Early modern period

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The early modern period is a historical period that is part of the modern period based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There is no exact date that marks the beginning or end of the period and its timeline may vary depending on the area of history being studied. In general, the early modern period is considered to have lasted from the 16th to the 19th centuries (about 1500–1800). In a European context, it is defined as the period following the Middle Ages and preceding the advent of modernity, sometimes defined as the "late modern period". In the context of global history, the early modern period is often used even in contexts where there is no equivalent "medieval" period.

Various events and historical transitions have been proposed as the start of the early modern period, including the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the start of the Renaissance, the end of the Crusades and the beginning of the Age of Discovery. Its end is often marked by the French Revolution, and sometimes also the American Revolution or Napoleon's rise to power.[1][2]

Historians in recent decades have argued that, from a worldwide standpoint, the most important feature of the early modern period was its spreading

secularized civic politics, accelerated travel due to improvements in mapping and ship design, and the emergence of nation states
.

Definition

The early modern period is a subdivision of the most recent of the three major periods of

antiquity, the Middle Ages and the modern period. The term "early modern" was first proposed by medieval historian Lynn Thorndike in his 1926 work A Short History of Civilization as a broader alternative to the Renaissance. It was first picked up within the field of economic history during the 1940s and 1950s and gradually spread to other historians in the following decades and became widely known among scholars during the 1990s.[4]

Overview

Map of the world, by Paolo Petrini, 1700

At the onset of the early modern period, trends in various regions of the world represented a shift away from medieval modes of organization, politically and economically.

city-states and maritime republics, particularly Genoa, Venice, and Milan. Russia reached the Pacific coast in 1647 and consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century. The Great Divergence took place as Western Europe greatly surpassed China in technology and per capita wealth.[5]

As the Age of Revolution dawned, beginning with revolts in America and France, political changes were then pushed forward in other countries partly as a result of upheavals of the Napoleonic Wars and their impact on thought and thinking, from concepts from nationalism to organizing armies.[6][7][8] The early period ended in a time of political and economic change, as a result of mechanization in society, the American Revolution, and the first French Revolution; other factors included the redrawing of the map of Europe by the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna[9] and the peace established by the Second Treaty of Paris, which ended the Napoleonic Wars.[10]

A Japanese depiction of a Portuguese trading carrack. Advances in ship-building technology during the Late Middle Ages would pave the way for the global European presence characteristic of the early modern period.

In the Americas,

Columbian Exchange that linked the Old World and the New World, greatly altered the human environment. Notably, the Atlantic slave trade and colonization of Native Americans began during this period.[11] The Ottoman Empire conquered Southeastern Europe, and parts of West Asia and North Africa.[12]

In the

Safavid, and Mughal empires grew in strength (three of which are known as gunpowder empires for the military technology that enabled them). Particularly in the Indian subcontinent, Mughal architecture, culture, and art reached their zenith, while the empire itself is believed to have had the world's largest economy, bigger than the entirety of Western Europe and worth 25% of global GDP.[13] By the mid-18th century, India was a major proto-industrializing region.[14]

Various Chinese dynasties controlled the East Asian sphere. In Japan, the

Mughal Bengal were stimulated by trade with the Portuguese, the Spanish, and the Dutch, while Japan engaged in the Nanban trade after the arrival of the first European Portuguese during the Azuchi–Momoyama period
.

Meanwhile in Southeast Asia, the Toungoo Empire along with Ayutthaya experienced a golden age and ruled a large extent of Mainland Southeast Asia,[15][16] with the Nguyen and Trinh lords[17] de facto ruling the south and north of present day Vietnam respectively, whereas the Mataram Sultanate was the dominant power in Maritime Southeast Asia. The early modern period experienced an influx of European traders and missionaries into the region.

East Asia

In Early Modern times, the major nations of East Asia attempted to pursue a course of Isolationism from the outside world but this policy was not always enforced uniformly or successfully. However, by the end of the Early Modern Period, China, Korea and Japan were mostly closed and uninterested in Europeans, even while trading relationships grew in port cities such as Guangzhou and Dejima.

Chinese dynasties

Around the beginning of the ethnically Han Ming dynasty (1368–1644), China was leading the world in mathematics as well as science. However, Europe soon caught up to China's scientific and mathematical achievements and surpassed them.[18] Many scholars have speculated about the reason behind China's lag in advancement. A historian named Colin Ronan claims that though there is no one specific answer, there must be a connection between China's urgency for new discoveries being weaker than Europe's and China's inability to capitalize on its early advantages. Ronan believes that China's Confucian bureaucracy and traditions led to China not having a scientific revolution, which led China to have fewer scientists to break the existing orthodoxies, like Galileo Galilei.[19] Despite inventing gunpowder in the 9th century, it was in Europe that the classic handheld firearms, matchlocks, were invented, with evidence of use around the 1480s. China was using the matchlocks by 1540, after the Portuguese brought their matchlocks to Japan in the early 1500s.[20] China during the Ming Dynasty established a bureau to maintain its calendar. The bureau was necessary because the calendars were linked to celestial phenomena and that needs regular maintenance because twelve lunar months have 344 or 355 days, so occasional leap months have to be added in order to maintain 365 days per year.[21]

Cishou Temple Pagoda, built in 1576: the Chinese believed that building pagodas on certain sites according to geomantic principles brought about auspicious events; merchant-funding for such projects was needed by the late Ming period.

In the early Ming dynasty, urbanization increased as the population grew and as the division of labor grew more complex. Large urban centers, such as Nanjing and Beijing, also contributed to the growth of private industry. In particular, small-scale industries grew up, often specializing in paper, silk, cotton, and porcelain goods. For the most part, however, relatively small urban centers with markets proliferated around the country. Town markets mainly traded food, with some necessary manufactures such as pins or oil. In the 16th century the Ming dynasty flourished over maritime trade with the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch Empires. The trade brought in a massive amount of silver, which China at the time needed desperately. Prior to China's global trade, its economy ran on paper money. However, in the 14th century, China's paper money system suffered a crisis, and by the mid-15th century, crashed.[22] The silver imports helped fill the void left by the broken paper money system, which helps explain why the value of silver in China was twice as high as the value of silver in Spain during the end of the 16th century.[23]

China under the later Ming dynasty became isolated, prohibiting the construction of ocean going sea vessels.

Japanese Invasion.[26] The European trade depression of the 1620s also hurt the Chinese economy, which sunk to the point where all of China's trading partners cut ties with them: Philip IV restricted shipments of exports from Acapulco, the Japanese cut off all trade with Macau, and the Dutch severed connections between Goa and Macau.[27]

Painting depicting the Qing Chinese celebrating a victory over the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan. This work was a collaboration between Chinese and European painters.

The damage to the economy was compounded by the effects on agriculture of the incipient Little Ice Age, natural calamities, crop failure and sudden epidemics. The ensuing breakdown of authority and people's livelihoods allowed rebel leaders, such as Li Zicheng, to challenge Ming authority.

The Ming dynasty fell around 1644 to the

dynasty of China. The Qing ruled from 1644 to 1912, with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. During its reign, the Qing dynasty adopted many of the outward features of Chinese culture in establishing its rule, but did not necessarily "assimilate", instead adopting a more universalist style of governance.[28] The Manchus were formerly known as the Jurchens. When Beijing was captured by Li Zicheng's peasant rebels in 1644, the Chongzhen Emperor, the last Ming emperor, committed suicide. The Manchus then allied with former Ming general Wu Sangui and seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty. The Manchus adopted the Confucian norms of traditional Chinese government in their rule of China proper. Schoppa, the editor of The Columbia Guide to Modern Chinese History argues,

"A date around 1780 as the beginning of modern China is thus closer to what we know today as historical 'reality'. It also allows us to have a better baseline to understand the precipitous decline of the Chinese polity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."[29]

Japanese shogunates

The Sengoku period that began around 1467 and lasted around a century consisted of several continually "warring states".

Following contact with the Portuguese on Tanegashima Isle in 1543, the Japanese adopted several of the technologies and cultural practices of their visitors, whether in the military area (the arquebus, European-style cuirasses, European ships), religion (Christianity), decorative art, language (integration to Japanese of a Western vocabulary) and culinary: the Portuguese introduced tempura and valuable refined sugar.[citation needed]

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c. 1830 by Hokusai, an example of art flourishing in the Edo Period

Central government was largely reestablished by

shōgun in 1603, establishing the Tokugawa shogunate
.

The

]

Society in the Japanese "

artisans, and traders ranking below. The country was strictly closed to foreigners with few exceptions with the Sakoku policy.[31] Literacy among the Japanese people rose in the two centuries of isolation.[31]

In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, daimyōs and samurai were more or less identical, since daimyōs might be trained as samurai, and samurai might act as local lords. Otherwise, the largely inflexible nature of this

monetary value. As a result, the tax revenues collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time. This often led to numerous confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants. None, however, proved compelling enough to seriously challenge the established order until the arrival of foreign powers.[citation needed
]

Korean dynasty

In 1392, General

King Sejong the Great (1418–1450), one of the only two kings in Korea's history to earn the title of great in their posthumous titles, reclaimed Korean territory to the north and created the Korean alphabet.[citation needed
]

During the end of the 16th century, Korea was invaded twice by Japan, first in 1592 and again in 1597. Japan failed both times due to Admiral Yi Sun-sin, Korea's revered naval genius, who led the Korean Navy using advanced metal clad ships called turtle ships. Because the ships were armed with cannons, Admiral Yi's navy was able to demolish the Japanese invading fleets, destroying hundreds of ships in Japan's second invasion.[34] During the 17th century, Korea was invaded again, this time by Manchurians, who would later take over China as the Qing Dynasty. In 1637, King Injo was forced to surrender to the Qing forces, and was ordered to send princesses as concubines to the Qing Prince Dorgon.[35]

After invasions from Manchuria, Joseon enjoyed nearly 200 years of peace. However, whatever power the kingdom recovered during its isolation further waned as the 18th century came to a close, and Korea was faced with internal strife, power struggles, international pressure and rebellions at home. The Joseon dynasty declined rapidly in the late 19th century.[citation needed]

South Asia

Indian empires

Gunpowder Empires, with the Mughal Empire
in orange

On the

Southern India, but its power was diminished after a major military defeat in 1565 by the Deccan sultanates. The empire is named after its capital city of Vijayanagara.[citation needed
]

The rise of the

becoming the biggest global economy and manufacturing power,[38] with a nominal GDP that valued a quarter of world GDP, superior than the combination of Europe's GDP.[13][39] The "classic period" ended with the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb,[40] although the dynasty continued for another 150 years. During this period, the Empire was marked by a highly centralized administration connecting the different regions. All the significant monuments of the Mughals, their most visible legacy, date to this period which was characterized by the expansion of Persian cultural influence in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and architectural results. The Maratha Empire was located in the south west of present-day India and expanded greatly under the rule of the Peshwas, the prime ministers of the Maratha empire. In 1761, the Maratha army lost the Third Battle of Panipat which halted imperial expansion and the empire was then divided into a confederacy of Maratha states.[citation needed]

British and Dutch colonization

The development of

Calcutta, appointed its first Governor-General, Warren Hastings, and became directly involved in governance.[44]

Robert Clive and Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey, 1757, by Francis Hayman

The

Indian rebellion of 1857 and following the Government of India Act 1858, the British government assumed the task of directly administering India in the new British Raj.[45] In 1819, Stamford Raffles established Singapore as a key trading post for Britain in its rivalry with the Dutch. However, the rivalry cooled in 1824 when an Anglo-Dutch treaty
demarcated their respective interests in Southeast Asia. From the 1850s onwards, the pace of colonization shifted to a significantly higher gear.

The Dutch East India Company (1800) and British East India Company (1858) were dissolved by their respective governments, which took over the direct administration of the colonies. Only Thailand was never colonized by a European power, although it was greatly affected by the power politics of the Western powers. Colonial rule had a profound effect on Southeast Asia. While the colonial powers profited much from the region's vast resources and large market, colonial rule did develop the region to a varying extent. Commercial agriculture, mining and an export based economy developed rapidly during this period.[citation needed]

Southeast Asia

At the start of the modern era, the

Sultanate of Johor was established by a Malaccan prince to succeed Malacca.[citation needed
]

Middle East and North Africa

Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire 1481–1683

During the early modern era, the

Safavid Empire
to the east.

North Africa

In the Ottoman sphere, the Turks seized Egypt in 1517 and established the regencies of

Algeria, Tunisia, and Tripolitania (between 1519 and 1551), Morocco remaining an independent Arabized Berber state under the Sharifan dynasty.[51][52]

Safavid Iran

The

Sassanids to establish a unified Iranian state. Problematic for the Safavids was the powerful Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans, a Sunni dynasty, fought several campaigns against the Safavids.[55]

What fueled the growth of Safavid economy was its position between the burgeoning civilizations of Europe to its west and Islamic Central Asia to its east and north. The Silk Road, which led from Europe to East Asia, revived in the 16th century. Leaders also supported direct sea trade with Europe, particularly England and The Netherlands, which sought Persian carpet, silk, and textiles. Other exports were horses, goat hair, pearls, and an inedible bitter almond hadam-talka used as a spice in India. The main imports were spice, textiles (woolens from Europe, cotton from Gujarat), metals, coffee, and sugar. Despite their demise in 1722, the Safavids left their mark by establishing and spreading Shi'a Islam in major parts of the Caucasus and West Asia.[56]

Uzbeks and Afghan Pashtuns

In the 16th to early 18th centuries,

Pashtuns. Between the 15th and 16th centuries, various nomadic tribes arrived from the steppes, including the Kipchaks, Naimans, Kangly, Khongirad, and Manghuds. These groups were led by Muhammad Shaybani, who was the Khan
of the Uzbeks.

The lineage of the

Suri dynasty. Pashtun forces also invaded Persia, and the opposing forces were defeated in the Battle of Gulnabad. The Pashtuns later formed the Durrani Empire
.

Europe

European events and dates

The beginning of the early modern period is not clear-cut, but is generally accepted as in the late 15th century or early 16th century. Significant dates in this transitional phase from medieval to early modern Europe can be noted:

Many major events caused

Battle of Bosworth in 1485.[58][59] Early modern European history is usually seen to span from the start of the 15th century, through the Age of Enlightenment
in the 17th and 18th centuries, until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century.

The early modern period is taken to end with the

Qing China
, all entered a period of stagnation or decline.

Renaissance vs. early modern period

The expression "early modern" is at times used as a substitute for the term

.

Gunpowder and firearms

When gunpowder was introduced to Europe, it was immediately used almost exclusively in weapons and explosives for warfare. Though it was invented in China, gunpowder arrived in Europe already formulated for military use and European countries took advantage of it and were the first to create the classic firearms.[20] The advances made in gunpowder and firearms was directly tied to the decline in the use of plate armor because of the inability of the armor to protect one from bullets. The musket was able to penetrate all forms of armor available at the time, making armor obsolete, and as a consequence the heavy musket as well. Although there is relatively little to no difference in design between arquebus and musket except in size and strength, it was the term musket which remained in use up into the 1800s.[60]

European kingdoms and movements

In the early modern period, the

Otto I. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars
. Despite its name, for much of its history the Empire did not include Rome within its borders.

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that began in the 14th century,[61] beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historic era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe, this is a general use of the term. As a cultural movement, it encompassed a rebellion of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform.

Notable individuals

Gutenberg reviewing a press proof (a colored engraving created probably in the 19th century)

political theory. The Swiss Paracelsus (1493–1541) is associated with a medical revolution[63] while the Anglo-Irish Robert Boyle was one of the founders of modern chemistry.[64] In visual arts, notable representatives included the "three giants of the High Renaissance", namely Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael,[65] Albrecht Dürer (often considered the greatest artist of Northern Renaissance),[66] Titian from the Venetian school,[67] Peter Paul Rubens of the Flemish Baroque traditions.[68] Famous composers included Guillaume Du Fay, Heinrich Isaac, Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Baptiste Lully.[69][70]

Among the notable royalty of the time was

Archduke of Austria. A conflict between the Burgundian side (Maximilian brought with himself almost no resources from the Empire[76]) and France ensued, culminating in the Treaty of Senlis (1493) which gave the majority of Burgundian inheritance to the Habsburg (Mary already died in 1482).[77] The rise of the Habsburg dynasty was a prime factor in the spreading of the Renaissance.[78]

In Central Europe, King Matthias Corvinus (1443–1490), a notable nation builder, conqueror (Hungary in his time was the most powerful in Central Europe[79]) and patron, was the first who introduced the Renaissance outside of Italy.[80][81] In military area, he introduced the Black Army, one of the first standing armies in Europe and a remarkably modern force.[82][83]

Some noblemen from the generation that lived during this period have been attributed the moniker "the last knight", with the most notable being the above mentioned Maximilian I (1459–1519),[84] Chevalier de Bayard (1476–1524),[85] Franz von Sickingen (1481–1523)[86] and Götz von Berlichingen (1480–1562).[87] Maximilian (although Claude Michaud opines that he could claim "last knight" status by virtue of being the last medieval epic poet[88]) was actually a chief modernizing force of the time (whose reform initiatives led to Europe-wide revolutions in the areas of warfare[89][90][91] and communications,[92] among others), who broke the back of the knight class (causing many to become robber barons)[90] and had personal conflicts with the three other men on the matter of the knight's status.[93][94][90]

Early Renaissance
, and the Early modern period

Conti
.

The

Spanish Black Legend
.

In England,

Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542. He is also noted for his six wives, two of whom were beheaded
.

Christians and Christendom

Johann Sebastian Bach – Mass in B minor – Agnus Dei, From 1724

Christianity was challenged at the beginning of the modern period with the

Counter Reformation
.

End of the Crusades and unity

The

Hussite
warriors were basically infantry, and their many defeats of larger armies with heavily armored knights helped effect the infantry revolution. In totality, the Hussite Crusades were inconclusive.

Battle of Vienna, 12 September 1683

The last crusade, the Crusade of 1456, was organized to counter the expanding Ottoman Empire and lift the

Christian world
to this day.

Nearly a hundred years later, the

sovereign national state
was born. The Corpus Christianum has since existed with the modern idea of a tolerant and diverse society consisting of many different communities.

Inquisitions and Reformations

The modern

witch trials
went through secular courts).

Martin Luther hammers his 95 theses to the door, by Ferdinand Pauwels

The

university at Wittenberg in 1502. The Augustinian
friar Martin Luther became professor of philosophy there in 1508. At the same time, he became one of the preachers at the castle church of Wittenberg.

On 31 October 1517, Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the

Presbyterians. The process of reform had decidedly different causes and effects in other countries. In England, where it gave rise to Anglicanism, the period became known as the English Reformation
. Subsequent Protestant denominations generally trace their roots back to the initial reforming movements.

The Diet of Worms in 1521, presided by Emperor Charles V, declared Martin Luther a heretic and an outlaw (although Charles V was more preoccupied with maintaining his vast empire than with arresting Luther). As a result of Charles V's distractions in East Europe and in Spain, he agreed through the Diet of Speyer in 1526 to allow German princes to effectively decide themselves whether to enforce the Edict of Worms or not, for the time being. After returning to the empire, Charles V attended the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 to order all Protestants in the empire to revert to Catholicism. In response, the Protestant territories in and around Germany formed the Schmalkaldic League to fight against the Catholic Holy Roman Empire. Charles V left again to handle the advance of the Ottoman Turks. He returned in 1547 to launch a military campaign against the Schmalkaldic League and to issue an imperial law requiring all Protestants to return to Catholic practices (with a few superficial concessions to Protestant practices). Warfare ended when Charles V relented in the Peace of Passau (1552) and in the Peace of Augsburg (1555), which formalized the law that the rulers of a land decide its religion.

Of the late Inquisitions in the modern era, there were two different manifestations:[96]

  1. the Portuguese Inquisition (1536–1821)
  2. the Roman Inquisition (1542–c.1860)

This Portuguese inquisition was a local analogue of the more famous Spanish Inquisition. The Roman Inquisition covered most of the

Italian peninsula as well as Malta and also existed in isolated pockets of papal jurisdiction in other parts of Europe, including Avignon
.

The

Protestant denominations
.

Tsardom of Russia

In development of the

transcontinental state
.

Russia experienced territorial growth through the 17th century, which was the age of

pioneers of the New World. The native land of the Cossacks is defined by a line of Russian/Ruthenian town-fortresses located on the border with the steppe
and stretching from the middle Volga to Ryazan and Tula, then breaking abruptly to the south and extending to the Dnieper via Pereyaslavl. This area was settled by a population of free people practicing various trades and crafts.

Cossacks became the backbone of the early Russian Army.

In 1648, the peasants of

Semyon Dezhnyov.[citation needed
]

Discovery and trade

The Cantino planisphere (1502), the oldest surviving Portuguese nautical chart showing the results of the explorations of Vasco da Gama to India, Columbus to Central America, Gaspar Corte-Real to Newfoundland and Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil. The meridian of Tordesillas, separating the Portuguese and Spanish halves of the world is also depicted.

The

spices. In the process, Europeans encountered peoples and mapped lands previously unknown to them. This factor in the early European modern period was a globalizing character; the 'discovery' of the Americas and the rise of sustained contacts between previously isolated parts of the globe was an important historical event.[citation needed
]

The search for new routes was based on the fact that the

lateen sail that made ships far more maneuverable. By translating the Arab versions of lost ancient Greek geographical works into Latin, European navigators acquired a deeper knowledge of the shape of Africa and Asia.[citation needed
]

Mercantile capitalism

Bourgeoisie takes more and more importance throughout the modern era.

Mercantilism was the dominant school of economic thought throughout the early modern period (from the 16th to the 18th century). This led to some of the first instances of significant government intervention and control over the economy, and it was during this period that much of the modern capitalist system was established. Internationally, mercantilism encouraged the many European wars of the period and fueled European imperialism. Belief in mercantilism began to fade in the late 18th century, as the arguments of Adam Smith and the other classical economists won out.[citation needed]

The

Commercial Revolution was a period of economic expansion, colonialism, and mercantilism that lasted from approximately the 16th century until the early 18th century. Beginning with the Crusades, Europeans rediscovered spices, silks, and other commodities rare in Europe. This development created a new desire for trade, which expanded in the second half of the Middle Ages. European nations, through voyages of discovery, were looking for new trade routes in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which allowed the European powers to build vast, new international trade networks. Nations also sought new sources of wealth. To deal with this new-found wealth, new economic theories and practices were created. Because of competing national interest, nations had the desire for increased world power through their colonial empires. The Commercial Revolution is marked by an increase in general commerce, and in the growth of non-manufacturing pursuits, such as banking, insurance, and investing.[citation needed
]

Trade and the new economy

In the Old World, the most desired trading goods were gold, silver, and spices. Western Europeans used the compass, new sailing ship technologies, new maps, and advances in astronomy to seek a viable trade route to Asia for valuable spices that Mediterranean powers could not contest.

Desired trading goods

In terms of shipping advances, the most important developments were the creation of the

Monetarists believe the main reason the Age of Exploration began was because of a severe shortage of bullion in Europe. The European economy was dependent on gold and silver currency, but low domestic supplies had plunged much of Europe into a recession. Another factor was the centuries-long conflict between the Iberians and the Muslims to the south.[citation needed
]

Piracy's Golden Age

The Golden Age of Piracy is a designation given to one or more outbursts of piracy in the early modern period, spanning from the mid-17th century to the mid-18th century. The buccaneering period covers approximately the late 17th century. The period is characterized by Anglo-French seamen based on Jamaica and Tortuga attacking Spanish colonies and shipping in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. A sailing route known as the Pirate Round was followed by certain Anglo-American pirates at the turn of the 18th century, associated with long-distance voyages from Bermuda and the Americas to rob Muslim and East India Company targets in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. The post-Spanish Succession period extending into the early 18th century, when Anglo-American sailors and privateers left unemployed by the end of the War of the Spanish Succession turned en masse to piracy in the Caribbean, the American eastern seaboard, the West African coast, and the Indian Ocean.[citation needed]

European states and politics

Europe after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648

The 15th to 18th century period is marked by the first European colonies, the rise of strong centralized governments, and the beginnings of recognizable European nation states that are the direct antecedents of today's states. Although the Renaissance included revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for European artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term "Renaissance man".[101][102]

During the

Republican Imperial States of the Holy Roman Empire.[citation needed
]

The Peace of Westphalia resulted from the first modern diplomatic congress. Until 1806, the regulations became part of the constitutional laws of the Holy Roman Empire. The Treaty of the Pyrenees, signed in 1659, ended the war between France and Spain and is often considered part of the overall accord.

Absolutism

The

state power, unification of the state laws, drastic increase in tax revenue collected by the monarch, and a decrease in the influence of nobility.[citation needed
]

French power

For much of the reign of

Fronde, and forced many leading nobles to live with him in his lavish Palace of Versailles.[citation needed
]

Men who featured prominently in the political and military life of France during this period include

.

Early English revolutions

Before the Age of Revolution, the

parliamentary democracy
in England.

International balance of power

The

]

The

naval supremacy.

Sub-Saharan Africa