THE MODERN AGE

Valceanu Giulia ; Timofte Oana

INTRODUCTION

 It is considered the period that succeeded the Middle Ages.

 The transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity has been conventionally related to
major events such as the Protestant Reformation , which promoted critical awareness of
religion and the church, the Discovery of America , which broadened perspectives on the
world, or Humanism , which contributed to the formation of a new vision in many fields.
THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

 It was a movement that took place in the 16 th century to reform the Roman Catholic
Church in Western Europe
 It was started by Martin Luther with the 95 Theses on the Practice of Indulgences which ,at
the end of October 1517, he displayed on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg ,
commonly used as a poster for the university community.
 In November , he sent theses to the various religious authorities of the time.
 The reform ended in division, through the founding of new institutions.
the 95 Theses
THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA

 August 3rd,1492 ,Christopher Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the
Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria  October 12th, they reached America
HUMANISM

 Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have
the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives.
 Romanian writers: Grigore Ureche, Miron Costin , Ion Necule
HISTORY

 After the Reformation led to the dissipation of the absolute power of the church and the
Thirty Years' War abolished the concept of "universal empire", the era of the nation-state
began, which aimed to achieve a political and economic power that exceeded the European
space. America, Africa, and Asia became regions of expansion and competition for
Europeans. British and French colonists occupied the eastern coast of North America, and
Spanish conquistadors conquered Central and South America, sprinkling the world with
European trading agents, except Japan. Europe was engulfed by wars, revolutions and
devastation, but also by extraordinary development and scientific and artistic progress.
 The 18th century was called the "century of revolutions". Between 1708 and 1835
revolutions took place in many parts of the world against governments and colonial power.
Some were successful, others failed, but the outbreak of political revolutions showed that
the people were dissatisfied with the way they were being ruled. There have also been
revolutions in agricultural technique and industry, in transport, in science, technology,
medicine and art.
 The revolutionary transformation of government systems and state structures began
energetically in the 18th century, starting with the French Revolution of 1789 that broke
out in Paris, with the motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité that acquired an overwhelming
force. The French Revolution resulted in the fundamental reorganization of society, and the
new ideas that emerged during the revolution and contained in Napoleon's Civil Code
spread, being imposed in many European nations.
MODERNITY

 The concept of "modernity" is different from antiquity and the Middle Ages. Modernity is
not only another historical era, but also an effect of a series of changes of a new type,
manifested in the acceleration of progress that facilitated human effort to improve the
situation. Progress has manifested itself in all fields: politics, industry, society, economy,
trade, transportation, communications, science, medicine, technology, and culture.
Modernity is characterized by mechanized and automated industry, gradually renouncing
manual labor. Portions of the modern world, however, were altered by fundamentalist
religious values, the absolutist monarchical system and the abolition of the feudal system,
all of which were replaced by a democratic, liberal and secular system, the ideas being
implemented in all fields such as Politics, Science, Psychology, Sociology and Economics.
PERIODIZATION

 According to many historical sources, the modern era would have started between the 15th
and 19th centuries. Features of the early modern era include the Renaissance, the
Protestant Reformation, the Great Discoveries, the rise of capitalism, the advent of the
printing press, the English Civil War, and the Atlantic Revolutions. The modern era,
culturally, is divided into:

 The Age of Reason

 Enlightenment
 The Age of Romanticism
 Victorian era
ENLIGHTENMENT

 Between the 17th and 19th century ,in Europe and America
 The Enlightenment claimed the liberation of the human being from his self-inflicted
tutelage. "Guardianship is the inability of the human being to use his cognitive abilities in
the absence of instructions from another person. This guardianship is self-induced when its
cause lies not in the absence of reason, but in the absence of judgment and the courage to
make decisions without instructions from another person". Sapere aude , "dare to think", is
the motto of the Enlightenment ( Immanuel Kant ).
 Two of the most well known people from that time period are Voltaire and Charles-Louis
de Secondat.
Europe