THE AgeModern was one of the periods of human history and extended from 1453 to 1789, being this historical division a classic definition that dates back to the period when history was structured as a matter of teaching. The Modern Age had similarities and differences in relation to the Middle Ages.
During this period, new economic practices were established through the mercantilism, and the rise of industry in the 18th century resulted in the emergence of capitalism. This period also saw the beginning of colonization, religious reforms, and saw the establishment of the absolute power of kings through the monarchy absolutist.
Accessalso: How the modern concept of History came about
Periodization of history
The Modern Age, within the known periodization of history, extended from 1453 to 1789. This time, like any other, was marked by transformations, highlighting the commercial development, the
maritime expansion, the beginning of colonization, the consolidation of slavery, religious reforms, etc.This periodization is understood by Jacques Le Goff as something common since History became a branch of knowledge and teaching material. This happened, explains Le Goff, because historians needed better understand history and human evolution in order to teach them, and the division into periods was the way found to facilitate this process|1|.
The division happened when history became popular on the European continent as teaching subject. This process began in the 17th century, but only took place in the 19th century. Some ideas standardized in the historical mentality of intellectuals were consolidated with the transformation of history into human science.
One of them was the division into old one, medieval and modern, being this conception already existing around the 16th century, although it was not very common. In any case, we know that this structure, even if trivialized, remained and actually became the division of periods in history.
THE current periodization divides history into the following periods: Prehistory, Old age, Middle Ages, Modern Age and Contemporary age. To learn more about the topic of this topic, read: History Division.
Understanding the Modern Age
As we have seen, the Modern Age extended from 1453 to 1789, the milestones being stipulated to delimit its beginning and end as follows: a Ottoman conquest of Constantinople and the fall of the Bastille, an event that inaugurated the French Revolution. The consolidation of the Modern Age as a period detached from the Middle Ages began to take place in the 15th century.
This happened when different intellectuals began to claim that their period (in this case, the renaissance) was distinct from that which existed in medieval Europe. Thus, the concept of the Middle Ages was defined and, as a result, a new period emerged, called by some the Modern Age.
It is important for us to realize that this division is eurocentric, since it takes into account the events and reality of Europe, and that, therefore, it may not make a lot of sense in other contexts because the established milestones take into account such Limits.
An example of an intellectual who contributed to the construction of this idea of the Modern Age was the German historian ChristophKeller, who, in 1688, published the book universal history, in which he divided the story into threeperiods (old, medieval and new period) and established that the Middle Ages would have ended with the conquest of Constantinople|2|.
It is a time when the structures of medieval Europe underwent profound transformations, although Le Goff draws some similarities between the two periods. That is why we need to approach periodization in an approximate way, because it takes into account milestones that initiated significant changes in the short and long term.
Among these similarities, Le Goff points to agricultural economy. From the low middle age, agriculture in Europe had a strong impetus for technical improvements, and production levels remained low. even until the middle of the Modern Age, a demonstration that there were no significant changes in this question.
In the economy, in the broad point of view, for example, profound changes have taken place, since, with the great navigations and colonization, trade grew and new characteristics were established in the world economy through what became known as mercantilism.
The Modern Age became the period in which capitalism was established and the Industrial Revolution began in Europe. This was only possible by the capital accumulation what happened with the colonization and expansion of commerce in England, allowing this money to be invested in industrialization.
In the political sphere, significant changes also took place, and the decentralized power of medieval Europe gave way to a powercentralized. This resulted in the emergence of absolutism, a form of government in which the king's powers were absolute, and there was still an ideological construction that sought to justify the power of the monarchs.
Accessalso: Is there objectivity in history?
Main events
Many remarkable events took place during the Modern Age, and many of them changed the history of mankind definitively. Next, we'll see a little of the main ones.
Colonization
In the Modern Age began the colonization of America, the continent on which the Europeans landed in 1492, during a Spanish expedition under the command of christopherColumbus. Soon, in addition to the Spanish, Portuguese, English, French and Dutch established colonies on the American continent.
These colonies performed the exploration of America's natural resources and local labor through the enslavement, initially, of the indigenous. With colonization, the enslavement of Africans, an activity that was consolidated through the slave trade. In addition to the cruelty of slavery, the contact of Europeans with natives led to the death of millions of Amerindians, either by the cruelty of the colonizers or by diseases brought by them to America.
If you want to know about the colonization and enslavement process here, we recommend the following texts: colonization of Brazil and slavery in Brazil.
religious reform
In 1517, began in Europe to Remodeling Protestant, a movement that proposed a reform of the practices of the Catholic Church. This questioning of the Catholic Church had existed since the middle of the Middle Ages and pointed to immoral practices carried out by members of the Holy See, such as the indulgences, a corruption, a avarice etc.
This religious reform was initiated by Martin Luther, a German monk who was a strong critic of the indulgences charged by the Church. Luther's writings were disseminated throughout Europe through the press. Your questions gave rise to the Lutheranism, and other movements to contest Catholicism gave rise to the Calvinism and anglicanism.
Industrial Revolution
THE Industrial Revolution it began in England, in the second half of the 18th century (there is no fixed date for the beginning of this event). THE England it was the country that brought together the conditions for the development of the industry to take place there, and, with the emergence of the industry, the manufacturing was replaced by machinofatura.
The Industrial Revolution guaranteed the rise of capitalism and generated profound changes in Europe. Starting with social relations, which have changed profoundly and were marked by the precariousness of the worker's condition, forced to work for hours and hours in exchange for a very low salary.
Enlightenment
The technological development that took place during the Industrial Revolution was an indirect reflection of the enlightenment, intellectual movement that emerged in France, in the 17th century, and spread to Western Europe. The Enlightenment was a movement that defended the primacy of reason to think about the big questions of society.
The development of rationalism and the defense of science made by the Enlightenment people made the 18th century became known as the Century of Lights, such was the influence of this current of thought. The Enlightenment also served as an inspiration for revolutionary movements to take place in different parts of the world, such as the american revolution and the French.
The Enlightenment questioned conventions of the time, such as the belief in absolutism, and started to defend the power division of a nation, as in Montesquieu's proposal. There were also those who argued that all men should be considered equal before the law. Illuminists also questioned the principles of the faith and argued that rationalism was the best way for humanity.
Accessalso: Importance of narrative to history
Modern Age Timeline
Other landmark events
The events listed above are just a sampling of what happened in the Modern Age. The list of important events from this period can be expanded with other moments, such as:
Puritan Revolution
glorious revolution
reign of Louis XIV
Thirty Years War
Rebirth
american revolution
Counter-Reform
Grades
|1| LE GOFF, Jacques. Should history be broken into pieces? São Paulo: Editora Unesp, 2015. P. 42.
|2| Idem, p. 27.
Image credits
[1] Lestertair and Shutterstock
