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History of Europe. The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early European modern humans appear in the fossil record about 48,000 years ago, during the ...
Oct 29, 2024 · history of Europe, history of European peoples and cultures from prehistoric times to the present. Europe is a more ambiguous term than most geographic expressions. Its etymology is doubtful, as is the physical extent of the area it designates.
- Prehistory
- Name & Greek Colonization
- Roman Expansion
- Rise of The State, Church & Vikings
- Renaissance & Reformation
- Conclusion
Archaeological evidence places Homo erectus in Europe c. 600,000 years ago during the Lower Paleolithic Period and Neanderthals by c. 150,000 years ago in the Middle Paleolithic Period. Although Neanderthals have routinely been discounted in the past as brutes, they actually developed an impressive culture which included cave art, grave goods (sugg...
The first appearance of Europe to designate the continent comes from Greece in the 6th century BCE, but it is unclear when the term was first used. The name may derive from the myth of Europa (known by the 8th century BCE when it is referenced in Homer'sIliad) in which the Phoenician princess is abducted by Zeus, king of the Greek gods, who, in the...
Rome was a small port on the banks of the Tiber River, founded in 753 BCE, which initially expanded through trade and came in contact with the Greek colonies to the south along modern-day Italy's coast. The Etruscan civilization, to the north, and the southern Greeks both significantly influenced early Roman culture and civilization. Rome developed...
By the time the Western Roman Empire fell in 476, Christianity was well established in Europe. Kings such as Odoacer of Italy (r. 476-493) and Theodoric the Great (r. 493-526) considered themselves Christian kings as did Clovis I of the Franks (r. 481-511) and Alboin of the Lombards (r. 560-572). After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, leaders ...
The kingdoms and principalities of Europe had diverse languages, customs, and goals but were united – at least nominally – through religious belief and the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1095, when Pope Urban II called the First Crusade to free the Holy Land from Muslim rule, people from all over Europe answered. Except for the first, t...
The Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 who then closed the Silk Road, ending European land trade with the East and encouraging greater maritime trade, which launched the Age of Exploration. The colonization of the Americas began in 1492 and was encouraged, not only by the European need to find alternative routes to the East but also...
- Joshua J. Mark
1 day ago · Europe is the second smallest of the world’s continents, composed of the westward-projecting peninsulas of Eurasia (the great landmass that it shares with Asia). It occupies nearly one-fifteenth of the world’s total land area. The long processes of history marked it off as the home of a distinctive civilization.
- The Renaissance. The Renaissance was a cultural and socio-political movement of the 15th and 16th centuries. It stressed the rediscovery of texts and ideas from classical antiquity.
- Colonialism and Imperialism. Europeans have conquered, settled, and ruled a huge proportion of the Earth’s land mass. The effects of these overseas empires are still felt today.
- The Reformation. The Reformation was a split in the Latin Christian church during the 16th century. It introduced Protestantism to the world and created a major division which lasts to this day.
- The Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was an intellectual and cultural movement of the 17th and 18th centuries. The major thinkers of the Enlightenment stressed the value of reason over blind faith and superstition.
European History. Explore the wars, battles, leaders, civilizations, regimes, prominent figures and major events from the continent that encompasses 2 percent of the Earth’s surface. From ...
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Europe is a continent forming the westernmost part of the land mass of Eurasia and comprised of 49 sovereign states. Its name may come from the Greek myth of Europa, but human habitation of the region predates that tale, going back over 150,000 years. It is the birthplace of Western Civilization and the modern concept of the state. More about ...
