Time has persistently been a pivotal subject for historians and specialists in humanities and social sciences, particularly over the past fifteen years. However, the inquiry into the concept of the present within history remains woefully underexplored. This Sinergia project sets out to redefine and scrutinize the present by determining how it was characterized, theorized, and experienced in Northwestern Europe – the Netherlands, Western Germany, Northern France and Southern England – between 1348 and 1648. The project intends to delve into the cultural construction of the present in Northwestern Europe, juxtaposing it against the southern and Mediterranean worlds. Furthermore, it will dissect the collective and individual experiences of the present within the pertinent territories and timeframe, accentuating the multiplicity of perspectives and modes of perceiving and living the present. The ambition of this project is to assemble and facilitate collaboration among specialists from diverse disciplines, who will employ a plethora of sources in various languages, encompassing ego documents, municipal registers, guild and confraternity registers, informational materials, political documents, chronicles, religious treatises, and images. This interdisciplinary approach and exceptional selection of sources will render the present visible and cast new light on a Northwestern world in flux, propelled by an unending cycle of Fortuna, where each notch epitomizes a present in itself.