INST 2801 Midterm Paper

Part One:

One aspect of power and culture that remains prevalent in our society today from the middle ages is religion. Religion today is much more diverse than it was in the middle ages. In modern society, people groups can attend varying branches of the church or practice differing faiths in the same cities as others. Religion remains a driving force for how people make decisions about their relationships and morals, much like individuals in the middle ages did. Religion was the driving force behind the crusades in the middle ages, and today, religion remains the driving force behind societal values.

Part Two:

In the first crusade, the Christians set out to reclaim land that had been taken from them by the muslims. The Christians felt threatened by the muslims taking over territories that had once belonged to them and had been Christian practicing areas. In response to this, the western Europeans decided to try to reclaim these territories with their military at the forefront.

The Christians felt threatened territorially. In western history, there are patterns of desire for the western Europeans to have the largest and most powerful kingdom. This was true during the crusades as well. The western Europeans saw the effectiveness of the muslim expansion and began to feel that, if the spread continued, they would no longer be viewed as the most powerful and the most dominant group. In response to these fears, they took military action with hopes to stop the spread of Islam and to terminate their conquering of lands.

The western Europeans felt threatened religiously. With the Islamic state growing as the muslims took over formerly Christian areas, the Christians felt as though their faith was at risk. They were concerned that their faith could be outlawed or nonexistent if the muslims continued to have such tremendous success in conquering new land. To stop the quick and successful spread of Islam, they set out on the first crusade.

While there was success early on for the western Europeans, the spread of Islam did eventually continue and their reign was not as expansive and whole as they had hoped their kingdom would be. Christianity and Islam remain the two most widely practiced religions in the world today.”

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