Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Ages of the world
(1,608 words)

1. General

The Early Modern Period imagined history as a closed succession of different ages of the world (Latin aetas mundi). These distinguished the different eras of world history from one another. Eschatological motives underlay this periodization until well into the 18th century. Especially during the Enlightenment, however, the interpretation of historical processes was no longer…

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Eckert, Georg, “Ages of the world”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_030193>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



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