Christianity's Influence On Western Civilization

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Christianity has had a major impact on Western Civilization. In the early days, political leaders in Rome persecuted Christians, brutally and mercilessly. Roman emperor Constantine applied Caesaro-Papism to the Eastern half of the Empire. He also meddled in the church, which led to some problems within the church after his death. The pope used their power to encourage the first five Crusades that ended up failing to accomplish the original goal set. Christianity and politics have been intertwined with one another through a large part of the time that Christianity has been a religion. During his lectures Dr. Waters mentioned that the early Christians were brutally persecuted. Nero, Marcus Aurelius, and Diocletian are three leaders that he specifically…show more content…
The Crusades were based around the idea of a holy war that targeted infidels and nonbelievers. In 1096, the Frist Crusade began. Thousands of soldiers were recruited for the First Crusade from the nobility, many from France. There was influence from both the pope and monarchs of Europe – the possibility of territory, wealth, status, and salvation. They took Antioch in 1098 and captured Jerusalem in 1099, both with bloody massacres involved. The Second Crusade was about the Muslims in the Middle East, specifically the Seljuk Turks, and was a total failure even with the enlistment of King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of Germany. Three major monarch agreed to lead the Third Crusade personally. They were Philip II Augustus of France, Emperor Frederic Barbarossa of Germany, and Richard I the Lionhearted of England. This crusade also fell apart. The German Emperor drowned while swimming in a river, the French king went home, and the English king negotiated with Muslims that Christians could pilgrim to Jerusalem for…show more content…
Kirk’s summary of the Crusades, including some details into how the crusaders were able to get as far as they did – including old men marrying the queen of Jerusalem, a girl of seventeen, and having a daughter who ended up being married to the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II (200-206). Stark explains the basis of the Crusades as wanting to get back the Holy Land from the Muslims – which aligns with Spielvogel – but also depicts some of the terrible war crimes that were compared to Hitler’s atrocities in 1999 (102, 109). The Crusades, originally under papal leadership, show an integration of Christianity and politics – the mixing of church and
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