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- Calligraphy – The art of beautiful and stylized writing
- Vellum – A parchment made from the skin of animals.
- Platen – In letterpress printing, the platen is a board that is pressed onto the back of the paper to get the impression from the type. At one time it used to be a wooden board; later it was made of steel.
- Compositor – The person who composes the text for printing.
- Galley - Metal frame in which types are laid and the text composed
- Ballad – A historical account or folk tale in verse, usually sung or recited
- Taverns – Places where people gathered to drink alcohol, be served food, and meet friends, and exchange news
- Protestant Reformation – A 16th-century, movement to reform the Catholic Church dominated by Rome. Martin Luther was one of the main Protestant reformers.
- Inquisition –A former Roman Catholic court for identifying and punishing heretics
- Heretical – Beliefs that do not follow the accepted teachings of the Church. In medieval times, heresy was seen as a threat to the right of the Church to decide on what should be believed and what should not. Heretical beliefs were severely punished
- Satiety – The state of being fulfilled much beyond the point of satisfaction
- Seditious – Action, speech, or writing that is seen as opposing the government
- Denominations – Subgroups within a religion
- Almanac – An annual publication giving astronomical data, information about the movements of the sun and moon, timing of full tides and eclipses, and much else that was of importance in the everyday life of people
- Chapbook – A term used to describe pocket-sized books that are sold by traveling pedlars called chapmen. These became popular from the time of the 16th-century print revolution.
- Despotism – A system of governance in which absolute power is exercised by an individual, unregulated by legal and constitutional checks
- Ulama – Legal scholars of Islam and the Sharia ( a body of Islamic law)
- Fatwa – A legal pronouncement on Islamic law usually given by a mufti (legal scholar) to clarify issues on which the law is uncertain.
