The Story of Extinct Civilizations of the West (Illustrated‪)‬

Throughout all the periods of European history, ancient or modern, no age has been more remarkable for events of first-rate importance than the latter half of the fifteenth century. The rise of the New Learning, the "discovery of the world and of man," the displacement of many outworn beliefs, these with other factors produced an awakening that startled kings and nations. Then felt they like Balboa, when 

with eagle eyes 

He stared at the Pacific, and all his men 

Looked at each other with a wild surmise 

Silent, upon a peak in Darien. 

It was at this historical juncture that the "middle ages" came to an end, and modern Europe had its beginning...