Renaissance Period Within only a few decades, between the years 1450 and 1550, the history of the world was changed drastically. During that century, in which the modern world was born, Gutenberg perfected printing, Christopher Columbous discovered continents unknown to Europe, it was found that the Earth revolved around the sun, Luther founded a new religion, the cannon and harquebus ended the age of chivalry, and Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo created a new form of art. At the same time most of the great European countries were formed and national languages began to evolve. People started to cal