Early Modern Era

The Early Modern Era: From the Renaissance to the late 18th century

The Early Modern Era
Several events marked the end of the "Middle Ages". In Europe, 1453 marked the end of the Hundred Years War. By the end of this war, many things had changed since Medieval times. First, the strengthening of Monarchies, and secondly, the rise of gunpowder weapons. In the Muslim world, 1453 was the year Byzantium fell to the Ottoman Turks. The Ottomans fielded massive cannons against the walls of Constantinople, another symbol for the rise of gunpower. Around the same time, we see the rise of two other powerful Muslim states, the Safavids and the Mughals. Another thing that marked the end of the Middle Ages was the Rennaisance (revival of learning in Europe), and most importantly, exploration and colonization. The little space in Europe motivated nations beginning with the Portuguese to sail outward. Eventually, other countries followed, and this ultimately led to massive sea-based empire of the Spanish and English. To the world as a whole, this meant that everything - any one place - was an important part of the whole. The Seven Years' War of the 1750's was the first global conflict, and a "milestone" toward globalization and the global interdependency of today.


Early Modern Era
Early Modern: Political History
Early Modern: Military History
Early Modern: Historical Figures