Europe from 1200 to 1450: Religion and Political Developments
Christian Religion in Europe
Roman Empire and Christianity
Christianity became the official state religion under Emperor Constantine.
United Romans during the Roman Empire.
Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE.
Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) continued for another millennium.
Byzantine Empire and Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Practiced Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which helped justify and consolidate centralized power.
Experienced territorial losses to Islamic powers by 1200.
Byzantine influence remained significant until the Ottomans sacked Constantinople in 1453, renaming it Istanbul.
Rise of Kievan Rus
Adopted Eastern Orthodoxy before Constantinople's fall.
Became main embodiment of Eastern Orthodox Christianity after Byzantine fall.
Borrowed architectural styles, alphabet, and state organization from Byzantines.
Roman Catholicism in Western Europe
Despite political fragmentation, Roman Catholicism persisted as a powerful force.
Church hierarchy provided structure among various Western European states.
Crusades: Efforts to fight Muslims, mostly unsuccessful, but connected Europeans to larger trade networks.
Minority Religions
Islam and Judaism held minority positions.
Muslims ran the Iberian Peninsula since the 8th century.
Jews engaged in trade but faced anti-Semitism and persecution.
Political Organization in Europe
Decentralization and Feudalism
No large empires in Europe, unlike other regions (Aztecs, Incas, Song Dynasty, Islamic Empires).
Europe was politically fragmented and decentralized.
Feudalism: System of allegiances between powerful lords and monarchs.
Greater lords and kings received allegiance from lesser lords in exchange for land.
Land owned and ruled independently.
Manorialism: Peasants (serfs) bound to the land, worked in exchange for protection.
Serfs not owned but bound to the manor.
Rise of Monarchies
By 1200, monarchs began gaining power, centralizing states with large militaries and bureaucracies.
Shift of power from nobility to monarchs.
Increasing centralization led to competition and wars for influence and territory.
Conclusion
Europe's blend of decentralized politics and the influence of both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity shaped its unique historical trajectory during this period.