The Age of Discovery

The 1400s mark the end of the Middle Ages. In Europe, the new ideas of the Renaissance and the Reformation transformed the way people thought about themselves and the world, and the way they lived.

Three events are often picked out as marking the end of the medieval period and the start of the modern age. They are the fall of the city of Constantinople (now called Istanbul) in 1453, which ended the last traces of the old Roman empire, the development of printing in the 1450s, which made books cheaper and more widely available, and the first voyage of Christopher Columbus to the Americas in 1492.

The ‘Age of Discovery’ was a time when the peoples of the world came into increasing contact with each other. Cultures in America, Africa and Asia had greater contact with Europe. Europeans increased their power in the world through trade, through the use of new technology, such as cannon and muskets, and through a restless search for new lands and wealth.

This sent explorers across the oceans to far-flung parts of the Earth and even right around the globe. By the 1600s, several European countries had established permanent colonies overseas.

This period also saw the development of many new ideas and challenges to old, traditional beliefs. Quarrels between different religious groups frequently led to bitter wars. There were power struggles between monarchs and parliaments, as democratic principles and government slowly developed. From the start of the 1500s, there were startling advances in science, with inventions such as the telescope and microscope revealing new wonders out in space and much closer to home. These discoveries prompted great thinkers of the day to formulate new theories about the world, its relation to space and about humans’ place within it. Great scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo and Newton challenged the old ideas, and new theories began to shake the foundations of society.