Search Definitions
Browse Content (p. 74)
![Bohemian Reformation](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14830.png?v=1716440282)
Definition
Bohemian Reformation
The Bohemian Reformation (c. 1380 to c. 1436) was the first concerted effort by Catholic clergy to reform the abuses and corruption of the medieval Church. Bohemian clerics and theologians called for reform and, like later advocates, initially...
![Cherub](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14816.jpg?v=1720096330)
Definition
Cherub
A cherub (pl. cherubim) was a divine being who dwelt in the heavenly realm of the gods, either as a servant or a mediator between humans and the divine. The word most likely derived from the Akkadian karabu ("to bless"). The cherubim are...
![Jan Hus](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/10978.jpg?v=1738721464)
Definition
Jan Hus
Jan Hus (also John Huss, l. c. 1369-1415) was a Czech philosopher, priest, and theologian who, inspired by the work of John Wycliffe (l. 1330-1384) challenged the policies and practices of the medieval Church and so launched the Bohemian...
![Zheng Yi Sao](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14853.png?v=1644894903)
Definition
Zheng Yi Sao
Zheng Yi Sao (aka Ching Shih, Cheng I Sao, Ching Yih Saou or Mrs Cheng, d. 1844) was the chief of a massive pirate confederation which plundered the South China Sea in the early 19th century. She inherited the role from her late husband...
![John Wycliffe](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14834.jpg?v=1638283501)
Definition
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe (l. 1330-1384, also John Wyclif) was an English theologian, priest, and scholar, recognized as a forerunner to the Protestant Reformation in Europe. Wycliffe condemned the practices of the medieval Church, citing many of the...
![Zheng Yi](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14852.png?v=1644894903)
Definition
Zheng Yi
Zheng Yi (also Cheng I, Ching Yih, Cheng Yao-I, Cheng Wen-Hsien, or Cheng Yud) was a Chinese pirate who lived from 1765 to 1807. Operating in the South China Sea, Zheng Yi famously led a 600-ship pirate confederation. This force of more than...
![Protestant Reformation](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14972.png?v=1738186805)
Definition
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation (1517-1648) refers to the widespread religious, cultural, and social upheaval of 16th-century Europe that broke the hold of the medieval Church, allowing for the development of personal interpretations of the Christian...
![Spanish Treasure Fleets](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14811.png?v=1689303666)
Definition
Spanish Treasure Fleets
From the 16th to 18th centuries, two treasure fleets sailed each year, one to Mexico and the other to Central America, then part of the Spanish Empire. There they collected precious eastern goods and the riches of the Americas, including...
![Astarte](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/7221.jpg?v=1729776434)
Definition
Astarte
Astarte is the Canaanite/Phoenician goddess of love, sex, war, and hunting who developed from the Mesopotamian deity Inanna/Ishtar. She is usually associated with the storm god Baal but seems to have been much more popular. She traveled to...
![Spanish Main](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14784.png?v=1734054912-1694084337)
Definition
Spanish Main
The Spanish Main refers, in its widest sense, to the Spanish Empire in the Americas from Florida in the north to the northern coast of Brazil in the south, including the Caribbean. The term was initially more limited and referred only to...