Tracing Christianity Throughout Western Europe

Christianly devolved in the Roman Empire when the Emperor Tiberius ruled Judea. In Judea, Jesus who was a Jewish man, walked around giving teachings. These teachings attracted people to him; these people were called his followers. Jesus was later killed due to him causing conflict with the Romans. According to McKay et al., Jesus’s crucifixion was an important event in Christian history, his followers believed in his word so much they continued to believe in his teachings and carry them on(pg.

176). Christianity contributed to the militarism of Medieval society that resulted in the Crusades by changing the ethics and beliefs of many people. Through the progression of Christian history, Muslims, Jews and Christian religious identities changed, mainly the political beliefs and the social groups. The progression of Christianity through the roman Empire to the Holy Roman Empire improved the militarism of Medieval society.

The constant warfare also resulted in the Crusades, changing the social and pollical groups. After the destruction of the Roman Republic, violence broke out causing rebellion against the Roman government. Roman officials did not see Christians as significant people because they did not flow into Roman society and follow by Roman beliefs. The Barbarians also affected the Roman republic, they didn’t believe the Romans were fair to each other. In the source “Salvain. A Comparison Between the Lot of Those Within the Empire and Those Who Lived Among the Barbarians. C.440 the barbarians talk about how the Romans persecute each other rather than loving each other. the Barbarians also believed in Christ and a Christianity to some extent. As time progressed in Rome the Barbarians gained authority from the constant battles bringing many challenges to the Roman Empire economically. The Romans were pouring vast amounts of money and time into the battles, straining their military advances. The Romans later joined with a stronger military helping their military. As the barbarians beat the Romans numerous times the people began to look for changes such as religion, changing the social belief.

The development of the Christian church also contributed to militarism resulting in the crusades. Around 250 Christianity began spreading through the Roman world and places like Britain and Ireland. This wide speared gave awareness to the religion and changes in Christian churches due to disagreements on many issues causing schisms. According to McKay et al., These disagreements led to violence among the Christians and over the fourth and fifth century disputes about Christ rose(pg.188). The development of Christian monasticism was brought on by pious Christians believing that the only alternative moral decline was to separate from the world itself. The Christians began believing that the monks had a better connection god and had special influence. There was constant battles and wars during the foundation of Christianity such as the defeat of the Byzantine empire. The fall of the Byzantine empire helped Christianity flourish and be introduced to many people in other areas. According to McKay et al., The spread of Islam caused conflict with Christians. Muhammad who is a prophet claimed that he was the successor of Jesus and Allah and that his teachings would replace theirs(pg.222). The relationship between the Muslims and Christians was not great, the Muslims called the Christians and Jews infidel meaning that they believe in a religion.

The Christians conquered Muslim territory causing the crusades in their near future. The first crusader set out on a long journey not knowing what would come of it, but they did it because of their belief in god and the holy land. The battle was gruesome and of course murder was involved but since it was for Christ, they believed in spiritual benefits after death. Both the Christians and Muslims believed in one holy land and were going to fight a long and hard battle to get it. The militaries and small armies that were created benefited the crusaders in their battle by equipping them with their own will to fight for what they believe. The attitude and treatment of the Muslims by Christian crusaders was more of a each of them fought for what they believed was right. No one can really say what justifies violence, bloodshed and hate. Christian crusaders saw the Muslims as a threat to what they wanted. Muslims were fear by the Christians because the believed the Muslims were violent. This treatment of the Muslims was result of different religions not being able to come to an agreement. The crusades were justified as a significant role in the development of western culture. The crusades were a gateway to new possibilities for the Europeans.

The result of the crusades on the other hand introduced the Europeans to luxury goods, benefited merchants and new trade routes. According to McKay et al., Kings and popes were given the opportunity to expand their government systems (Pg.277). By the eleventh century the economy got stronger and formed ties with the east. The treatment of Muslims affected western civilization by offering their beliefs to the Christians and changing society. Christianity has changed the Roman society immensely and unintentionally caused the crusades. The Romans started off not believing in Christianity and seeing it as a problem for Roman society. The constant warfare between the Romans and barbarians gave Christianity its advantage to be incorporated into Roman society. As Christianity was spread through the west other prophet wanted to express their beliefs. A prophet named Muhammad helped form the religion of Islam. This new religion somewhat conflicted with Christianity caused a feud between the Muslims and the Christians.

The Muslims’ prophet spoke of the holy land of Jerusalem and the Christians lord and savior did also. The fight for who gets the holy land was the cause of the crusades. The militarism of the medieval society gave the Christians and Muslims knowledge of warfare but also fighting for what they believed was right. The crusades gave western civilization a large leap in the evolutionary direction. According to McKay et al., New trading routes, luxury goods and churches came out of the crusades(pg.277). the social and political values changed throughout the growth of Christianity because the values of the people changed.

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