The Late Middle Ages of the Late Medieval Period was a period in the Middle Ages of the history of Europe form about 1250 to 1500 AD. The period followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the Early Modern Age, and in much of Europe, the Renaissance.

Around 1300, centuries of prosperity and growth in Europe came to a hall. It is characterized by increasing urbanization in Europe, severe economic crises, a revival of money trade, the decline of the feudal system and with it on the power of the nobility. The long struggle between England and France, the Hundred Years' War, divided the unity of the Catholic Church by the Western Schism. A series of famines and plagues, including hte Great Famine of 1315-1317 and the Black Death reduced the population to around the half it had been before the calamities. The economy was also adversely affected. In some countries a start made on the establishment of a strong central authority.

Despite the crises, this was also a time of great progress in the arts  and sciences. A renewed interesse in ancient Greek and Roman texts took root in the Late Middle Ages. The Italian Renaissance began. The absorption of Latin texts had started before through contact with Arabs during the crusades, but the availability of important Greek texts accelerated with the Capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks. Many Byzantine scholars had sought refuge in the West, particulary Italy. This led to the invention of printing, which simplified distribution of the printed word and democratized learning. Those two things would lead to the Protestant Reformation. 

Towards the end of these Ages, the Age of Discovery began. The Ottoman Empire cut off trading possibilities with the East. Europeans were forced to seek new trading routes. One of those expeditions under Christopher Columbus arrived in America in 1492. Vasco de Gama's voyage explored Africa and India in 1498. Their discoveries strengthened the economy of European nations.