OPPapers.com

A Quest For Religious Truth

A Quest For Religious Truth
Passing Through Three Centuries

HIST211
Introduction: All The Way Through
Throughout most of the 14th century in Europe, the Catholic Church was the most powerful institution. Religion was a much greater part of people's lives in the Middle Ages, and the Church maintained hegemony over religious, economic and political matters. When it came to religious beliefs, one Christian belief was the only truth the medieval society had ever known. However, famine and plague created a widespread crisis towards the end of this time period, and as a result religious beliefs and opinions were tossed aside. Religious authority in Europe fell from the supreme power and became a question that national leaders were not prepared to answer.
Interweaved with this time period, a war that would last almost a century further prompted religious upheaval and questions of power. By the 15th century, the medieval feudal system became unorganized, thus European alliances split, as did the Catholic Church. A struggle for power and money quickly erupted, consequently leading to many abuses in the Church that the papacy would soon be confronted with. Cultural, political and economic institutions were becoming modernized, along with the individual man and his state. Fears of speaking up against religious authorities in Europe were now diminished, and this prompted a spiral of religious variations. 16th century religious wars placed new questions of power on the modernizing city-states. The authorities that were to rule each region were now rooted by its religious denomination. Rebellions became so common that country leaders were becoming more interested in national security than religion. Secularizing city-states in the 17th concluded the religious hysteria that had all commenced in the late-middle ages. The medieval famine and plague created social inquiries, which originated the questioning of religion and church authority, thus leading Europe into three...