For the years after the split, many points of contention would come between the two churches. It could be suggested that some of these conflicts hurt Christianity as a whole. During the crusades, the Byzantine Emperor had assisted the Catholic crusaders in the conquests of the Holy Land. During the Fourth Crusade, crusaders had sacked the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, and established the newly formed, short-lived Latin Empire. Even though the Byzantine Empire was able to reestablish itself, the crusaders had weakened the already dying empire. This opened the door to Islamic invaders, who had been thriving for hundreds of years by this time. In the year 1492, under the Ottoman Empire, the Islamic invaders had finally came, and they swiftly conquered Constantinople. The seat of power in the Orthodox Church had fallen, and it could be suggested the Catholics can indirectly by blamed for it. This did not mark the end of the Orthodox Church, but it did bring about the shifting of the locations of power …show more content…
The church had managed to have gained to power to meddle in the affairs of nearly every Catholic kingdom. In the majority of Catholic kingdoms, one could not be crowned without Papal approval. The church also became an institution that was inconceivably rich from all the contributions it received from the various states clustered together from Poland-Lithuania to the Iberian Kingdoms, and from the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily to the far north of Scandinavia. The Pope had amassed a vast territory for the church, as it only grew in size and strength. As his influence grew, the church began to devise some new ideas, which disenfranchised some of its believers. One of the most often cited criticisms of the Catholic church was the selling of indulgences, or essentially buying one’s way into heaven. (Empires: Martin Luther – Driven to Defiance
Now, in 1198, in order to raise the papacy rather than take the Holy Land, Pope Innocent III, called for another crusade. This crusade is mostly being led by French Knights and instead attempting to capture Jerusalem, they end up sacking the Christian city of Constantinople! After the fourth Crusade, the other crusades were disorganized efforts that accomplished little to
The Catholic Church made its own laws and possessed land. The Roman Catholic Church collected taxes, service fees, and even accepted gifts from people who wanted a guaranteed "spot" in Heaven. The Church also had the power to influence kings and rulers. The Church helped by publicly supporting the kings and in return, the Church was given reasonable amounts of land and the clergy were given essential positions inside of the King's Court, which gave the Church the ability to manipulate policy and laws. The Church made many laws that include the involuntary conversions of heretics and the stifling of anti-church influences that could persuade other people to leave the Church and become heretics. This showed the immense authority that the Roman Catholic Church had over the people. Blasphemy (the speaking against God or anything that was considered sacred) was deemed as a capital crime (meaning it was punished by death).
Through the years from the medieval ages up until now, the Roman Catholic Church has always had a major influential presence in all walks of life for European people, whether it was for taxation, the establishing of laws, the rise and fall of monarchs, and even daily social life. Furthermore, the Catholic Church held such power that they could even appoint and dispose of great kings with just the writing of the pen. However, their power started to wane once human curiosity overcome ignorance and blind obedience. For example, the Enlightenment Age brought a series of shocking blows to the Church’s power such as disproving the Church’s theory of geocentricism and presented an age of questioning and secularism. In essence, by looking at the Church’s
A main cause of the Crusades was the treatment of Christian pilgrims. They were robbed, beaten, and then sold. The main group of Turks, the Seljuk Turks, were threatening and growing in power. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexus I, began to become worried and sent out an urgent plea to Pope Urban II, in Rome. He requested for Christian knights to help him fight the Turks. Pope Urban II did agree to his appeal although Byzantine Emperors and Roman Popes were longtime rivals. He also did agree with Alexus I, in fearing that the Turks were expanding. Pope Urban encouraged French and German Bishops and Nobles to also take part in this. “ An accused race has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and had depopulated them by pillage and fire.” This is when Pope Urban II called for a crusade to free the Holy Land. Urban did agree to this having some of his own motives in mind. He was hoping his power would grow in ...
What do Plato, Aristotle, mosaics, and icons have in common? They are all important parts of Byzantine culture, which spans the course of over 1,000 years, from the fall of Rome to the decline of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines were important facilitators of the Renaissance. The Byzantines preserved Greek and Roman traditions and created many of their own, which would have a great impact during the Renaissance.
In conclusion, throughout the Third Crusade, the Byzantine empire and Saladin engaged in a military alliance against the forces of the Catholic crusaders. Diplomatic relations between these two empires as well as the military expeditions confirmed the existing pact. The formation and multiple renewals of this alliance dispels the myth of undying hatred between Muslims and all Christians during the Crusades. In actuality, the Orthodox Byzantine empire aided Saladin in his initial conquests of the Levant and defended his interests. It may have been this loyalty that propelled the sacking of Constantinople by Catholic crusaders in the Fourth Crusade.
The periods during the Reformation, Industrial Revolution, and the World at War all experienced religious and church conflicts. During the Renaissance and Reformation (1330 – 1650), the fundamental practices of the church came under fire. The church at this time was the largest and most political body. The pope, himself, was the most recognizable political figure. It was due to this authority that the church and its pope were more interested in political issues and less with the spiritual needs of the people (McGraw-Hill, p. 76). Many of the Roman Catholic Church’s high priests had bought their way into position and had very little religious experience. Often the only members of the community that were literate were the clergy thus adding to their control of the common people.
The Church’ power was extremely great in the Middle Ages, as they had the most influence over the people, kings and knights. The Church had the ability to stop laws and change laws to their benefit and controlled the religious beliefs of the people. They had the power to sway the kings and send knights to war which sends the message that they were one of the most important institutions in all of Medieval Europe.
From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices. Martin Luther had witnessed this himself, “In 1510 he visited Rome and was shocked to find corruption on high ecclesiastical places”
Before the 16th century Protestant Reformation, Christianity it Europe was in a questionable and somewhat corrupt state. During the mid 15th century central and western Europe was set up in the form of a hierarchy, which was headed by the pope. At this period in time the pope claimed all spiritual authority over Christians, as well as political authority over all inhabitants of the Papal States. In addition to the claims the pope made, the church also owned close to one-fourth of the land in Europe that lead to a strong centralization of papal authority. Close to all of the Europeans at this time were Christian and would pay taxes directly to the church as a result of this ownership. European Christians were taught in their upbringing that without the guidance and rituals of the priests and the church, there would be no path for them to salvation. Despite the church attempting to teach morality among members, the clergy started to become greedy and full of corruption that fueled their desire for ...
There was a lack of concern for the people from the Catholic Church. The selling of indulgences lead people to believe they could go to heaven in exchange for money. In result, the church lacked prudence. The church was being dishonest to their people in saying they could pay to get into heaven. The payment would not result in a secured place in heaven. No one was completely certain if payment could result in a place in heaven. The only people who would know the answer would be dead. The people of the church showed fortitude throughout the selling of indulgences. The people were trusting and optimistic of the idea of paying their way into heaven. Not only were they trusting and optimistic, they were loyal to the church as well. The people believed that the actions of the church were acceptable. The people of the church had complete trust in their church but the church deceived them. If the people did not exhibit fortitude towards the church, the church would not have been successful in their malpractice. When the church complied to the people's wants for a change, they exhibited fortitude and were loyal to their
The Roman Catholic Church had complete influence over the lives of everyone in medieval society, including their beliefs and values. The Church’s fame in power and wealth had provided them with the ability to make their own laws and follow their own social hierarchy. With strong political strength in hand, the Church could even determine holidays and festivals. It gained significant force in the arts, education, religion, politics as well as their capability to alter the feudal structure through their wealth and power. The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups.
To understand the rise of the papacy in Rome, it is imperative to recall that the center of Christianity had been destroyed in 70 AD when the army of Titus destroyed Jerusalem. Looking for leadership, Christians immediately sought out those in Rome as it was the center of power and the capital of the Empire. In the first and second centuries, all roads did indeed lead to Rome. Another reason that Christians looked to Rome for leadership is because they believed that the church would come from Peter. Many understood Jesus’ statement in Matthew 16:18, “You are Peter” to literally mean that the church would form from Peter and he was associated with Rome. Therefore, church leadership would evolve in Rome and its leader would bear the title pope. In the following six centuries a sequence of events would eventually lead the bishop of Rome and the papacy to great spiritual and political power in Western Europe. The emergence of papal power and its impact on the Western Empire was more likely due to a confluence of divinely inspired historical events, than to the apostolic succession of Peter. The growth of the papacy is revealed through an assessment of how the popes rose to power, an analysis of the contributing factors, and their impacts on society.
As many things define the distinct characteristics of history, the Christian church has made a remarkable milestone especially during the Middle Ages. Christianity’s emergence as an official religion influenced not only the church, it enabled people to look beyond the obsession of power and worldly pleasures, but to a final and ultimate reward for a life well spent. Everybody put their faith in the hope and love of the Christian God. It gave the people goals and led them to the right path, yet why is it looked down upon so harshly? Maybe it was because of the wealth it exemplified, or the deterioration of morality in the popes. One can heedlessly conclude that the Medieval church was corrupt and unholy, but that would not justify its existence. Accordingly, the church was just trying to adjust itself to an age of chaos and uncertainty.
Early in history, the Roman papacy consolidated its power. It became one of the most influential organizations in the medieval period. This rise to power resulted from the decline in the Western Empire, the leadership of Roman bishops, and special grants that gave the church land holdings. This rise to power caused some positive ramifications, such as the protection of the church from heresy. However, the absolute power of the pope also caused corruption and abuses, many of which would eventually spark the reformation.