Why Is Religion Important In The Middle Ages

This, the Speech of Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont as recounted by the Fulcher of Chartres, had captured the call for the first crusade. The goal of bringing peace in Christendom is clearly aimed by setting a warpath towards Jerusalem to unite Christians once again to the holy land. The power in reassuring the future crusaders of absolution of all sins and promised entry into heaven is unmatched during the start of the Crusades.

In one of the crusades, Christians went out specifically looking for people who weren’t Christians, to kill them because the pope said that would get them into heaven. In Document A, it states “this place should be filled with the blood of non-believers” Christians normalized killing and hating anyone who wasn’t a believer. They fought over who had a divine right to the holy land. The pope strengthened his position and church as the central authority in Europe at the time of the crusades. He is the one that called for the Christians to leave Europe and go to the Middle East to take back the Holy Land.

The Middle Ages is often referred to as the Age of Faith and it is correct to do so, as during this period religion dominated all aspects of life from architecture, literature, art and music. The dominant religion during this period was Christianity. The middle ages saw "the emergence … of Christian literary forms… a popular religious culture centred around processions, icons, and relics" (George Holmes 42).

The Papacy in Rome sanctioned the First Crusade and Pope Urban II preached for a great Christian expedition to capture Jerusalem, the Holy Lands from the Muslims. During this time religion permeated every aspect of life. The Christian kings and peasants believed that every human being was judged in death and one way to absolve oneself of sin was to die in the name of the Lord, therefore dying in the Crusades would purify the soul allowing them to go straight to heaven. Consequently, “thousands of laymen and clergy took up the cross and younger sons of the upper-class had military advantages to become Crusaders” (Fiero, 2017). At this particular time, the church acknowledged and vindicated fighting and killing in the name of God, resulting in the Crusaders slaughtering all enemies of Christ; hundreds of men, women, and children plus the “entire Jewish populations of Cologne and Mainz became victims” (Fiero, 2017). The First Crusade set a dangerous precedent, the rise of organized anti-Jewish persecution and each subsequent Crusade resulted in renewed attacks on the Jews. The persecution of Jews reached a climax during the Crusades.

Feudalism, during medieval society, was parallel to the existence of the Catholic Church and its influence over the population. Religion permeated all elements of society and the way in which they related to each other. The Church wasn’t only a spiritual power, but a political and economic one and the struggles between the political and religious leaders will be key factors in the development of the medieval world. The church will also be the primary keeper of knowledge in the Middle Ages, and they will accomplish most cultural advancements.

Religion provides hope for those who are hopeless. It aims to welcome those who are alienated and feel that their life has no purpose. Religion served the same function in the Middle Ages and Renaissance as it does today. However, religion was embraced more during the Middle Ages by desperate

In his call at Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II asked all fellow Christians to join in the aid of the Christians in the East that were then prone to Turkish attacks. Requesting that they all leave their lives and run to their aid, Pope Urban II explained how they would be doing all in the name of God. The Pope let all of the people know that they would all be greatly recompensed in following God's will and fighting for God and in doing so he further led the people to understand that any killing they would do would be forgiven since it was all to be in God's will. In addition, he insisted that if any were to die in this aid, they would all be

Religion was an incredibly important part of the Elizabethan era. “A Litany in Time of Plague” is written in the same type of call and response pattern one hears when attending a Catholic Mass. In the last stanza of this poem, Thomas Nashe specifically mentions Heaven as the place he will go when he dies. In Queen Elizabeth I’s “Speech to the Troops at Tilbury” from our textbook, she makes many references to God. During times of war, religion becomes very important to soldiers and their families. Death is an inescapable part of war, and it is comforting for them to believe in a blissful afterlife. Historically, religion is often used to rationalize war, and that is what Elizabeth is doing by referring to their foes as “enemies of God.” Religion

Religion is a defining factor of what gave people a common identity; so in order to feel connected with one another, rulers would take it upon themselves to unite their kingdoms and establish a universal religion. During the late middle ages Christianity was on the rise. It was widely accepted and appealed mostly to women and slaves, but everyone had their benefits from the new religion. This change in religion was evident through artwork at the time, and the construction of churches across Europe.

There is irrefutable evidence that over the period of the Middle Ages, both Christianity and Islam have been anchors in both shaping and influencing governance of kingdoms and empires comprising Western Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and territories ruled by Islam. Religion during this period was widely used to set laws, influence culture, justify armed conflicts, and pronounce punishment on citizens domiciled within the geographies depicted within this essay. I will attempt to illuminate the geopolitical climate, territorial demarcation, and religious influences that depicted life circa 500 – 1517 CE. From the background material submitted, I will directly answer the following questions:

The power of The Church, in The Middle Ages, was enormous. It touched almost everyone's life in many important ways. The Church baptized a person at birth, performed the wedding ceremony at people' marriages, and

It touched everyone’s life, no matter what their rank or class or where they lived. With the exception of a small number of Jews, everyone in Europe was a Christian during the Middle Ages from the richest king to the lowest serf.(Doc 3)” In The Age of Faith people put their faith in their God above all it was even written as rules in their Code of Chivalry “Thou shalt believe all that the church teaches , and shalt observe all its directions. / Thou shalt defend the Church. / … / Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if they be not contrary to the laws of God.” These are 3 out of 10 rule that people of Middle ages lived by all saying they will but God 1st in their lives also defend and follow the

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 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.

Although the Medieval and Modern ages were guided by the church, everything in the Medieval ages was based off Christianity while in the Modern age people were free thinking and interpreting religion differently as they saw fit. The two-time periods clashed over the importance of Christianity in everyday life which lead them to question how do we know God is real, and how is his work supposed to be interpernated.