ABSTRACT
The Early Modern period of European history covers 1480 to 1820, the time from the height of the Renaissance until the uneasy calm following the turmoil of the French Revolution. The printing press had an instrumental place in forming and spreading a new civilization that embraced common people and their ideas. Dictionaries and grammars followed and had a key place in the creation of an educated diverse civilization. The influence of the writings and presentation of drama in the Early Modern centuries became a remarkable and enduring part of the civilization of the European community. The steady growth of science and the analytical thinking that it represented had an equally powerful place in the move toward secular thought in life and culture. The presence of censorship always troubled cultural expression and the challenges to it affected the power of politics and religion over the lives of individuals.
