This article is general in nature and is dedicated to the analysis of the concepts of “transition period”, “crisis”, “catastrophe”, “crisis type of historical consciousness” in Western Europe, Early Modern Times. A brief comparison of stable and transitional periods. It identifies four stages of development of the historical knowledge of the Early Modern Times of disasters and given their characteristics. The effect of the scientific revolution of the XVII century. on the development of historical consciousness, the attitude to the historical source in the writings about the history of the transition period, for the substantive content of the main stories of the historical knowledge of the concepts of “time”, “eternity”, “development” and others.