What is Early modern Europe?
The '''early modern''' period is a term used by historians for the period in [[Western Europe|Western '''Europe''']] and its first [[colony|colonies]] which spans the three centuries between the [[Middle Ages]] and the [[Industrial Revolution]]. The early modern period is characterized by the rise to importance of [[science]] and [[Technology|technological progress]], civic [[politics]] and the [[nation state]]. [[Capitalism]] began its rise, beginning in northern [[Italy|Italian]] [[republic]]s such as [[Genoa]]. The early modern period also saw the rise and dominance of the economic theory of [[mercantilism]]. As such, the early modern period represents the decline and eventual disappearance, in much of the European sphere, of [[feudalism]], [[serfdom]] and the power of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]]. The period includes the [[Protestant Reformation]], the [[Thirty Years' War]], the [[European colonization of the Americas]] and the peak of the European hunt of [[witch]]es. The beginning of the early modern period is not clear-cut, but is generally accepted to be in the late 15th century or early 16th century. Significant dates in this phase from medieval to early modern Europe are: * 1447 : The invention of the first European movable type [[printing press]] by [[Johannes Gutenberg]], a device that fundamentally changed the circulation of information. Movable type, which allowed individual characters to be arranged to form words and which is an invention separate from the printing press, had also been invented in, but not known outside of, [[China]]. * 1453 : The conquest of [[Constantinople]] by the [[Ottomans]] signalled the end of the [[Byzantine Empire]]; the Battle of Castillon meant the end of [[Hundred Years' War]]. * 1485 ** [[England]] **: The last [[Plantagenet]] king, [[Richard III of England|Richard III]], was killed at [[Battle of Bosworth Field|Bosworth]] and the [[medieval]] civil wars of aristocratic factions gave way to early modern [[Tudor dynasty|Tudor]] monarchy, in the pe