16Th Century
One of the most fascinating centuries in all of history, the 16th Century makes excellent material for a research paper in world history, the arts, political science or religion. Paper Masters will custom write you a research paper on the 16th Century for any course or college level class you need.
The 16th century (1501-1600) is perhaps the century in which the modern world first truly began to appear. The century witnessed the following that make terrific research paper topics:
- The height of the Renaissance
- The Age of Discovery
- The Protestant Reformation
- The Scientific Revolution.
It was the century of great artistic achievement with the likes of:
- Michelangelo
- Henry VIII in his support of the arts
- Shakespeare
- Martin Luther
- Cervantes
The 16th Century and Spain
The 16th century opened with Spain leading the exploration of the New World, only a few years after the first voyage of Columbus. Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa in 1503, and Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513. Martin Luther inaugurated the Protestant Reformation in 1517, perhaps the single most important event in European history, destroying the hegemony of the Catholic Church and inadvertently initiating decades of religious warfare.
In 1521, Magellan's fleet became the first to circumnavigate the globe, although the great explorer was killed in the Philippines. In 1543, Copernicus published his revolutionary theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. In 1558, Elizabeth I became Queen of England, beginning a golden age that saw the genius of Shakespeare and the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
By the end of the century, most of the world had been explored, the Renaissance had given way to the Baroque, and Galileo introduced the scientific revolution, and Sir John Harrington had invented the flush toilet, in 1591.