Religion And Reformation Impact
Religion and Its Impact during the Crusades and Reformation Religion has been in existence for over 30,000 years throughout societies. By definition religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. Over 4,200 religions have been rooted as a way to give humanity answers to the unknown. While religion is profoundly practiced it is also extremely controversial in civilizations. This argumentative topic will be discussed throughout this paper as well as the impact that it had during The Crusades and The Reformation.
The Crusades or “Holy War” (an example of a crusade in the 21st century is Isis) were wars that were fought for possessorship over the Holy Land against the Europeans
and the Muslims. There were technically 6 different wars that took place to make this one big “Crusade”. Catholic churches are seen more as a kingdom than church meaning church gains more power after the 11,00’s. Pope Urban II wants to reclaim Jerusalem and unite Christianity there. In order to get citizen to fight in these wars Pope's promise them a spot in heaven if they fight for their religion. Crusades capture the Holy Land in 1099 but taken back by Muslim leader, Saladin 88 years later. Saladin has the decency to allow Christian Pilgrims into Jerusalem to worship there. Throughout all of this conflict there is something nicknamed the “children's crusade” in 1212 one thousand kids die or are enslaved because they have to fight as well. Therefore not only adults but innocent children were victimized during the crusades.
As if this were not enough the bubonic plague (better known as the black death) decimated town after town. The Bubonic plague was a horribly contagious disease caused by fleas which can be found on rats, dogs, etc. Europeans assumed this infection was spreading because they had upset their God. Symptoms include pain in abdomen and muscles, coughing up blood, and fever, chills, fatigue, or malaise. By the end of the “epidemic” is finished (5 year period) one third of Europe's population or 25 million people die for black death. It’s not a surprise that Europe was greatly affected by this tragedy. Therefore throughout the Holy War or Crusades there were many struggles and setbacks. Religion was the death of roughly 1.7 soldiers and clean handed civilians during the Crusade all because people wanted to defend their religions and please their gods.
The final civilization that will demonstrate how religion can impact a society is the Reformation. During the reformation churches begin to lose power because citizens are looking towards creativity and humanism. Humanism by definition is an outlook of thought basing importance around oneself instead of a god or higher power such as the church. One excellent example of the lowering of the church is Martin Luther’s 95 theses. Luther wrote this to show what was wrong with the church and what the church was trying to convince people. Unfortunately, because Luther tried to prove the wrongdoings of the church he was excommunicated and killed. The pope has to punish civilians for going against their god and beliefs. Therefore more conflict arises from this and religion has once again became a problem.
In conclusion while one society tries to fight to show why there religion is predominant the other society is trying to move away from religion and make it more human based. Two different societies fight for two different rights but both lose privileges because of religion. Lastly, religion greatly impacts a society in both positive and negative ways.
The Crusades or “Holy War” (an example of a crusade in the 21st century is Isis) were wars that were fought for possessorship over the Holy Land against the Europeans
and the Muslims. There were technically 6 different wars that took place to make this one big “Crusade”. Catholic churches are seen more as a kingdom than church meaning church gains more power after the 11,00’s. Pope Urban II wants to reclaim Jerusalem and unite Christianity there. In order to get citizen to fight in these wars Pope's promise them a spot in heaven if they fight for their religion. Crusades capture the Holy Land in 1099 but taken back by Muslim leader, Saladin 88 years later. Saladin has the decency to allow Christian Pilgrims into Jerusalem to worship there. Throughout all of this conflict there is something nicknamed the “children's crusade” in 1212 one thousand kids die or are enslaved because they have to fight as well. Therefore not only adults but innocent children were victimized during the crusades.
As if this were not enough the bubonic plague (better known as the black death) decimated town after town. The Bubonic plague was a horribly contagious disease caused by fleas which can be found on rats, dogs, etc. Europeans assumed this infection was spreading because they had upset their God. Symptoms include pain in abdomen and muscles, coughing up blood, and fever, chills, fatigue, or malaise. By the end of the “epidemic” is finished (5 year period) one third of Europe's population or 25 million people die for black death. It’s not a surprise that Europe was greatly affected by this tragedy. Therefore throughout the Holy War or Crusades there were many struggles and setbacks. Religion was the death of roughly 1.7 soldiers and clean handed civilians during the Crusade all because people wanted to defend their religions and please their gods.
The final civilization that will demonstrate how religion can impact a society is the Reformation. During the reformation churches begin to lose power because citizens are looking towards creativity and humanism. Humanism by definition is an outlook of thought basing importance around oneself instead of a god or higher power such as the church. One excellent example of the lowering of the church is Martin Luther’s 95 theses. Luther wrote this to show what was wrong with the church and what the church was trying to convince people. Unfortunately, because Luther tried to prove the wrongdoings of the church he was excommunicated and killed. The pope has to punish civilians for going against their god and beliefs. Therefore more conflict arises from this and religion has once again became a problem.
In conclusion while one society tries to fight to show why there religion is predominant the other society is trying to move away from religion and make it more human based. Two different societies fight for two different rights but both lose privileges because of religion. Lastly, religion greatly impacts a society in both positive and negative ways.