The century marking the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era opens with a feudal legacy stemming from the internal divisions of France and England, still embroiled in the Hundred Years' War.
Between mutual betrayals and the mystical figure of Joan of Arc, this historical transition marks the arrival of gunpowder in Europe, marking one of the world's epochal changes.
Along with it, the invention of movable type printing and the fall of the Eastern Empire pave the way for the great geographical discoveries of Spain and Portugal.
The century's innovations do not end there and are concentrated, for the most part, in the artistic and cultural fields, with Italy as the preeminent hub.
Botticelli, Leon Battista Alberti, Brunelleschi, Mantegna, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Marsilio Ficino, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli gave birth to the Renaissance, with Florence as the undisputed capital under the aegis of Lorenzo the Magnificent, but also shaken by the tensions of the Pazzi family and Savonarola.
With this backdrop, the very foundation of society changed radically, with the family declining in favor of the individual and more fluid relationships.