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A

Age of Exploration:

The period from about 1450 to about 1750, when European explorers conducted their most significant voyages and travels around the world.

Alchemy:

A semi-scientific discipline that holds that through the application of certain chemical processes, ordinary metals can be turned into gold.

Algebra:

A type of mathematics used to determine the value of unknown quantities where these can be related to known numbers.

Allegory:

A type of narrative, popular throughout the Middle Ages, in which characters represent ideas.

Anarchy:

Breakdown of political order.

Ancestor:

An earlier person in one's line of parentage, usually more distant in time than a grandparent.

Anti-Semitism:

Hatred of, or discrimination against, Jews.

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