<P> Regardless of the precise dates used to define its beginning and end points, the early modern period is generally agreed to have comprised the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment . As such, historians have attributed a number of fundamental changes to the period, notably the increasingly rapid progress of science and technology, the secularization of politics, and the diminution of the absolute authority of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the lessening of the influence of all faiths upon national governments . Many historians have identified the early modern period as the epoch in which individuals began to think of themselves as belonging to a national polity--a notable break from medieval modes of self - identification, which had been largely based upon religion (belonging to a universal Christendom), language, or feudal allegiance (belonging to the manor or extended household of a particular magnate or lord). </P> <P> The beginning of the early modern period is not clear - cut, but is generally accepted to be in the late 15th century or early 16th century . Significant dates in this transitional phase from medieval to early modern Europe can be noted: </P> <Ul> <Li> 1450 </Li> </Ul> <Dl> <Dd> The invention of the first European movable type printing process by Johannes Gutenberg, a device that fundamentally changed the circulation of information . Movable type, which allowed individual characters to be arranged to form words and which is an invention separate from the printing press, had been invented earlier in China . </Dd> </Dl>

The expansion of europe within europe refers to