Modern Europe

Rebirth/revival/new beginning

Note: The word Renaissance is derived from the Latin word “renaistre” meaning new beginning.

Petrarch

Note: He collected about 200 Latin and Greek manuscripts.

Protestants

Note: Martin Luther protested against the Catholic church. So people who followed him are called as protestants.

Ignatius Loyola

Note: Ignatius Loyola founded Jesus society in the year 1540. Their main aim was to restore the glory and authority of the Roman Catholic church.

James Hargreaves.

Note: James Hargreaves invented the weaving machine called spinning jenny in 1764.

• As a part of religious reformation, the solidarity of Christian religion received a severe blow.

• The reformation movement brought divisions in Christianity. It was divided into three sects: the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the Protestant church.

• Reformation movement paved the way for the rise of nationalism.

• Patriotic feelings became strong and the kings of Europe developed religious tolerance.

• The wealth taken away from the Church was utilized for economic development.

• The Counter-Reformation movement started in order to restore the self-respect of the Catholic church.

• The Turks conquered the city of Constantinople in 1453 C.E.

• Turks after occupying the Constantinople in 1453 BC they blocked the trade gates between East and West. With this, Turks started getting more profit out of spices imported from India.

• Europeans faced lots of difficulties and loss as the ancient trade route was seized.

• So most of the European nations started to find a new sea route to India.

• Discovery of new countries opened the possibility of spreading Christianity.

• The adventurous nature of sea voyage towards eastern countries. They ventured to bring in Spices, Silk, Cotton, Muslin cloth and to sell them for profit.

• ‘Travels of Morcopolo’. The diary which tells about the travelling experiences of Morcopolo gave insight about the wealth of India and China. This also worked as a motivating factor for Europeans to reach India as soon as possible.

• The water paintings of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ and ‘Monalisa’.

• The main renaissance started in Italy which was also the motherland of great writers. France, England, Germany and Spain too contributed a lot to the literature.

• The theme of the literature of this period was mostly dominated by worldly matters rather than religion.

• Many articles were written about the human body, voice and other subjects. Instead of Latin, many of the regional European languages came to be used in daily life.

• People started to question most of the blind beliefs during this period and science helped them to find facts.

• Petrarch known as the father of renaissance wrote the poem “Africa”. He was well known for his poems and sonnets.

• For example, Poland’s Copernicus disproved the earth-centric argument of Ptolemy of Greece and showed that the sun was the centre of the solar system.

Industrial revolution was the transition to a new type of manufacturing processes. It was a time of transition from contemporary manufacturing processes to new and modern manufacturing processes. Industrial revolution helped England in these ways-

• Industrial revolution made England prosper economically.

• Socialism found its base as the industrialization used to exploit the workers.

• Due to inventions in transportation and industrial revolution made the entire globe turned into a small village.

• Though development took place, the increased population led to poverty and the food crisis.

• Industrial revolution created a huge gap between the rich and the poor (working class).