Popular culture during the early modern era brought many changes to the world as it was then known. While political and social events have shaped the course of history, popular culture has played a key role in the lives of ordinary people. Religion, music, literature, and theatre were central parts of their daily lives, providing them with forms of expression, entertainment, and identity. The phenomenon of popular culture was significant because people played a key role in the social changes that the population of that time needed. People were discovering a better life for themselves, and popular culture was trying to break down the social orders and hierarchies that were so clearly visible because of the characteristics of folk culture and high culture. People no longer wanted classes and hierarchies – the traditional culture, which at that time was strongly established, was under attack. There was no longer the pursuit of perfection and the expression of beauty, culture was seen as subject to personal preferences and definitions of it, but most of all as subject to one's own identity. Traditional culture still had its place in society, as did high culture, but people's aspirations and desires changed. This thesis examines popular culture and its manifestations as well as historical changes that popular culture had undergone up to the start of the early modern era.