Characteristics of the Modern Age - SHORT SUMMARY !!
It is known as Modern age the historical period that happens to the Middle Ages and according to some authors it well has its beginning in the year 1453 after the Fall of Constantinople into the hands of the Turks or in 1492 with the discovery of America. With regard to the end date of this period, if there is something clearer and it is in 1789, the year in which the outbreak of the French Revolution took place. Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we go on to look at a summary of the characteristics of the Modern Age, one of the shortest periods in history, but also one of the most amazing.
Index
- Humanism in the Modern Age
- Political characteristics of the Modern Age
- Changes at the social level
- General characteristics regarding culture and science
- Characteristics of philosophy in the Modern Age
Humanism in the Modern Age.
We begin with this summary of the characteristics of the Modern Age talking about the most distinctive events of this time: the philosophical change.
The Modern Age is characterized by being a period of great changes in the political, social, scientific, literary, artistic fields…. Regarding human thought and philosophy, the humanism, a rationalistic thought that had already occurred in later centuries where man was going to be the center of all things, thereby exalting the concept of individualism.
Man and nature were the central objectives in the Modern Age of literary and scientific studies, as well as artistic ones. In turn, we see that you will see a anthropocentric concept of life where man, unlike the Middle Ages, who saw life as a transit destined for eternal glory, (heaven), now man, without leaving religion aside, looks more for earthly happiness, for living fully.
Political characteristics of the Modern Age.
Now we are going to continue with this summary of the characteristics of the Modern Age talking about the political environment of the moment. Here are the main defining facts of this era:
Rise of authoritarian and absolutist monarchies
The social problems and political instability that was occurring during the feudal regime were the incipient for all social classes to unite in support of the monarchy, to remedy the disaster. Absolutism was based on concentrating all powers in the figure of the king in charge of ruling the nation, unlike the Middle Ages where power resided in the nobility.
At this time the emergence of national states takes place, that is, all those collective entities that possessed a language, traditions, customs similar and live in a certain territory, now create a national unity, leading to the creation of national states such as France, Holland, England, Portugal.
The Age of Discovery
It was the time of the great discoveries that allowed us to know a greater part of the earth's surface, among them highlighting the Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and the Asian countries of India, Japan and China bordering the African coast by Fernando Magellan in 1521.
As a result of the two great discoveries, colonial establishments began to be established by the European nations in the territories of Asia, and especially in America.
In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the causes and consequences of the discovery of America.
Changes at the social level.
In the social field, a series of changes were also experienced that are worth knowing. Here we discover them individually.
Trade development
Very linked to the discoveries of America and Asia. It was a colonial trade, from America they exported tomatoes, corn, potatoes, silver, gold, sugar, coffee... and from Asia, generally luxury products such as silk. With all this we could say that it was no longer an economy based on livestock and agriculture as in previous centuries.
Increase in slavery
There was an increase in the exploitation of slaves, especially from Africa, leading to a great depopulation of Africa to create black populations in America. These were in charge of carrying out the toughest tasks such as planting crops, construction sites and mining.
Population increase
There is also an increase in the population, especially of the middle classes such as the bourgeoisie, generally made up of bankers, merchants, notaries…. In certain countries it is true that they showed interest in seizing the power to govern, but it will not be until the end of the Age Modern when the famous bourgeois revolution occurs, which is what we know as the French Revolution, putting an end to this stage.
Although it is already at the end of the Modern Age, it could be said that it was a pre-capitalist system, since after the exploitation and creation of colonies began to accumulate large capitals being this a tool of production.
Religious reform in the Modern Age
In the religious sphere, intellectual changes led to reformist movements within the Church, which is what we know as the Protestant Reformation and the Counter Reformation. Both provoked religious confrontations that dominated Europe for several years, breaking the Christian unity divided between Catholics and Protestants.
General characteristics referring to culture and science.
In this summary of the characteristics of the Modern Age we have to stop momentarily in the field of culture to make mention of three periods:
Renaissance
It is about the cultural movement that turns the classical culture of Greece and Rome, being Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo the greatest exponents. It is the transition period between the Middle Ages (15th century) and the Modern Age (16th century). In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the main characteristics of the Renaissance.
Baroque
Which occurs in the seventeenth century. Like the Renaissance, it is a cultural and artistic movement that was characterized in architecture and sculpture especially for showing a greater dynamism and movement in the works, as well as a very ornamentation reloaded.
Illustration
It is a political, scientific and cultural movement that occurred in the 18th century known as "the century of lights ”that came to express the freedom of people through the use of reason and knowledge scientific. This had greater splendor in countries like England and France.
Regarding the scientific field, we have to say that there was great technical advances which are the ones that made it possible to explore and conquer the most distant lands, such as nautical charts that greatly favored the subject of navigation. Many other inventions were those that were perfected at this time as it was with the invention of the compass, gunpowder, printing and paper.
There were also advances in medicine with the discovery of blood circulation by the scientist Miguel Servet. The Polish astronomer Nicolás Copernicus released his heliocentric theory in which the Sun was said to be the center of the Universe. In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the main inventions of the Modern Age.
Characteristics of philosophy in the Modern Age.
During the period of the Modern Age we also find that Western philosophy underwent a great change of prism. From the seventeenth century to the twentieth is the period known as modern philosophy and was characterized by gnoseology, that is, the importance of knowledge and reason compared to spirituality or religion. The human being acquires a great role and experts begin to study natural issues that revolve around the human figure. This is preceded, above all, by the influence of Galileo.
Also, it is during this time that the concept of "truth" is revalued. In the Modern Age, knowledge and reason acquire enormous importance, therefore, the truth does not have to be outside but is found in our mind, in our intelligence. For this reason, we ourselves are capable of discovering the true reality without the need to interact with the environment.
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