The Middle Ages : Religion, Politics, And Warfare

Personally, when thinking of the middle Ages, I tend to have the misconception that it is a period of darkness with no progress. However, R.W. Southern’s book, ‘The Making of the Middle Ages’, offers an in depth study of the development of history in the world today. Observing that this book was published during the 1950s, Mr. Southern’s interpretation of the ‘Middle Ages’ was very distinctive in comparison to other historians of his time. He explores the significance of the Middle Ages as a separate sector in the study of history by which the audience will notice that previous categories of studied history is set aside, as we are no longer focusing on the usual ‘Classical Greece’ and ‘Rome’

Marcus Bull is a distinguished professor for medieval and early modern studies. He earned is Bachelor of Arts at London University in 1987 followed by and his PhD in 1991. His area of educational concentration is medieval history. He currently is a professor at the University of North Carolina in the History Department. Dr. Marcus Bull has other notable publications including “Tudorism: Historical Imagination and the Appropriation of the Sixthteenth Century”, “Thinking Medieval: An Introduction to the Study” and “France in the Central Middle Ages 900-1200.” The majority of his intended audiences appear to be college students, and peers in the field of medieval history. In the approach to his works, the literature is filled with easy transitions and factual based research. Dr. Marcus Bull is able to bring the information to life in an easily comprehensible way. He provides detailed information that is backed by specific examples in history and detailed oriented analysis that correlates with his

In several ways, Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages shared in their approach to dealing with the infidels living in their lands, particularly in their proclamation of legal edicts defining the level of toleration and the protection offered those nonbelievers. Yet, however similar the two society's legislative relations were in managing minority faiths, there still existed minor fundamental differences stemming from disparities in their societal structure.

Throughout the central Middle Ages, Europe was characterized by the power struggle between the secular and the ecclesiastic. The question of rule by God or by man was one which arose with unwavering frequency among scholars, clergy, and nobility alike. The line which separated church and state was blurry at best, leading to the development of the Investiture Conflict in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and the attempts to undermine the heir to the throne in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Four men stand out among dozens in this effort to define the powers of the lay versus that of the spiritual: Emperor/kings Henry IV and John of England, and the popes who aggressively challenged their exertions of authority, Pope Gregory VII

The investiture controversy, also known as the investiture conflict, was the most significant conflict between Church and State during medieval Europe, being centrally a political struggle. This conflict would result in changes to the political world in Europe that would last even to the present day. The two sides of the investiture controversy consisted of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, and Pope Gregory VII. Henry IV and his supporters held a “royalist” state view, while Gregory VII and his supporters were on the “papalist” church side of the conflict. Both sides had strong visions of the right order of the world, with the largest difference being that Gregory believed that the church should be free from state rule and any monarch authority. Gregory and his followers also believed that the church should be the only authority able to appoint church officials. Lastly, Gregory’s vison for the world included the believe that church policies on celibacy and the

During the High Middle Ages, there was no strong, central government that was politically organized enough to meet common needs of the people in Europe. After the fall of Charlemagne’s empire, invasions and anarchy became the societal norm. If they wanted to survive, they had to meet particular needs. The people of the High Middle Ages met their needs of political organization, economic provision, and social aspects through Feudalism, Manorialism, and through the Church.

There was one main religion in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. This religion was Roman Catholic Christianity. It was both unifying and separating in some ways. Unlike now, religion served various functions, and was the main cultural aspect in people's lives. The Christian patriarch was more powerful than European kings, and wealthier.

Kings believed they had the power because the land was theirs and the people were under their control. These power struggles led to the Investiture Controversy, excommunication of kings by popes, and the questioning of who really is the true leader of the nations. The pope and king both had a very high political standing. The king was the ruler of his nation and oversaw everything that was taking place and going on. The pope was the leader of the Catholic Church and had a lot of power, considering so many people belonged to the church.

Back in the middle ages, the average civilian would join the knighthood in order to climb the social chain. As a member of the knighthood, during the Crusades, the knights would be given an occupation, a form of profit, and would be given a education. These skills would give a knight the ability to be work after their employment in the Crusades. The Crusades itself, was caused by different religions, along with an area of land that was important to both sides . While the Christian religion believed in that the Holy Land should belong to them, the land already belonged to a different group of people, who also had their own form of religion. Therefore the Europeans wanted to claim the ancient land, ultimately causing the Crusades, also known as the Holy Wars. The knights themselves all fought under God’s name, making theology a big part of their way of life. This and other parts of the Crusades have made their way into society even leading to present day. Therefore these knights had created a way of surviving through the harsh middle ages and impacted the world in

At the beginning, when the states were just starting to form, it was based on a reciprocal agreement with the State enforcing the Church laws while the Church presiding religious ceremonies such as coronations for the kings. The popes and the kings needed each other in order to remain powerful and defend themselves against foreign forces. Just as when Pope Leo the Third was mistreated in Rome, he sought for help from Charlemagne, who was then the King of Franks. Unfortunately, they did not always come to a consensus with each other. As the power of the Church grew, the conflicts with the State increase. In the eleventh century, King of England, Henry the Second, appointed his friend, Thomas Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury to assert his authority over the Church. Thomas, however, had a sudden change of heart as he began to see himself not as Henry's man, but God's. He vacillated in his support of Henry, and tensions arose between the them, which

The crusades were a series of 4 religious based wars, that took place from 1095-1291, in which Western Christians (most notably from Italy and France) invaded the Mediterranean and Middle East in an attempt to recover the holy city of Jerusalem from the Muslim people, who were seen as the enemy. From the Christian point of view, the crusades were a holy war done to reunite Christian loyalty and faith, and also to recover Jerusalem and to protect the Christian faith and people from the spread of Islam. However, the Christian retelling of this event is the most common, and there is very little showing the Muslim perspective, or for that matter, Middle Eastern perspective, including Jewish and Orthodox Christians, who also suffered greatly at

Kings were able name the bishops that maintain and lead the main church of their land. But after Gregory VII new rule, the King, Henry IV became enraged and fought back. Eagerly trying to convince his bishops that the Pope had no real power, he was excommunicated. As his nobles rebelled, he finally let go of his pride to ask for forgiveness from Pope Gregory VII. The larger issue in this incident is connected to the Lay Investiture in 1122.

In Medieval Europe Kingdoms there were many changes. Most of the changes were good for the world. The changes in medieval times can be drawn comparison to todays world. The changes focused on will be political, social, and economic. These changes will help people understand a small part of the worlds history.

Religion experienced a lot of progress and transformation throughout the Middle Ages. Christianity held consistent popularity and other religions such as Islam were on the rise in participation. After the fall of Rome, there was no unified state or government in Europe and the Catholic Church used that opportunity to become a large powerhouse. The Roman Empire had effectively split into three different worlds: Muslim, Byzantine, and western European. Various Kings, Queens, and other leaders looked to the Catholic church for power and protection in exchange for alliances. Meanwhile, the Islamic religion was growing in wealth, power, and people. With the prophet Muhammad’s death in 632, Muslim groups took under large parts of land and united them under a single caliph. The Byzantines were still operating from Constantinople, just under a smaller rule and rural life assumed greater importance in the backbone of their society. Religion was largely involved in the Middle Ages’ art and architecture. Massive Cathedrals were built and even books were a work of art before the invention of the printing press. In addition, their economy was directly affected by religious activity such as missions and conquests. Overall, the general trends marking the progress religion in the Middle Ages are inclusion of everyone, a building of a community, and the opportunity of becoming equals with other practitioners.

People faced the rise and the fall of the Catholic Church during the medieval time. The Popes used to hold the final authority for the church and over the state. Pope Gregory VII asserted the Pope had granted the divine power from God because Saint Peter was the first of getting this