How Did The Catholic Church Influence Western Europe During The Middle Ages

The church was a central factor of the medieval times. “Medieval Christians believed they could only find salvation by following the guidance, laws, and teachings of the church, for according to Catholic beliefs, the church and its clergy had been proclaimed by Christ to be the only intermediary (go-between) between God and human beings”(“The Medieval, Catholic Roots of the Elizabethan World”). In the medieval times, the church overruled the peoples’ lives. Everyone believed that God, Heaven, and Hell existed. Everyone believed that the only way to Heaven was through the church.

Previously, Catholics held all the power but after the Protestant Reformation, their power was greatly limited. Protestants did not want to listen and follow Catholics so instead there was a very week political government. Princes followed either religion and those who disagreed limited the power of those princes. Socially, Europe became a time for questioning religion. Different forms of Protestantism formed, many of which started fights with other groups of Protestants.

In 1054, the Great Schism had taken place. After many disagreements involving the nature of the Trinity, the relative importance of the faith and reason, and especially the use of Icons, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic church had broken their communion. Although the churches based off Christianity and monotheism, the amount of control and association the church had over everything had varied. Roman Catholic churches in Western Europe no longer had any stable control or involvement in politics, as the region became decentralized and had instead became dependent on religion as more of a form of organization during the Middle Ages. Whilst the West had become decentralized, the Byzantine Empire had started to become even more successful in control over the association of government and

The Roman Papacy’s Power By: Kelli Floyd The power of the church started to dominate when Constantine used its power to control his empire. Along the way, the church grew more and more powerful.

Jennifer Angulo Modern world history I Fall 2017 Class assignment 2 In the sixteenth century the Reformation was the greatest event in history that marks the end of the Middle Ages and the begins the modern ages in Western Europe. It was such an important part of history that shaped and changed Western Europe. The reformation changed Western Europe by eliminating the religious unity, Europe was no long only one Christian faith, there are other Christian faiths the people can choose.

“The Roman Catholic Church traces its history to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Over centuries, it developed a highly organizational structure headed by the papacy, the oldest continuing monarchy in the world.” This shows that catholicism and god have been around for a long time and hold a lot on the world. The Catholic Church has profoundly influenced Western

Religion and its various ideologies played a key role in advancing the authority of the Ottoman and Catholic Europe; it also influenced the way they confronted outside powers and people from other religions. The Ottomans where an Islamic ruled empire which brought about a certain ideology that gave them the God given rights to the earth. Catholic Europe also had this ideology from where God gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven and endowed upon them earth as well (Matt 16: 19). The catholic church in Europe seemed to have their hands in the cookie jar of European Medieval Government and some what controlled the kings and nobles.

In the Roman Empire, Christianity started out being a very minuscule religion. However, as Christianity grew, it formed into a significant threat to Roman politics. Before Christianity, the Roman Empire was extremely diverse and they believed the emperor

These radical changes made to the Christian church allowed for imperial involvement in the religious cult, but it also allowed for a new power and influence of the church on politics and governing of the Roman Empire. The advance in power and status of Christian leaders has been maintained still in modern eras. Although it is debatable whether Christian leaders are as significant and powerful as the period of Constantine’ rule, it is blatantly obvious how Constantine and his Christianization marked the stepping stones for a lot of political and religious relations, as still seen today in the collaboration of the Queen of England and the Pope (Lenski,

The Crusades in Medieval Europe, from approximately 1069 – 1270 had a significant impact on the teachings and influence of the Catholic Church. It was a series of military expeditions caused by religious and personal motives that caused the church to become a vital and powerful part of the European lifestyle. The Crusades were a series of Holy wars during the time of Medieval Europe against Middle Eastern Muslims. These military expeditions were undertaken by those of every class and had the ultimate goal of recapturing the Holy Land, Jerusalem. During this time the Church began to feel threatened by the growing power and land capturing of the Islamic Muslims.

Is it possible for a religious order to control almost a whole continent and be the ruling power over many nations for many centuries? Imagine a world divided in factions and totally devoured by a lawless society. Who would gain the most control over this world? Mercenaries? A king?

Christianity is arguably one of the the most influential and important aspects that originated in western civilization. The religion started out as a small sect of Judaism and a man named Jesus spreading his word with a few followers. For centuries, Christians in Rome endured persecution and secret worship. With the appeal of eternal salvation and the hierarchy of the church, Christianity gradually spread, began to rise, and eventually became the prominent religion in Rome. Today, Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world.

In spite of that time-frame, the relations between the Middle-Age Empires and the Roman Catholic Church prior to the

When the Protestant Reformation occurred, it had a large effect on western civilization. The Protestant Reformation was the 16th century when Martin Luther wanted to increase life and develop the right way within the churches. The Protestant Reformation changed life for people for Europe by the changes with religion, gender, and class. In Europe, there was a lot of religions fighting for the chances of succeeding and having all the power.

During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church had a great amount of power because it was the only one at the time. As expressed in The Canterbury Tales, it even oversaw the court, so one could propose that the Church had exponential power. They seemed to rule the economy and hold a lot of land. Kings and queens were even preceded by the Church. Supposedly, in those times, the Catholic Church was a source of great hypocrisy or a good number of its people were.