1. Definition
The early modern period (Ger. Frühe Neuzeit, Ital. prima età moderna; there is no corresponding term in French) is a daughter of the modern age, both as a term and in content, and shares its beginning and numerous features with it. One of the preconditions for this is the conceptual triad of splendid antiquity, the dark Middle Ages, and radiant early modernity, the latter initially …