Introduction for 3rd ESO

1. MODERN ERA (15th-18th century)

2. - Period of history between the
Middle Ages and the
Contemporary Age
- BEGINNING: the fall of
Constantinople and the end of the
Byzantine Empire, conquered by
the Ottoman Turks (1453), and the
“discovery” of America (1492).
- END: the French Revolution
(1789) and the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution (last third of
the 18th century)
MODERN ERA
Fall of Constantinople (1453) “Discovery” of America
French Revolution Industrial Revolution

3. POLITICAL CHANGES
- Creation of modern States: kings
tried to reinforce their authority
and created professional
bureaucracies and permanent
armies, in order to reduce the
power of the privileged (nobles
and clergy). Two stages:
- Authoritarian monarchy
(15th-16th centuries)
- Absolute monarchy (17th-
18th centuries)
- Conflicts between the monarchs
and the privileged, who
sometimes revolted. Example: two
English revolutions in the 17th
century (1648 and 1688). After
them, a parliamentary monarchy
was established and the kings’
power was limited by the
Parliament
The Catholic Monarchs, main
representatives of Authoritarian
Monarchy Louis XIV, the main
representative of Absolute
Monarchy
King William III of Orange accepting the limitation of his power
by the Parliament (included on the Bill of Rights)

4. SOCIETY AND ECONOMY
- Society continued to be divided into
estates
- Economic activities:
- agriculture was the main economic
activity
- The development of some economic
activities, such as international
trade, resulted in the accumulation of
capital and the origins of
capitalism.
Some groups of bourgeois (bankers
and big merchants) became very rich
(rise of bourgeoisie). But they
continued to be underprivileged: they
didn´t have political influence and had
to pay taxes. Some of them bought
nobility titles, but some others showed
their discontent in political writings,
which criticized the unfair situation and
proposed some reforms.