAerophone
BMusical instrument that produces sound by having air blown or pumped through it.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAlexander Pope
BEnglish writer (1688-1744) whose work characterized the Restoration period. As a Roman Catholic, he was much discriminated against in Protestant England. His IEssay on ManI is one of the key works of the English Enlightenment.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAmerican Revolutionary War
B
War fought to achieve the independence of the United States from Great Britain, fought from 1775 to 1783.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAnne Stuart
B
Queen who ruled England from 1665 to 1714. She led England against France in the War of the Spanish Succession. Queen Anne was the last of the Stuart monarchs.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAntonio Salieri
BItalian-Austrian composer (1750 to 1825) is today mostly remembered as Mozart's rival. In their own time, however, Salieri was the more successful composer. Outwardly, Mozart and Salieri always remained friendly. The hostility is largely a fiction created by Rimsky-Korsakov.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAntonio Vivaldi
BItalian composer and violinist, (1678 to 1741). A Roman Catholic priest, Vivaldi worked for many years as a music director in an orphanage. Vivaldi's concertos were perfect vehicles for showing off Italian musical instruments, the finest in the world.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAqueduct
B
Elaborate Roman system, consisting of a channel or trough, built to convey fresh water. Flow in aqueducts is ordinarily through means of gravity, but often pumps are used.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAria
B
Long solo in an opera or oratorio, intended to convey emotion, develop the character, and display the virtuoso singing of the performer.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAristocracy
B
Members of the noble families of Europe. Traditionally, aristocrats were the descendants of the feudal nobles, and many noble families in the 1700s did claim descent from ancient times. Others, however, were granted nobility by monarchs in return for exceptional services.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAshanti Empire
BEarly modern empire located along the west coast of Africa, in what is now Ghana. Like several other African kingdoms, the Ashanti Empire expanded during the eighteenth century because of its participation in the transatlantic slave trade.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAthens
B
Chief city-state of ancient Greece, known for being the birthplace of democracy. Greek political writing by Plato, Aristotle, and other philosophers formed the basis for centuries of European debate over the best form of human government.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBAustrian Empire
BEmpire of the Hapsburgs, who controlled vast areas of land in what are now Austria, Hungary, and Germany.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBagatelle
BQuick, bright composition, usually for piano.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBallad
B
Simple song, usually a folk song, that tells a story. The word IballadI is also applied to a simple, songlike poem. The rediscovery of simple ballads, as opposed to elaborate Classical forms, was a feature of both music and poetry during the Romantic era, in the early 1800s.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBarcorolle
BBoating song, especially one sung by a Venetian gondolier.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBaron Antoine Jean Gros
BFrench painter who lived from 1771 to 1835. Gros, a student of David, was known for his historical pictures. His portraits of the youthful Napoleon are precursors of Romantic painting because they glorify Napoleon as the brilliant, misunderstood genius.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBaroque
BStyle of art, architecture, and music, which lasted from 1600 to about 1770, characterized by elaborate decorations using flowing curves and designs, or, in the case of music, by elaborate counterpoint.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBartolome Murillo
BPopular Spanish painter who lived from 1617 to 1682. He was noted for his religious subjects and for his use of brilliant colors. Murillo also helped establish the Spanish tradition for domestic, even folkloric, scenes.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBastille
B
Medieval prison near Paris, France, noted for housing Voltaire and other political dissenters. The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, marked the beginning of the French Revolution.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBeethoven
BLate Classical and early Romantic German composer, considered by many to be the greatest composer in history. Beethoven lived from 1770 to 1827.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBenjamin Franklin
B
Writer, inventor, and diplomat, and one of the founding fathers of the United States. Franklin lived between 1706 and 1790.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBible
B
Sacred book of the Christian religion. A 1611 Protestant version, the King James Bible, is one of the greatest works of English literature. This version of the Bible was read by all English-speaking Protestants in the eighteenth century.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBill of Rights
B
First ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The Bill of Rights guarantees basic civil rights to United States citizens.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBlenheim Palace
BGigantic country estate near Oxford, England, built for Charles Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, as a reward for his victories in the War of the Spanish Succession. The palace was modeled after Versailles. The great twentieth-century statesman, Winston Churchill, was born at Blenheim Palace.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBoston Massacre
BFirst bloodshed of the American Revolution. The event occurred in 1770, when British soldiers fired into a mob of protesters. The first person killed was Crispus Attucks, an African American.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBoston Tea Party
B
Pre-Revolutionary War protest (1773) in which American Sons of Liberty, wearing Indian buckskins and war paint, boarding British ships in Boston harbor and dumped their precious cargo of tea into the water.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBoucher
BFrench painter who lived from 1703 to 1770. He painted pastoral scenes and sentimental landscapes for Madame du Pompadour and other royal patrons.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBourbons
B
Monarchs of France, the dynasty to which Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI belonged. The War of the Spanish Succession was just one of the European dynastic wars in which the Bourbons took part.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBBourree
BFrench country dance, which became part of a standard Baroque suite.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBCaricature
B
Cartoonlike drawing or painting that exaggerates its subject's features for the sake of humor.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBCervantes
BSpanish novelist, author of the satiric IDon Quixote de la ManchaI, which was first published between 1605 and 1615. IDon QuixoteI inspired Fielding, Richardson, and other eighteenth-century writers of picaresque novels.I
I Ec[000000]f[16]LBCh'ing dynasty
BAnother term for the Manchu dynasty, the last dynasty to rule China. The Ch'ing, or Manchu, dynasty established its control over all of China during the eighteenth century. Emperor Chien-Lung (1736-1796) was opposed to foreign trade. So China was among the most isolated civilizations on Earth.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBChamber music
B
Music developed during the late 1600s and early 1700s, intended for play
