What Role Did Religion Play In Medieval Life

Circa 1000 CE, Catholic and Byzantine Empires and Muslim Caliphates were located near the Mediterranean Basin. They had differences beliefs in religion which led to crusades. The Catholic Empire resided in Medieval Europe. Feudalism played a huge role in shaping medieval life. People wanted protection for their land, their homes, and themselves. Feudalism was the way of life in Western Europe for centuries. At the top was the Monarch, and at the bottom were the Peasants. In Feudalism, local lords gave land to their vassals in exchange for loyalty and service. The Catholics had strong religious beliefs also. They were very faithful to the Pope, who was the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Christians believed that all people were sinners, and the way to avoid punishment of hell, they would have to believe in Christ and participate in the sacraments. Since the Church was in control of the religious

To begin with, Pope Urban promised crusaders a place in heaven if they went to battle ( Speech by Pope Urabn II ). This motivated people to go fight since they will be granted a place in heaven because of it. By 1096, thousands of knights were on their way to the Holy Land to fight (Ellis 216). Although many of them said they were fighting for religion, their true motive was land and wealth. Many of the knights hope to win wealth and land because of fighting. Some crusaders even fought just to escape troubles at home, and others left for adventure. This proves how the motives behind the crusader was not just simply religion. The Pope, himself had several motives. “ Urban hoped to increase his power in Europe and perhaps heal the schism, or split, between the Roman and Byzantine churches” (Ellis 216). His motives were not only to protect their brothers based on religion , but were also to get land and wealth. Lastly, the crusaders were motivated more on land and wealth then they were on