The Modern Ages document summarizes the key events and developments between the 15th-18th centuries in Europe. Some of the major points covered include: 1) Major events that marked the beginning (Discovery of America in 1492, Protestant Reformation in 1517) and end (French Revolution in 1789) of the period. 2) Significant developments in economy, society, religion, politics, science, and art/culture during this time frame. Absolute monarchies rose to power and the Renaissance/Scientific Revolution began. 3) Key historical figures and artistic movements mentioned include Columbus, the Catholic Kings, the Habsburg and Bourbon dynasties of Spain, major scientific thinkers, and artistic

1. Modern Ages

2. Modern Ages S. XV - XVIII
Beginning
The Discovery of
America (1492).
2 ) The Protestant
Reformation (1517).
The End
French Revolution
(1789)
1) The capture of
Constantinople by
the Turks in 1453
Other events:

3. Concepts: themodern age
1.- Economy
- Development of trade between Spain an America: gold ,…
- Exploration (America) and discoveries.
- Economic transformation.
2.- Society.
- development of cities and themiddle class
3.- Religion
- Intolerance: Protestantism Catholicism ( inquisition) muslimsand jews
4.- Politics,
- Absolute monarchies
5.- Science
-scientific and technical discoveries
6.- Art and culture.
- Art and literature in Spain. the renaissance, the baroque, the
neoclassicism , theenlightment
7.- The Spanish Monarchy.
- Habsburg Dynasty .
- TheBourbon Dynasty

4. • Themarriagein 1469 of Isabel I of Castile and Fernando II of
Aragon , united thekingdomso Castileand Aragon,
During their reign:
• Unified their kingdoms, they conquered Granadaand
discovered America
• Increased their power and created amodern state:
• Wereintolerant towardsother religions, and persecuted Jews
and Muslims.
The Catholic kings

5. Columbus thought that the Earth was round. He
believed he had reached the Indies in his
journey. Columbus died believing he had
reached the East by sailing west, but instead he
had discovered a“new world.”
The discovery of America
In 1492, Christopher Columbus started a journey to
the East Indies, in order to find a route to improve
thespicecommerce.
He did it with the money from the Catholic Kings
of Spain. During that journey, Colombus discovered
America.
Theexpedition left on the3rd August 1492 with threeships( SantaMaría, Pintaand
Niña) and reached theisland of San Salvador on the 12th of October 1492

8.  The kings in this period belonged to the house of Austria ( Habsburg) the
first one was Charles I (grandson of the Catholic Kings: son of Juana and
Felipeel hermoso ) and Felipe II, hisson
Economy During the16th century Spain wasthe most powerful nation in Europe,
gold and silver arrived from America
thereweremany voyagesof discovery and Spain conquered many territories.
Religion: Spain fought many warsagainst Protestant and Muslimscountries.
Inquisition: peoplewerejudged if they werenot “good” catholics
Spanish Empire Total Expansion
Felipe II

9. Thenext Hapsburg king are: FelipeIII, FelipeIV and CarlosII
Spain wasacountry IN CRISIS
Crisis in Society: thepopulation declined becauseof plagueepidemics, bad
harvests, expulsion of Moors, emigration to America, etc… therewasan
increaseof beggarsand poors.
Crisis in Economy : Commercial activity declined becausedecreaseof
population
Culture and Art: important period for literatureand Art called “ The golden
Age”: Cervantes, Lopedevega, Velázquez
Theend of theHapsburg kings
CharlesII died childlessin 1700 so the
SuccessionWar began: thereweretwo
candidates: FelipedeAnjou ( French) and Carlos
deAustria.
It wasan international wasand acivil war
Spain losepower in Europe
A new dynasty replaced theHabsburg: The
Bo urbo n Dynasty
FelipeV wasthefirst of theBourbon dynasty
which continuesto reign today

10. The18th century wastheperiod of the Bourbon kings. FelipeV, Fernando VI, CarlosIII
and CarlosIV
Thereformsof the18th century:
•Agricultural production improved (introduction of corn and potato)
•Industry developed
•Citiesmodernised
•Tradewith Americaincreased
•Economic recovery and population increase
Spain 18th century
The enlightment:
It isacultural , scientific and political movement developed in France
Theenlightment spread thefirst democratic ideas and theseparation
of executive, legislativeand judicial powers
Thenext Bourbon king were:
Carlos IV, Fernando VII, Isabel II, Alfonso XII, Alfonso
XIII And Juan CarlosI and FelipeVI (current monarch)

11. The end of the Modern ages
During the 18th century , the bourbon kings were at war with countires like
Great Britain or Portugal
The wars created enormous expenses so the kings increased taxes and
the population became poorer .
This situation caused popular protests in Spain in 1808 el “ motín de
Aranjuez” Consequence: Carlos IV abdicated in his son Fernando VII
In Europe The modern age
finished with the French revolution
For more information The
french revolution

12. Economic transformation
Agriculture
wasthemain
economic
activity
International commerce increased
European countries produced more
coins
Thefirst bank accumulated money
Thefirst modern factories appeared
Voyages of Columbus, Magellan-Elcano and Vasco da Gama
Economy

13. During themodern age, society wasdivided into threegroups:
NobilityNobility
ClergyClergy
CommonersCommoners
Society

14. •Royalty
•Membersof theupper class
Nobility
They had special privileges
They could govern
They didn´t haveto pay taxes
They had their own courtsof law
Clergy
•Church officials(such a
bishopsand priests)

15. Commoners
Burghers– middle class
(lived in townsand cities)
Beggars
(lived in townsand cities)
Peasants
(lived in thecountry)
They became a powerful
social and economic group
including:
•Merchants
•Doctors
•Lawyers
•Artisans
•Shopkeepers
-Formed thelargest social group
-They wereusually very poor
-Someof them lived in terrible
conditions

16. Important changesoccurred during thisperiod
Theabsolutism Religiousconflicts Theorigin of Modern Science
Politics, religion and science

17. The Absolutism
What isAbsolutism? In theseventeenth century, European monarchs
concentrated all the powers: they decided on Economy, foreign policy, army,
lawsand administrated justice
Themonarchy had adivineorigin and the king did not respond for their actions
to anyone. It wasan absolutemonarch. LouisXIV of Francewasamodel of
absolutemonarch.

18. Religious
conflictsTheModern Agewasatimeof religiousintoleranceand conflicts
Martin Luther published criticismsof TheCatholic Church
European Christiansdivided into two groups: Catholicsand
Protestants
Therewerereligiouswarsbetween CatholicsProtestants
and Muslims
In someCatholicscountriestherewasan institution
called theInquisition : it persecuted and killed the“ bad”
catholics

19. The origin of Modern Science
Beginsthedevelopment of modern sciencebecauseof theinvention
of printing (Gutenberg 1543)
Someof greatest thinkers:
Copernicus's heliocentric
theory says, thesun isthe
center of thesolar system
Leonardo da Vinci designed many
unusual machines
Miguel Servet discovered the
pulmonary circulatory motion
Other great thinkerswereGalileo, Descartes, Bacon, Pascal, Newton, Limaeus and Jenner.

20. Themain artistic stylesof theModern Agewere:
Renaissance Baroque Neoclassical
Downing College,
Cambridge
Leonardo da
Vinci's
Vitruvian Man
David by
Bernini
Art And Culture

21. TheRenaissancestyle
Main characteristics:
Thisstyle istypical in the 15th
and 16th
centuries.
Architecture : was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman
art, straight lines
Paintings: focused on light
Some of most famous Renaissance artist are Leonardo da
Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael . the most important
painter in Spain wasDoménikosTheotokópoulos ELGreco
MonaLisaby Leonardo daVinci isa
master pieceof Renaissance
El Greco wasapainter Renaissance-Mannerist
Characteristicsof hispainting
•Elongation of facesand hands
•Likesto fill all the spaceof thepicture.
•Richly colored, with apredominanceof
yellow ocher

22. Cover of the first edition of Don
Quixote (1605).
... and possibly themost important writer of theGolden Age MigueldeCervantes isthe
masterpieceof Spanish literature, DonQuixote
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. (Baptised in October 1547; died 23 April 1616) . He was a Spanish
novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum o pus, Do n Quixo te, considered the first modern novel is
a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written. His
influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de
Cervantes ("thelanguageof Cervantes").
Miguel de Cervantes
Saavedra
Do n Quixo te is considered the most
influential work of literature from the
Spanish Golden Age and the entire
Spanish literary canon. As a founding
work of modern Western literature,
and one of the earliest canonical
novels, it regularly appears high on
lists of the greatest works of fiction
ever published. In one such list, Do n
Quixo te was cited as the "best literary
work ever written".
Other works may be La Galatea,
Rinconete y Cortadillo, Novelas
Ejemplares, Los trabajos de Persiles y
Segismunday LosBañosdeArgel.

23. TheBaroquestyle
This style was typical in the 17th century and the
first half of the18 century.
Architecture : It used lots of curved lines, decoration
and dramatic effects,
Painting: contrastsbetween light and dark areas.
Some of most famousRenaissance artist are Bernini,
Rembrandt, Rubensand Caravaggio.
Main characteristics:
Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus 1601
Tomb of Pope Alexander - Chigi
VII by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1671-
1678

24. Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez,
known as Diego Velázquez, was a
Baroque painter, considered one of the
leading exponentsof Spanish painting and
master painters.
Las Meninas (1656).

25. TheNeoclassical style
Thisstylewastypical of thesecond half of the18th
century.
It returned to theclassical stylesand conceptsof ancient
Greeceand Rome.
Thisstylewasespecially important in architecture: less
decoration .
Main characteristics:
L'ÉcoleMilitaireon theChamp deMars, Parisby
Ange-JacquesGabriel
ThePantheon Paris, Franceby
Jacques-Germain Soufflot .1757
The Death of Marat by Jacques Louis
David (1793)

26. Also in the Golden Age in Spain had great writers such as:
Quevedo (El Buscón, Gongora Lope de Vega (Fuente
Ovejuna,Rimas,El Perro del Hortelano,LaHermosurade). Calderon
de la Barca (Comedies -.
Ret rato de Francisco de
Quevedo
Félix lope de Vega y Carpio
D. Luis de Góngora, by
Diego de Velázquez
Literature
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Tirso de Molina (fray
Gabriel Téllez )

27. The End