Modern World: The Age of Reason

Modern World: The Age of Reason

Introduction

Three great events of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries – the Renaissance, the geographical discoveries and the Reformation – mark a transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern. The essence of Renaissance was the centrality given to the human and the natural, with religion relegated to subordinate place. Renaissance had a profound impact on the making of the modern world. It stimulated the geographical imagination of Europe. The success of Columbus encouraged overseas enterprise enormously. Reformation, a revolt against the Catholic Church, transformed the religious map and marked a major turning point in attitudes to religion. Attempts to consolidate a monarchy and to make it absolute resulted in Spain, France, and England evolving as nation states.