FREE ESSAY ON TO WHAT EXTENT WAS CHRISTIANITY A UNIFYING INFLUENCE IN THE HISTORY OF EUROPE?

TO WHAT EXTENT WAS CHRISTIANITY A UNIFYING INFLUENCE IN THE HISTORY OF EUROPE?

"Europe was a Christian creation, not only in essence but in minute detail" 
The above statement can perhaps best sum up the relationship between Christianity and
Europe throughout the ages. Christianity has been the strongest single influence in the
history of Europe. Regardless of the century, no discussion would be complete without
reference being made, at least in small part, to the Church. It is true that in recent
centuries this influence has declined significantly, but nevertheless one could argue
that it still plays an important part in the lives of many people. Throughout history
Christianity has been both a unifying force and also a force for disunity. During the
Dark Ages it was the only unifying force. By the Middle Ages people defined themselves by
their religion and in Europe this religion had become Christianity. Through it's
missionary work, it's monasteries, it's education, it pilgrimages, it's crusades, it's
influence on art and architecture and it's Papacy it had united the peoples of Europe. By
the thirteenth century all of Europe was Christian. It's ideas penetrated every aspect of
life and every political and economic arrangement. It's churches could be seen in the
major cities as well as the mountainside villages of rural Europe. It's bishop's were
part of the politics of countries at the highest level and for many centuries it's clergy
played the role of civil servants to the European rulers. It helped form the foundations
of modern human rights and law across Christendom. By the end of the reformation
Christianity had passed it's peak of influence on European society, and so in evaluating
it's influence, it is perhaps best to end this paper at that point. Also because of the
enormous time span covered by history of Christianity and the amount of material it
includes it is very difficult to cover everything and so it is necessary to be selective.
However it is worth giving a brief history of the birth of this religion.
At the beginning of the first century a new religion was born and started to spread
rapidly across the Roman Empire. Its source of inspiration was Jesus. It was different to
the other religions of the day in a profound way. It was universal, offering all things
to all men, proclaiming an afterlife, triumph over death, and presenting a road to
salvation for all men and women. It emphasised the inner life and filled the spiritual
void created by the Roman lifestyle. Yet it was one of many religions. There were many
rivals, the mystery religions of Persia, Syria and Egypt were popular at the time and of
course there was Judaism. Nothing at the time suggested this Jewish heresy could rival
the other religions. Nevertheless Christianity spread relatively quickly, mainly due to
the missionary work of St. Paul and, also, St. Peter. St Paul's journeys took him to
Palestine, Asia, Macedonia, Greece, Rome and finally Spain. In addition this new religion
spread quickly throughout the Roman garrisons and from there was carried by the soldiers
through the Empire. In early fourth century Emperor Decius attempted to wipeout the
Christian faith, the great persecution lasted thirteen years, but in 313 the 'Edict of
Milan', in which religious tolerance was granted to Christians and previous
anti-Christian legislation was repealed, was passed. Soon the Emperor Constantine was
converted and became the first Christian emperor. Thus the Empire was identified with
Christianity. It soon became the state religion and by the fifth century the empire had
become exclusively Christian. However the break-up of the Roman Empire in the West and
its invasion by barbarian tribes soon threatened this Christian unity.
During the Dark ages, from the fall of the Roman Empire to the birth of the Carolingian
Empire, monasticism was, perhaps, the greatest unifying force for Europe within
Christianity and, although weakened, this force continued to have some influence in the
Middle Ages. Monasticism's origins lay in the East. The first monks had, in the third
century, settled in the Egyptian Dessert near the Nile and the first cenobites, monks
grouping into enclosures formed by cells built around a central chapel, were gathered by
Pachomius in his monastery at Tabenna. Shortly afterwards Hilarion established a
monastery in Syria. These were the roots of the monastic movement. However these were
very different to the Western monasteries that would be established in the West in the
centuries to come. They were ill organised and withdrawn. Monks were more interested in
devising new forms of torture to inflict upon themselves than serving a larger purpose,
economic or otherwise. They were recruited from the poorest classes, lived on charity and
rarely farmed. From the late fourth century on under the rule of Basil, Bishop of
Caesareja, these monasteries became more organised but never really developed from their
earliest forms. 
It was along the trading routes of the Mediterranean that monasticism was transmitted to
the West, spreading from Marseilles, up the Rhone valley into Gaul and onto the areas of
Celtic dominance, Brittany, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. By the time it reached Ireland
monasticism was in a very different form too that in the east. Even when first it reached
the West it had already been somewhat modified. Earliest western monks were, like their
eastern counterparts, ascetics and eccentrics but were already more actively involved in
the life of their society. In the West this new cult was popularised by St. Martin of
Tours and the tails of his miracles, as well as by the book Sulpiciouc Severus wrote
about his life. St Martin was unlike the Eastern monks in many ways. He was a rural
missionary who preached against paganism, worked evangelical miracles and played a part
in ecclesiastical politics. France, around the same time, saw the introduction of regular
monastic theory by a Scythian from the Bobrudja named John Cassian. Who had established
monasteries in Marseille. The Western ascetical movement had been provided with theology.
Cassian disliked the aimlessness and lack of direction of eastern monasticism and so, to
combat this, he gave the monks the aim of converting and educating .
It was this form of monasticism, with a cultural purpose, that took root in Ireland.
Irish monks were learned men, familiar with the Greek fathers as well as the Latin
fathers. They had tremendous cultural dynamic and were wonderfully gifted in the arts.
Perhaps most important was their missionary fervour. These Celtic monks reached Scotland
first and then spread throughout the northwestern fringes of the British Isles. In 563
St. Columba took what was to be the first of many missionary journeys for Celtic monks to
Iona, from where St. Aidan launched, in 635, the conversion of England. In the same
century St. Columbanus headed a mission to Brittany and by the time of his death about
forty monasteries had been founded and Celtic monasticism had spread across a huge area
of France, Italy and the Alps. Around the same time St. Gaul missionized Switzerland.
However, although this spread of monasticism was advantageous for the Church, a problem
existed. This Celtic monasticism was unorthodox and displeasing to Rome. Pope Gregory I
(590-604) responded by attempting to place all monasteries in the West under Benedictine
rule. The Pope had learned of this rule from monks who had escaped to Rome from
Benedict's monastery when Lombards swept through Italy. The rule had been composed by St.
Benedict (480-543), who established a monastery at Monte Cassino. Benedictine rule set
out a plan for the organisation of a monastic community that was coherent and detailed.
The rule was sovereign and no discretion to depart from it was allowed, not even by the
Abbot. Benedict's rule was also common sense, classless and timeless, not grounded in any
particular culture or geographical region and exuded universality. Although it did not
immediately become the norm, from the mid seventh century it was adopted by the majority
of new monastic foundations and became the exclusive rule in the ninth century. With the
introduction of the Rule monastic life came to be described as the 'regular life', life
according to the rule. 
And so the missionary work of the monasteries continued but now they were virtually
uniform, with common rules, lifestyles and the three perpetual vows of obedience, poverty
and chastity. St Boniface converted the Germans and Alcuin of York became the teacher of
Charlemagne. Also Gregory the Great placed the monasteries under the protection of the
papacy and many were placed under the direct authority of the Holy See and so now the
monks were associated with the activities of the Church. Benedictine monks had an
economic, as well as spiritual, contribution to make to Europe. Through donations a large
amount of the land in Europe passed into their hands. They were hard working, highly
disciplined men who spent as much time working the land as praying. Their agricultural
methods were efficient and effective. They cultivated the land in a systematic and
organised fashion, working to a daily timetable and accurate annual calendar. They
developed huge amounts of prime arable land from swamps and forests, which had huge
wealth creating potential that was to become the foundations of Europe's world primacy.
While contributing economically to the development of Europe, the monasteries also
contributed to its agricultural development. Lay-farmers were often used to help
cultivate land and so, through their experience working with monks, they learned new
forms of farming that were used throughout the monasteries of Europe and agricultural
methods became very similar in many lay farms across the West. This created a kind of
agricultural unity. With the use of peasant tenant-farmers on the manors of the
monasteries close supervision was needed and as a result branch houses were set up
further afield which often in turn expanded into major houses and the spread continued. 
In the tenth and eleventh centuries more new monasteries than ever were founded. The
Cluny monastery was founded in 910 by Duke Guillaune d'Auvergene. It was essentially
based on reform of the monastic movement to combat the effects that a shift to feudalism
in Western Europe had had on monasteries. Cluny's reforms included the assertion that the
Church must be independent of temporal powers and that there must be complete
subordination, in the spiritual domain of man and society to the Church. In addition
Cluny was Papist, looking to the pope in Rome as the church's head. During the tenth and
eleventh centuries an increasing number of dependent houses were attributed to Cluny.
This created a kind of quasi-feudal network. By 1109 this network numbered in the region
of two thousand houses and had spread through the whole of France, into Germany, then
Spain and onto Italy. Cluny helped to unify the role over daughter houses and strongly
influenced other foundations in the West. Another foundation was the Cistercians. Their
monasteries were very much based on the Benedictine House and they founded their first
house in 1108. By 1200 they had 525 houses located in Spain, Hungary, Poland, Sweden,
Austria, Wales, northern England and the Scottish border.
As they spread through the dark and middle ages they soon acquired and developed, as a
result of literacy, an additional social function, as a carrier of culture. Throughout
the centuries a cultural homogeneity was created within the monasteries. This function
had not been envisaged by either St. Benedict or Gregory. Throughout the dark ages
monasteries had preserved what was the 'heritage of Rome'. It was here that the antique
culture was resuscitated before the rise of the Carolingian Empire. They were the main
channels through which the learnings and arts of the ancient World could be accessed.
Although by the fourteenth century monasticism was no longer as unified, consisting of
several different types of communities and existing in an increasingly complex society
it's unifying influence throughout previous centuries had been tremendous.
Christianity was also a unifying influence through education. After the fall of the Roman
Empire in the West, around the fifth century, the public system of education disappeared.
Together the diocese and monastery supplied the only schooling that existed. Initially 'a
church education' was offered only to the recruits, schola interior, but in time these
institutions were to open their doors to schola exterior, students that intended to use
their learning as laymen. Benedictine monasteries were established from the sixth century
on. During the time of Charles the Great, Alcuin was given the role of general supervisor
of educational and cultural activities of the realm and Charles himself insisted on the
foundation of schools, through the literate clergy and monks, so that everyone could at
least learn the basic tenets of Christianity. Hrabanus Maurus, most beloved disciple of
Alcuin, was often referred to as "the first teacher of Germany". By the twelfth century
Bishops were obliged to maintain a school for educating young scholars in connection with
their Cathedral. 
The Church had a monopoly on education. This was a Christian education. Throughout
Western Europe a common language was used and that was Latin. This was the chosen
language of the Church, used in books, in Church ceremonies and in the classrooms. Also
common basic teaching materials were used by the Church, these having been assembled by
the monks in the first centuries of the dark ages. Together this language and these
materials made learning the same regardless of the location. Intelligentsia were able to
travel widely and this they did, an activity never again equalled.
The first universities in Western Europe originated in the Cathedral schools and the two
monastic foundations of the left bank in Paris. The friars were instrumental in the
development of the university. The first university was established in Paris in 110. Soon
Gregory IX recognised, in the Paris University, the rights of the masters and the legal
protection, which should be enjoyed by students. The University of Paris attracted pupils
from far and wide to study there, in particular to study logic and theology. By 1200
there were over five thousand students attending the university. The establishment of
more universities followed quickly. These universities were originally set up like
guilds. Students would organise themselves to defend their interests. In these conditions
learning was protected and high standards were maintained. Paris became central to the
study of theology, Bologna to the study of Roman and Canon law, Salermo in Southern Italy
and Montpellier in Provence to the study of Medicine. Students from all over Europe
studied and lived side by side in these universities. As with the schools all study was
done through Latin.
Pilgrimages became common in Western Europe from the sixth century but between the
eleventh and thirteenth centuries they reached the height of their popularity. They too
added to the unity of Christendom. It became every Christian's objective, from the time
of Damasus (366-84), to travel, if possible, to Rome. This enthusiasm for pilgrimage was
fuelled by the papacy and the monastic orders. Four of the principle centres for
pilgrimage were Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury. Peoples' reasons
for going on pilgrimage varied. Some were seeking a cure, some wished for a saint to
intercede for their souls and a few went just for the adventure. As the centuries passed
more and more took part in these pilgrimages as a penitential exercise. Each place of
pilgrimage had specific trails used by the pilgrims to reach the location, for example
four long pilgrim trails led half-way across Western Europe to Santiago and there were
three well marked land routes by which to reach Jerusalem. All these routes were dotted
with hostels and churches, offered by the Papacy, monasteries and various nations, to
provide for the needs of the travellers. From the tenth century many of these pilgrimages
were highly organised by the Clunaic monks. A plenary indulgence was given by Boniface
VIII to all confessed sinners who visited the churches of the Holy Apostles in Rome
during the jubilee year 1300 and every hundredth year in the future. Clement VI reduced
this to every fifty years and by 1470 it had fallen to every third of a century. When
pilgrims reached Rome guidebooks were available and shrines were visited in order, the
pilgrimage had been made systematic. Through a tradition started around 800 all who
visited Jerusalem were protected by Carolingian monarchs. Also many of the pilgrims to
Jerusalem travelled in large groups including ordinary pilgrims and powerful lords, as
these lords were permitted by Moslems to take armed escorts. 
Whatever the reasons for going on pilgrimage and wherever the starting point it was
inevitable that the elite and ordinary people would meet along the way, all destined for
heaven. Pilgrims all wore the same clothes, tunic, cape, hat and staff and went through
the same rituals. Canon and civil laws grew around the pilgrims to protect the people and
their property while on a long journey. These were the beginnings of an international
European law. Also the idea emerged that pilgrims were seen as international and would
not be treated as foreigners when travelling. Pilgrimage was certainly one of the
unifying factors of Christendom. 
Another unifying factor of Christianity was the Crusade. Although officially Pope Urban
II did not call the first Crusade until 1095 there were, previous to this, for many
centuries external threats to Christendom, which had often resulted in a sense of unity
between those, who were Christians, under threat. In 769AD Charles Martel fought against
the Saracens, who were heathens and this was perhaps the first time that such a sense of
religious unity was visible. In this conflict phrases like the 'defence of Christendom'
were used. In the eighth century Charlemagne conquered the Lombards who had seized
Ravenna and much of Northern Italy and had marched south. They then proceeded to exact an
annual tax from Rome. All of which threatened the freedom of the city and the bishop of
Rome. Charlemagne's actions were not driven by Frankish interests. His alliance with the
papacy had completed him to fight the Lombards, although this tribe were christen they
were now seen as heretics and a threat to Christianity. Again in the eighth century,
Charlemagne had conquered the Saxons, an external heathen threat, and forcefully
converted them to Christianity. The security of the Christian Frankish kingdom had
necessitated this conquest. Some regard these wars against the Saxons as the first wars
of religion. Both the Saxons and the Lombards had been brought into or brought back into
the Christian fold through these embryonic crusades. Also from the fifth to the tenth
century Christian Europe gained a further sense of unity through the external threats of
the Slavs, the Vikings and the Magyars, all non-Christian tribes.
From the eighth to the thirteenth century the greatest threat to Christianity, and thus,
Europe was Islam. In 711 the Muslims had conquered Spain and breached the Pyrenees and by
732 they had reached Tours on the Loire, just a couple of days ride from the heart of the
Frankish kingdom. Christianity had taken seven centuries to progress as far as Islam had
in one. Overall between the eighth and eleventh centuries the Arabs conquered Spain,
North Africa, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Sicily and Southern Italy. Jerusalem had been in
the hands of the Muslims since the ninth century but was conquered, along with Syria and
Asia Minor, by the fanatical Seljuk Turks towards the end of the eleventh century. Since
the invasion pilgrimages to Jerusalem had become far more dangerous and so the stream of
pilgrims had turned into a slow trickle. On 19 august the Seljuk Turks defeated the
Byzantine army at Manzikert near Lake Van. The Eastern Empire was quickly being consumed
and the situation in Constantinople became desperate. In 1095 the Byzantine Emperor sent
representatives to Rome to ask for military assistance from the West to halt the Turks
progress in Asia Minor. The Emperor's request to the Pope had emphasised the persecution
of eastern Christians by the Turks. Both saw this as an opportunity to, in some way,
reunite East and West. Pope Urban II responded by appealing for a crusade to 'liberate
the holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem'. He presented the crusade as a defensive move, necessary
to combat the aggression of Islam against 'our lands'. The response to his appeal was
amazing. When he first announced it publicly to the crowds they roared 'Dios lo volt'-
God wishes it. 
Within the year expeditions were being prepared by some of the great lords of northwest
Europe. Christians throughout the Latin Church flocked to undertake the 'War of the
Cross', united under the banner of Christianity in the fight against the infidel in the
Holy Land. In 1097 the crusaders gathered in Constantinople and by July 1099 Jerusalem
had been captured. There were many crusades to follow throughout the next centuries.
Crusading became a familiar feature of life in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, not
just against Jerusalem or the East but also to the Iberian Peninsula. In the fifteenth
century Pope Pius II called for a crusade, not to reclaim Jerusalem, but to defend Europ.
However none had the same impact as the first. The crusades were presented as everyone's
responsibility as Christ had suffered for the salvation of all. Counts, kings, commoners
and even children took part. The crusades have often been described as 'cruel
pilgrimages' and indeed did adopt many of the rituals of the pilgrims and one may perhaps
even suggest that they felt a similar unity, in addition to the unity created by the
external threat, to that felt by the pilgrims. One impact of the Crusades was that the
collective identity of the Latin Church was consolidated under Papal leadership. 
The Papacy was also a unifying influence on Europe in the dark and middle ages. The
Bishops of Rome did not emerge as a leading force in Christianity until between the fifth
and seventh century. Until this time there was a long list of Popes however it must be
noted that the name Pope did not become a title exclusive to the Bishop of Rome until the
middle of the eighth century. Until the pontificate of Gregory the Great (590-604) the
pre-eminence of the papacy had been ill defined. The Pope had been seen as only the
successor of Peter and the Bishop of Rome. He was seen as merely an equal among the other
patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Constantinople. However Gregory soon
increased the scope of his role. He associated the monks all over Europe with the Papacy,
restored the patrimony of St. Peter, enforced measures for collection and centralisation
of revenues and initiated the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons which through the proceeding
missionary work of the English led to the new Christians of the North being subject to
the immediate control and direction of Rome. Nowadays he is "often regarded as the
architect of future papal power". Yet the Papacy as it was to exist in the future was not
realised fully until over a century later. Other factors also lead to the increased
importance of the Pope including the move out of Rome to Constantinople of the Emperor,
the increasing threat of Muslims on the eastern front of the Empire and later the
conquest of three of the recognised patriarchs, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria. By the
thirteenth century the pope exerted a profound influence over intellectual, moral and
social life.
The Papacy was an international institution, the first international institution, the
first and for many centuries the only international institution. Just one example of this
is during the years 654 to 752 there were seventeen popes of whom only five were Roman,
three were Greek, five were Syrian, three were from Greek speaking Sicily and one was
from somewhere else in Italy and this trend continued with many more European popes in
the ninth century. The popes were a unifying centre. The Pope was seen as head of the
Church in the West, the leader of all who belonged to the faith, no matter where those
faithful lived or what their occupation.
The first major event causing disunity within Christianity was the rapture between the
West and the East. It was not a sudden occurrence. The build-up was spread over many
centuries beginning in the eighth century and concluding in the fifteenth century. Many
see the beings of the rapture in the dispute, which took place over images in 729 however
the distance between Rome, and Constantinople was already visible at this stage. Over the
centuries Rome had created a foundation for itself on which it was possible to achieve
more and more independence from the Emperor. It had created it's own income and followers
and was finding it increasing unsatisfactory to remain within a state of subordination to
the Emperor. In 726 the pope refused to pay taxes to the Byzantines owed because the
Bishop of Rome was a Byzantine Duke and ruler of part of the imperial territories in
Italy. In his defence the theory was developed that the lands controlled by Rome were of
special significance and had in fact been donated to the see of St. Peter by Constantine
in the fourth century. In the same year Byzantium became gripped by Iconoclasm or
image-breaking. It soon became the official policy of Constantinople. Leo III decreed
that the crucifix be replaced by a plain cross and that all images of saints and
especially the Virgin Mary be white washed. He then tried to impose Iconoclasm on Rome.
Pope Gregory II condemned and rejected it. However he did not abandon the Emperor. 
Then in 753 the Pope seized political power from the Emperor. The Lombards had been
advancing to the walls of Rome for sometime and Byzantium was not giving military support
to the Pope. Seeking protection Stephen the II (III) turned to the Franks. At the time
Pepin the Short was ruler of the Frankish kingdom in all but name and was looking for an
ally capable of legitimately conveying the crown to him. He found that ally in the Pope.
In 751 public approval was obtained from Stephen when he corroborated the opinion of
Pepin that a king must rule in order to reign, and a few weeks later Pepin was anointed
king by Archbishop Boniface. The following year Stephen claimed Pepin's assistance
against the Lombards whom the Frankish king proceeded to conquer. He then gave the former
Exarchate of Ravenna to the Pope. The acceptance by Stephen revealed that the Pope's
allegiance to the Emperor had been renounced. Rome had broken with Constantinople and
associated herself with the Franks. This was re-emphasised with the coronation of
Charlemagne in 800.
However there had been no formal divorce. The final break did not come until 1054 and
involved differences over doctrine and the Pope's claim to papal supremacy. The Greeks
were accused of omitting the Filioque from their creed for centuries. They were also
criticised for using leavened bread for communion, for fasting on Sundays and for various
other practices. The Pope wrote the following to the Patriarch of Constantinople "Rome is
mother and her spouse is God. Constantinople is a naughty and corrupt daughter, any
church which descents from Rome is a confabulation of heretics, a conventical of
schismatics and a synagogue of Satin". Nevertheless he did offer to give papal support to
the Greek Empire if the Greek Church accepted the supremacy of the Pope. The Greeks
refused, the Western Church was condemned for Latin heresies in creed and in practice and
the papal legates were excommunicated. For their part the legates had already
excommunicated the Patriarch for refusing to recognise their powers. 
From this point there were two universal Christian Empires and two universal and orthodox
Christian Churches, each with their own head, own doctrines and own followers. In the
following centuries there were two major attempts to heal the split. At the Council of
Lyon in July 1274 the Greeks actually accepted papal supremacy and agreed to insert the
filiogue into the Creed. However Emperor Michael was unsuccessful when he attempted to
force compliance among his people with the agreement. In addition Gregory X's successors
in the West did not make its assimilation any easier. After the Emperor's death Greek
orthodoxy was restored and Michael's successor was excommunicated for persistently
failing to implement the agreement. A final attempt was made to reunite East and West at
the council of Florence in 1439. This attempt was made mostly due to the fact that the
threat to Constantinople from Islam was increasing daily and was reaching crisis point.
Once again the Greeks gave way on all matters of substance and the Union was formally
sealed in the decree Laetantur coeli of 6 July 1439. However the Union was not supported
by the Byzantine populace and orthodox clergy. The Eastern Patriarchs condemned it. Some
protested that they were ready to turn Turk rather than Papist. 
In Moscow the fallout from the Union resulted in the establishment of a Separate Russian
Orthodox Church. The council had failed to heal the schism and had in fact only created
more disunity. On 29 May 1453 Constantinople was sacked by the Ottoman's and European
Christianity remained divided. One author has even called the episode of the Union of
Florence "one of the most pathetic episodes in the scandalous annuals of Christianity". 
The 'Great Schism' was also a disunifying influence on Europe. In 1303 pope Clement V
became the unlikely successor of Benedict Ix. He had been an outsider acceptable to both
Bonifacian and French parties within the College of Cardinals. During his pontificate he
was forced to give priority to French affairs and had created enough French cardinals to
swing the balance of power within the college in their favour. He was a sick man and
never felt able to travel to Rome and so in 1309 he set up residence in Avignon. This was
seen as a temporary home for the Papacy and was not intended to become permanent. However
after Clement's death, although the new pope, John XXII, had promised to restore the Holy
See to Rome serious troubles in Italy prevented him from keeping his promise. This
situation was only profitable for the French and was infuriating to other states and
Christians. In 1367 Urban V did return to Rome but was back in Avignon by 1370 as the
situation in Italy was diabolical. 
Finally Gregory XI, having no choice because of the political situation in Italy and the
resolve of St. Catherine of Siena, returned to Rome in 1376. A troubled year followed and
his death was the only reason why the Pope did not return, as planned, to Avignon. Urban
VI was elected after Gregory's death. It was the first time in nearly 75 years that a
Pope had been elected in Rome and the populace had demanded a Roman pope. Soon after the
election the cardinals were quarrelling with the Pope. Not only had the French cardinals
protested that they had acted under the influence of terror but now Urban was openly
reproving their way of life, cutting off some of their sources of income and threatening
to create more Italian cardinals. Their reply to these actions was to leave Rome, declare
the election null and void and elect a new pope. Clement VI, a Frenchman, was their
choice and after a failed attempted to capture Rome they returned to Avignon and
re-established the old papal offices. Nevertheless Urban refused to accept his
disposition, instead creating 29 new cardinals and excommunicating those who claimed to
have disposed him. 
Europe was split. Clement was acknowledged by the King of France and his allies, Aragon,
Castile, Navarre, Sardina, Sicily, Scotland and some parts of Germany. Urban was
acknowledged by the remaining states of Europe, most of Germany, England, Flanders and
the Northern Kingdoms. Two groups were created, one under the influence of France and the
other under the influence of England. The people had little choice but to support the
choice of the princes, unless they were in revolt.
The split continued with the election of new popes, on both sides, each time a current
pope died and the representatives of each line continued to claim to be the legitimate
ruler of the Whole church. Then in 1393 the French were offended by the election of a
Spanish Pope at Avignon and urged him to resign. Benedict XIII refused and so three years
later the support and allegiance of the French Church was withdrawn from the Avignon
Pope. The Church then began to organise itself on national lines practically independent
from papal rule. Bohemia and Hungary soon followed and it became obvious that the Church
was in serios danger of breaking up. A General Council of the Church was convened in Pisa
in 1409 to find a solution to the problem. Both Popes were summoned before the Council,
failed to appear, were both declared as notorious schismatics and heretics and deposed.
The Holy See was declared vacant and Alexander V was elected and established in Rome.
Neither Pope accepted the act of disposition and so instead of solving the problem the
Church had now created a third pope.
Finally a solution was found at the Council of Constance (1414-1417). It was decided the
only means by which unity could once more be achieved was for all three popes to be
disposed in order to place a single pope on the throne. In the end John XXIII was
deposed, Gregory XII renounced the tiara and Benedict XIII was deposed and condemned as a
heretic and schismatic. Martin V was elected in 1417 and once more there was only one
pope. However the damage had already been done. National conflicts had been accentuated.
The Church had lost much of the respect of the laity. The devotion and affection once
felt towards the Pope was diminished. Throughout the schism the morals of the Popes and
their courts had fallen deeper and deeper into disrepute. The time at Avignon, before
Gregory's return to Rome, has been called the 'Babylon Captivity'. Even the churchmen
were revolted by the activities of the Popes. Mutual excommunications, war and political
intrigue, corruption, self-indulgence, these were all embroiled in the popes reigns.
Simony, nepotism and favouritism became absurdly prevalent, with money becoming
increasingly the master of the hierarchy. Increasingly the laity was observing a side of
the Papacy, which was, in the years and centuries to come, to create even more disunity
within Christianity and Europe. The authority of the Church was derived from its unity.
During the time of two, or even three popes, this unity had disappeared and so the
Papacy's authority had been greatly eroded. The French, Bohemians and Hungarians had been
on the verge of becoming independent national churches. Edward P. Cheynay summed up the
consequences of the scandal very well 
"The Church was too closely interwoven with the political, economic and religious life of
the time, to strong in its privileges and duties as a national body and too important as
the only international organisation in existence to show evidence of dismemberment and
decay without creating general dismay" 
The Church had been humiliated, weakened and it's blatant abuses paraded for all of
Christianity to cringe at.
The schism had also increased the spread of heresy. This was the period when Wycliffe had
written his essays in which he argued that the papacy and the Church had no divine
authority over or political value for religion. It was at this time also that the Lollard
heresy spread throughout England and the Hussites began to emerge in Bohemia. The schism
had ' cut through the universal church like a deep and sceptic wound' and had 'debased
the coin of religion'. 
As was already mentioned the 'Great Schism was one of the major influencing factors of
the increase in heresy that was to follow in the decades and centuries to come. In the
Dark Ages heresy was relatively rare in the West. Now the Church was being shaken by
these movements. By the mid twelfth century heresy had become a major problem, on a scale
not experienced since the Goths and Vandals had given their allegiance to Arian beliefs
in the fourth century. In addition to becoming more popular it was also becoming more
durable. One of the first of the 'new breed' of heretic was John Wycliffe in England. His
arguments were not directed towards Christian doctrine or morality but at the Church and,
in particular, the Papacy. He taught that the Pope was the antichrist, there was no
difference between priests and laymen, Christ was the only head of the Church and,
perhaps most important, England was absolutely independent of the pope, with the kings
temporal power being derived directly from God. He united the religious and political
aspects of the matter and, in so doing, drew people's interest to the religious question
through their interest in the political question. He was supported by many nobles and
burgesses, who resented the interference of a foreign power in their affairs, and,
incredible as it may seem, the lower clergy were preaching his doctrines among the
people. Even the English Parliament saw him in a favourable light, with many of its
members being his most loyal supporters. Wycliffe undermined the peoples respect for
religious authority and his religious movement is thought to have caused the peasant
revolts in England in 1381. This group of people were christened the Lollards and even
after Henry IV turned against them they still managed to influence religious thought in
England for many centuries to come.
Wycliffe's doctrine was then transported to Bohemia by Jan Hus. His teachings became
associated with the outburst of nationalist passions and shock the foundations of the
Church in Germany. The Slav population had regarded the Church as that of the Germans and
so when Hus emerged his religious zeal fanned the flames of nationalist passions among
the people. The Council of Constanz ordered him to be burnt at the stack, however this
did not put an end to his heresies. His followers, the Hussites, were infuriated by his
death and 'launched what in effect was a national riding and the first reformation.' The
Catholic clergy were dispersed, its property confiscated, the Churches and monasteries
destroyed and the National Czech Church was founded. The Pope's response was to announce
a general crusade against the heretics and for years huge invading armies of German
crusaders attempted to squash the Hussites, without success. In the end peace was made
when in 1436 the two sides decided to content themselves with their present situation. By
this time Hus' doctrine had also spread to Poland, Hungary and Croatia, where his
followers language was readily understood. The religion even found supporters within the
poorer inhabitants in German Regions of Austria. 
There were other heretic movements also in existence around this time. The ideas of the
Bogomils, who denied that Christ had established an organised Church and were dualists,
spread quickly in the West and took root in the Balkans. In 1199 the Ban of Bosnia and
his court declared themselves Bogomils and the religion also gained a strong grip on Hum
(Herzegovina). By the 1160, the Cathars were another movement who were well established
in Western Europe. Some believe the spread of Catharism was due in no small part to the
arrival of Bogomil missionaries in the West. In some places they were numerous enough, as
in the South of France, to organise churches and bishoprics, and constituted an
alternative church. They even had a general council in 1167. This heresy found support in
Italy and the South of France, amongst other places. The members were even protected in
many places by the local lords. To crush this heresy the Pope declared yet another
crusade, which along with the Inquisition, which had become the main tool of the Church
in it's fight against heresy, was relatively successful in reaching it's objective. Yet
no matter how many crusades were launched, how many heretics were burnt or hoe powerful
the Inquisition became the Church could never be totally successful in bringing all the
people back into the folds of the Church again. 
The birth of the Reformation can be attributed to a number of factors including the new
learning, the need for reform within the Catholic Church, the spread of knowledge due to
printing. By 1500 the Church was in a state of deep crisis. The laity was becoming
increasing disillusioned with the lifestyle of the clergy. Many priests had families and
the practices of simony and nepotism was wide spread. It was obvious that the Church
needed reform, many of its clergy were crying out for reform and yet those in a position
to initiate the necessary measures refused to listen. 
Luther, an Augustinian monk, was born and raised in Wittenberg in Saxony and eventually
became professor of Theology at the Saxon University in the town. He first came to
prominence when on 31 October 1517 he nailed his 2ninety five thesis" to the door of
Wittenberg Castle. In these theses he attacked the practice of the sale of indulgences
which were being use to help finance the building of St. Peter's in Rome. It had been
universally assumed that the pope was very rich, which in reality was not true, and on
nailing his these to the door Luther asked why the pope not did pay for the building with
his own money, instead of using the money of poor Christians . The theses were
immediately translated into German and widely distributed causing great excitement.
However his attack was on the theological basis of indulgences more so than the morality
of their sale. In the aftermath of this action Luther's position became clearer. His
belief was that man could be saved by faith alone and not by the mechanical Christianity
of the Catholic Church. Through his preaching and writings, from 1517 he averaged a book
every fortnight until his death, this heresy spread throughout Germany and beyond. By
1520 he had been excommunicated from the Church. A ban was pronounced on Luther at the
Diet of Worms in 1521 but could not be enforced. This lead to a split in German politics
with many advocating his punishment, while others strongly opposed it. He had called on
the princes to reform the church within their territory, trying to reform the church from
the ground up. 
In 1529, at the Diet of Spier, the princes, who would gain economically and politically
from a split with the Church, delivered their 'protest' against the Catholic powers. They
then went on to present a measured summary of their beliefs the following year. The
Emperor responded by ordered their submission, and they refused. Lutheranism was quickly
adopted in several states and in most German cities and soon became the state religions
of Denmark and Norway. The protestant movement was placed on a military footing two years
later with the formation of the Schmalkaldic League which by 1539 had extended to include
a vast area of Germany. Luther and his Church were now secure. 
The other major figure of the reformation was Jean Calvin, the founder of the most widely
influential branch of Protestantism. He was more radical than Luther, including the
doctrine of predestination in his teachings and he saw it as the duty of the Church to
protect the preaching of Christ. He took control of the city of Geneva in 1541 and
created a total Christian society with a new system of state and ecclesiastical
government. His teachings were quickly spread throughout Western Europe by preachers
trained in his theological school in Geneva. By 1560 Calvinism was the sole religion of
Scotland, in France it quickly spread into the former Albigension lands in the South and
the West and into urban populations of all provinces, the Hungarian city of Debrecen
became the 'Calvinist Rome'. It also became a popular religion in other places like
Poland, Bohemia and the Netherlands.
In England at the time Henry VIII was fighting with the pope to grant him a divorce
because of his obsessive desire for an heir. The Pope's refusal gave him the excuse
needed to break with the Church. He had gained the support of his parliament and was
anxious to bring the Church in England under state control so that he could benefit from
the immense material advantages of attacking the Church's privileges and properties. In
1532 England cut financial payments to Rome and by 1534 Papal authority had been
completely abolished.
The reformation had created three religions in Western Europe each of which was
universalistic in its outlook and each claiming jurisdiction over the areas it
controlled. Even the illusion of unity had disappeared and 'with Europe split into three
camps, the difference of religion was a deep motive for fear and political disunity.'
Even Protestants themselves were splitting into more rival factions. Also peaceful
co-existence between the various religions was non-existent. With all this division and
fragmentation people began to talk less and less about Christendom and more and more
about Europe.
It is clear from the above account of Christianity, that it has moved from being a
unifying force in it's early history, and the early history of Europe, to becoming a
force of disunity in later centuries. Yet it must be remembered that, to have the ability
to cause fragmentation in Europe, Europe first needed to have a unity that could be
divided, and this original unity was created by the Church. If this unity was not
provided in the early centuries it is very unlikely that we would have the Europe of
today. It is true that the division of East and West Christianity was a cause of disunity
in Europe for many centuries to come and the Reformation was a time of much
fragmentation. However it must be remembered that the results of the Reformation were due
as much to the political ambitions of many leaders as they were to the split in the
Church. 
Bibliography
Barber, M. The Two Cities: Medieval Europe 1050 -1320, (London, 1992) 
Barradough, G. (ED), Eastern and Western Europe in the Middle Ages, (London, 1970) 
Bartlett, R. The Making of Europe: conquest, colonization and cultural change 950-1350,
(London, 1994)
Chadwick, O. The Reformation, (Middlesex, 1972)
Cheyney, E. P. The Dawn of a New Era: 1250 -1453, (New York, 1962)
Davies, N. Europe: A History, (Oxford, 1996)
Hubert, J., Jean Porcher, W.F. Volbach, Europe in the Dark Ages, (London, 1969)
Johnson, P. A History of Christianity, (London, 1967)
Koenigsberger, H.G. Early Modern Europe: 1500 -1789, (London, 1987)
Lawrence, C.H. Medieval Monasticism: forms of religious life in Western Europe in the
Middle Ages (2nd ed), (New York, 1989)
Lehmann, A.G. The European Heritage: An Outline of Western Culture, (Oxford, 1984)
Pirenne, H. A History of Europe: from the invasions to the XVI century, (London, 1967)
Robertson, Sir C. G. A History Of Western Europe: AD 1453 - 1789, (London, 1992)
Treasure, G. The Making of Modern Europe: 1646 -1780, (London, 1985)
Trevor-Roper, H. The Rise of Christian Europe, (London, 1965)
Ulich, R. A History of Religious Education, (London, 1968)
Wilson, K. and Jan der Dussen, The History of the Idea of Europe, (London, 1995)