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The expression "early modern" is often, and incorrectly, used as a substitute for the term Renaissance. However, the word "renaissance" is used in relation to a diverse series of cultural developments which occurred over several hundred years in many different parts of Europe.

The first documented European voyage to the Americas, by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and Vasco da Gama's voyage to India ( 1498Events May 20 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut (now Kozhikode), India, becoming the first European to get there by sailing around Africa. May 23 Girolamo Savonarola, ruler of Florence, is executed for criticizing the Pope. July 31 On h) were especially significant in this process, as were books of political philosophy such as Machiavelli's The Prince ( 1513Events January 20 Christian II becomes King of Denmark and Norway. March 11 Leo X elected pope. March 27 Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sights North America (specifically Florida) for the first time mistaking it for another island. Later, on April 2, he land) and Thomas MoreThomas More ( February 7, 1478— July 6, 1535) was briefly Lord Chancellor of England under King Henry VIII and had a European reputation as a humanist author. His most famous work is Utopia (circa 1516) in which he created an imaginary island-kingdom in w's Utopia ( 1515Events June Invasion of Persia by Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire. August 23 Battle of Chaldiran. Selim I crushes the Persian army of Shah Ismail I. September 5 Selim captures the Persian capital of Tabriz without encountering any resistance, but is).

Therefore the term "early modern" usually applies to the period from the late 15th to the early 18th Century during which these developments were at a formative stage. However, there is no agreement and some historians argue that the early modern period continued until much later.

See also: Early modern Britain, France under the ancien regime, Early modern warfare

See also periodization.