The Religious Wars Of Religion

The religious schism took place in the 16th century, mainly between the Catholic Church and Protestants. During these times, many changes were brought forth to Europe during this schism. Although the religious schism brought forth an age of Reformation of the Catholic church, the religious schism started wars, revolts across Germany following the teachings of Luther, and the struggle for power between Catholicism and Protestantism.

To begin, the Protestant Reformation began in reaction to the Catholic Church’s rather corrupt practices. Prior to the Reformation, the only major Christian denomination in Western Europe at the time was Catholicism, headed by the Pope in Rome. Through many acts of violence such as the formation of the Spanish Inquisition and the slaughter of the Cathars, amongst others, Europe’s Monarchs had wiped out and suppressed any form of religious competition. With the Catholic Church holding a tight stranglehold over Europe, Catholicism was the only option. This allowed

Religion has played a big part of history around the world. Through religion we have learned so much about different cultures, beliefs and Traditions. Some of the religions that we discover in history are still dominate religions until this day. The Christianity and Islam Religion are two of the most practiced religions around the world today. From Christianity and Islam you get Christians and Muslims. The Christians and Muslims during the Crusades have similar and not so similar views on personal virtues and religious practices.

The wars of religion, which were disputes between Catholics and Protestants about the religion of a territory, took place in Germany, France, and England from 1500-1628. These arguments consisted of several disagreements between the leaders of a particular country and its people. In all three countries a law or settlement was passed that was intended to serve as beneficial to religious minorities, mostly of which were Protestant. However, after these laws were passed to help the Protestants there were residual issues. These issues were either due to the fact that the Catholics, or the majority, were upset because they lost too much religious power or that the Protestants, the minorities, were still unhappy about “sharing” religious territory with the Catholics.

Many of the ancient and historical conflicts are believed to be connected to religion in a various ways and proven that religion can be used as an excuse for violence. For instance, The Crusade Wars ended in the brutality of both Christians and Muslims during the mass dispute (Burton 1984). The Jews have perpetrated massacres through nations for the solitary reason to attain their belief. During the reformation of Christians thousands of people were killed because of their religion. In Yugoslavia, the war in 1991 pitted Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Catholics against each other in a brutal combat (Avalos 2005). Also, thousands of monks were being persecuted in Burma

The eight wars of religion escalated thought-out 36 years, with intermittent interruptions. The Protestant progressing originated in Northern Europe in the early 16th century. but escalated in the 19th century. It began as a reaction to the Medieval Roman Catholic doctrine and practices. After a procession of European religious wars in the 16th and 17th centuries, and especially in the 19th century, it spread throughout the world. Wherever Protestantism arose, it altered the social, economic, political, and cultural life of the area The wars would end with the Edict of Nantes an edict that ingrained a limited tenacity. Frances struggle with religious turmoil between Catholics and Protestants was an ongoing crisis, however, the Spaniards belief in religion provided vast support to the moral code and allowed the police authoritative power of the state to loosen its grip on the community. History shows that atheistic, totalitarian states used force rather than religion to enforce obedience to government tyranny1 .

This caused many problems because Protestants and Catholics could not live together peacefully. Individuals from both religions did not see the others view. This was one reason that the Enlightenment was needed. Because the members of each religion resented each other so much, many wars were fought. This also brought about new questions as to which religion had the correct beliefs. The religion that was practiced was dependent upon the country, and the leader of that country.4

In the mid 1600’s, Puritan pastors began preaching a different sermon. It was based on the teachings of the biblical prophet, Jeremiah, and known as the jeremiad. An intense change in the church led to the creation of the Half-Way Covenant. It erased the segregation between the converted and non-converted members of society. Many believe this arrangement diluted the religious values of the church because it intermingled the sinners with the saved. (Cengage Learning , 2013)

In the Middle Ages, religion was of great importance as a vast majority of the European society followed the Christian religion. This faith gave kings a divine right to rule, and it also united Christians from all over Europe in The Crusades. Religion helped explain the unexplainable as medicine and other sciences in the Middle Ages were not nearly as advanced as they are in modern society. It was important to peasants too, as it brought them holidays and a hope for a better life after death, in heaven. Religion was important in the Middle Ages as it gave kings a divine right to rule, establishing a form of hierarchy.

Politics and religion in the world of today aren’t subjects that generally go hand in hand in our own society. This was not always the case however; in Europe the two were synonymous up until relatively recently, (recently meant in the loosest sense of the word,) and are still closely tied in foreign parts of the world, the most obvious example being the Middle East. The duos intimate relationship was exemplified during the late sixteenth century, extending into the seventeenth century, during a series of wars which would later on come to be called “the wars of religion.” But is this title completely appropriate? For wars claiming to be centered on religion, they seem to carry an awfully heavy load of political baggage. In fact, one

People in the middle ages were very religious. People believed that Roman Catholic Church represent God. The church had a big influence on the content spread in the Middle Ages, and they were content with religious or moralistic. The only religion recognized in Middle Ages Europe was Christianity and specifically Catholicism. Christianity in the middle ages dominated the lives. The life of the medieval people was dominated entirely by the church and many religious institutions gained power and wealth. It was single the larges institution in west of Europe. It touched everyone’s life no matter what rank in social class they lived in. Everyone in western Europe was Rome Catholic Christian at that time. From the reaches king all the way down.

In a national sense, religious belief and identity can separate whole nations from one another, like in the case of Ireland and England, one of the defining differences is our belief in a different branch of Christianity. This can have disastrous effects on the world as a whole. Religion can be held accountable for the majority of warfare and bloodshed in the world today as nations attack each over their differing beliefs and ideals. Many nations will use religion and beliefs to try to justify the awful atrocities they commit on one another. In this sense, religion

Religion is the basis of belief for humans, it is a belief that there is a higher being that watches over us guiding us, a belief that there is life after death and if we follow these beliefs we shall enter heaven the most beautiful place. However religion has also played a role in wars, religious conflicts in Ireland (Protestants and Catholics). Israelis and Arabs (Holy Land) and the Holy Crusades of the eleventh century (recapturing the Holy Land).

The two that I want to compare and contrast is the conflict theory and the symbolic interaction theory in religion. Conflict theorist say that religion legitimates the social inequalities of society. By this, they mean that religion teaches that the existing social arrangements of a society represent what God desire for, example during the Middle Ages, Christian theologians taught the divine rights of kings. This meant that God determined who would become king and set him on the throne. It was The king ruled in God’s place, and it was the duty of a king’s subjects to be loyal to him. To disobey the king was to disobey God. Symbolic interactionist focus on the meanings that people give their experiences. All religions use symbols to provide

They became the cornerstone of many earlier and later civilizations. Even today many countries, especially those in the Middle East, have religious leaders who work with the government to enact laws and “guide” the spiritual aspect of the lives of their citizens. Unfortunately, with such strong beliefs and convictions can come conflict. This conflict can be on a small scale, such as discrimination against those who don’t share the same beliefs to full-scale war which was the case in the first Crusades. In more recent times we have seen mass genocides of people based in part on religious beliefs such as the annihilation of the Jews during the Second World War. Today we see it played out in acts of terrorism, jihads. Religion is a powerful tool that can be used both to help and enrich the lives of people or used as justification for intolerance against others.