Definition of Modern History

The period of history known as Modern History is the one that is located between the Middle Ages and the Contemporary Age. Although its beginning fluctuates between two events such as the fall of Constantinople in the hands of the Turks (in the year 1453) or the discovery of America by Europeans (1492), its completion is more easily distinguishable and is traditionally considered a year from the French Revolution (1789) as the final milestone of this period. Normally then, Modern History is located between the 15th and 18th centuries.

One of the main characteristics of Modern History is the passage of theocentrism (all those theories and reasoning philosophical-theological centered on God) to anthropocentrism (set of ideas that put the human being as the center of the Universe). With anthropocentrism, modern man will resort to rational, scientific and realistic values ​​to understand the world you live in, leaving religion or theocentric values ​​aside as central elements of their life. Furthermore, for many thinkers, Modern History represented the first moment of complete unity among the civilizations of the entire planet since European sailors came to unite and know most of the unknown world until now.

This situation will become visible in profound changes that will mark this period and among them we must mention the scientific advance that will allow the human being to create new instruments for navigation, engineering and even from communication (like the printing press), the development of theories about the roundness of the Earth and about the place of our planet in the Universe (which will be around the Sun and not vice versa as used to be believed until now), the questioning of established religions (through phenomena such as the Reformation or the birth of new religions such as the Anglicanism, Calvinism or Protestantism), the establishment of economic system capitalist based on reason and the power of individualism and, finally, the development of Humanism and from Renaissance in the cultural sphere (systems of thought and artistic respectively who will have new interests and objectives when it comes to representing the universe).

The nation states that began to form instead of the medieval kings of atomized power also had an important place in this period. Then great rulers will emerge who were characterized by concentrating all power and who sought to unify territories, administrations and capacities.

Among the most important characters in Modern History we must mention Christopher Columbus, Galileo Galilei, Carlos V, Felipe II, Luis XIV, Martín Luther, Juan Calvino, Johannes Gutemberg, Enrique VIII, Nicolás Copernicus, Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Leonardo Da Vinci, Miguel Ángel, Sandro Boticelli and many others.