This document provides an overview of major developments in Western Europe between the 14th and 18th centuries. It covers the Italian Renaissance and its spread north, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the rise of absolute and parliamentary monarchies, the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, and changes in commerce, manufacturing, and political thought. Key events and figures discussed include Petrarch, Michelangelo, the Protestant Reformation sparked by Luther, the Thirty Years War, Galileo, Newton, Louis XIV of France, and Adam Smith.