How Did The Catholic Church Influence Western Europe

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Western Europe was predominately Catholic and ruled under one religious figure, the Pope. During the Dark Ages the priest and monks of the Catholic Church were tasked to educate the vastly ignorant population of that time. Being that monks and priest, along with monarchs and lords, were part of the few educated to provide guidance, they successfully instilled Catholicism ideology amongst Western Europe. This allowed the Catholic Church to grow powerful and allowed the Pope to gain control over the rulers of the kingdoms. This church, which was founded in the Council of Nicaea at the request of Constantine in 325c.e, gave the highest church authority, the Pope, so much power that all the lords and kings would pay tribute to him and obey his commands. Constantine’s purpose for creating the Catholic Church was an attempt to bring the Roman Empire under one same religion in order to restore Rome’s wealth and power. However, by 600c.e Rome collapsed and no longer controlled the territories that once paid tribute to her. Rome lost her political and religious influence in all the lands it once govern however the Catholic Church maintain its…show more content…
Western Europeans became dependable on items such as silk, tea, spices, gun powder as well as being exposed to new technology, medicine and knowledge. During this 300 years’ of war, Western Europeans for the most part controlled the Silk Road, however by the 1300s with the rise of the Ottoman Empire Western Europeans would lose control over the road. The Ottoman Empire, a Muslim Empire, would control the Silk Road and dictate the terms and conditions for Western Europeans to gain access to the Asian items they had grown accustom. The monopoly that the Ottoman Empire created over the Silk Road impulse Europeans such as Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan to seek a different route to

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