WH1 EFFECTS OF RELIGION IN EUROPE DURING MIDDLE AGES Essay

WH1 EFFECTS OF RELIGION IN EUROPE DURING MIDDLE AGES - Essay Example The church was a very powerful body back then. Before the establishment of Christianity as a strong religion, the Roman emperor had many Christians killed during this period, because they all refused to bow to Roman gods. Emperor Constantine was the emperor who popularized Christianity as a religion, which saw the era of Christian persecution ending. The Romans who previously worshipped other gods began worshiping God and following Christianity ever since. With the Emperor being a Christian, and all other successors following his example, religion was popularized, not only as a religion, but also as a way of life. However, when the Germans conquered the Romans in the 5th Century, the beginning of the Dark Ages, Catholicism began and religion began becoming increasingly strong. The power of the catholic church was great, since catholic was derived from the word ‘Catholic’ which meant universal, thus making Christianity a universal religion accepted by all. The power of the Catholic Church was so great that it charged taxes and had large tracts of church owned lands, and hence it was more than a religion, but rather a symbol of overall power and the equivalent of a government back then. From an economic perspective, the Catholic Church back then imposed taxes on the people and accepted or called for people to donate gifts, if they wanted to secure a place in heaven. The craze of power held by the church also led it to increase in terms of wealth and became a very wealthy institution. The more wealth the Catholic Church accrued, the stronger it became and the more its power extended to other regions. In relation to the social consideration, the church had a strong foundation for socialization, as going to churches on Sundays alone was mandatory, not to mention in the in-week attendances and masses. Latin was the mostly used language and all the religious people, thus had to