AP Euro

Arabs unite under Islamic caliphate

Period: 632 to 1258

Beginning at the time of the death of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, the Arabs to which he had preached began to conquer surrounding areas, preaching the words of their prophet to those who would listen, and killing the infidels who wouldn't. With this spreading of religion, a new empire begin which spanned from Persia to India, from Egypt to all of North Africa, and it was there to stay. The Arab Empire would go on to become one of the cultural, financial and religious centers of the world.

The demonstration of Boniface

723

In Germany, many people were refusing Christianity and still held true to their paganist religion, praying to gods such as Odin, the god of battle. However, one day an English Monk preformed a demonstration by cutting down a tree and not getting killed that essentially proved that Odin and the other gods were fairy tale figures. After this, paganism in Germany had come to an end, and almost everyone turned to Christianity, thus furthering the spread of Christianity through Europe.

Unification of religious and political power in Europe

Dec 25, 800

For a long time, Charlemagne saw himself as the king of most of Western Europe. However, this was not all he saw himself as king of, as he also believed that he was the defender of all the Christians. This belief was affirmed by the pope himself on Christmas eve of 800, when the pope placed a crown upon the head of Charlemagne, and bowed before him along with all the people at the church of St. Peter's. This would go on to be the crowning of the first German kind of the unified Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation Falls

888

After Charlemagne's death, he decided that rather than choose a new emperor, he would divide the power among his three grandson's by giving them each a part of the empire. He gave one what would become Germany, one what would become France and one what would become Italy. The Germans rebelled and would go on to reclaim their independence, the Slavs began to build their own empire under Svatopluk, and at this point all traces of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire were gone.

Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation Reemerges

962

Otto began to march through what had previously been Charlemagne's empire, taking over lands through fierce battles. Then, after declaring Italy as his, he had finally brought the Lombard nobility down. With this, the pope again crowned a German king the Roman empire reviving the Holy Roman Empire. However, Otto was using his power to strengthen his control over state AND religion, which began a struggle between the king and the pope that would come to be known as the Investiture Controversy.

The High Middle Ages

Period: 1050 to 1300

Europe as a whole at this time begins to emerge from its dark age, with paper money beginning to be used and technological advancements happening all over the place. Intellectual renaissance is one of the most important ideas that came out of the High Middle Ages, as education goes from simply becoming for priests to being for educational purposes. This change in education causes the church to lose its control over education and a rise of literacy in Europe.

The first crusade

1096

During the Age of Chivalry, in which Knights ruled the army and fought for Christendom, a French knight named Godfrey of Bouillon took an army towards Palestine. This army, called the crusaders, had a goal of liberating Palestine, where their lord and savior lay. After committing many atrocities while passing through Constantinople and Asia Minor, they reached Jerusalem. Once in the holy city, however, the crusaders strayed from their goal and began to massacre the Muslims who lived there.

Opening of education beyond Christianity

1200

Due to their recently gained knowledge of reading and writing, around the year 1200 many Europeans began to study at universities such as the University of Paris. It is here where they studied the works of Aristotle and many other great philosophers alike, which led them to question their belief in the bible. This questioning of religion would go on to become a beginning of a transformation of Europe in which people began to turn more towards knowledge and philosophy than purely Christianity.

The Black Death

1347

The Black Death ravaged Europe in the mid-14th century, killing about 60 percent of the population in Europe. The effects of this atrocious disease, however, were not just in the death toll, as it affected the church as well. As people believed that they were being punished by god with the black death, they began to question their faith, and it did not help that while they looked to the church for help, the clergy began to die from the black death, leading many to lose their faith.

95 theses

Nov 10, 1517

On November 10, 1517, Martin Luther posted a list of 95 things he thought were wrong about the church on the door of a large church. While in the moment, this did in fact lead to people believing him in that what the church had done was wrong, it was the long term impact that was truly remarkable. As he began to gain a following, his new ideas on religion began the protestant reformation, creating a rift in Christianity that still exists to this day.