page_title: Southern Europe
section_title: Post-Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: Southern Europe / History / Post-Middle Ages
context_page_description: Southern Europe is the southern region of the European continent. Most definitions of Southern Europe, also known as Mediterranean Europe, include Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, Andorra, Southern France and Corsica, Monaco, Italy, the Vatican City, San Marino, Malta, Albania, Greece, and East Thrace. In addition, the Balkan states of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia, are also often included in the definition due to their proximity to the Mediterranean, though some of these countries may alternatively be deemed Southeastern Europe or even Eastern Europe.
  Different methods can be used to define Southern Europe, including its political, economic, and cultural attributes. Southern Europe can also be defined by its natural features — its geography, climate, and flora. Politically, seven of the Southern European states form the EU Med group.
context_section_description: Beginning roughly in the 12th century in Florence, and later spreading through Europe with the development of the printing press, a Renaissance of knowledge challenged traditional doctrines in science and theology, with the Arabic texts and thought bringing about rediscovery of classical Greek and Roman knowledge. The Catholic reconquest of Portugal and Spain led to a series of oceanic explorations resulting in the Age of Discovery that established direct links with Africa, the Americas, and Asia. During this period, Iberian forces engaged in a worldwide struggle with Islamic societies; the battlefronts in this Ibero-Islamic World War stretched from the Mediterranean into the Indian Ocean, finally involving the islands of Southeast Asia. Eventually this ecumenical conflict ended when new players—England, Holland and France—replaced Spain and Portugal as the main agents of European imperialism in the mid-17th century.
  European overseas expansion led to the rise of colonial empires, producing the Columbian Exchange. The combination of resource inflows from the New World and the Industrial Revolution of Great Britain, allowed a new economy based on manufacturing instead of subsistence agriculture. The period between 1815 and 1871 saw a large number of revolutionary attempts and independence wars. Balkan nations began to regain independence from the Ottoman Empire. Italy unified into a nation state. The capture of Rome in 1870 ended the Papal temporal power.
caption: Spanish/Portuguese colonies
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