Unit 4.2: Vocabulary

The government imposition of a single religion on the population.

institution that ensured that citizens in Spain practised Catholicism. It punished people who were convicted of heresy.

an organisation of armed groups who acted as a police force to control criminals in specific areas and municipalities.

an agreement between the Catholic Monarchs and Christopher Columbus for the monarchs to finance his voyages.

a small, fast sailing ship used for colonial voyages between the 15th and 17th centuries.

a treaty between Portugal and Spain that established each country’s territories across the Atlantic.

a soldier-explorer of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries..

a pre-Columbian civilisation that occupied parts of Central America.

a pre-Columbian civilisation that inhabited the Andes mountain range.

before the arrival of Columbus in the Americas in 1492.