Chapter 10

As we read further along the history book called Ways of the World, Chapter 10 is called, The Worlds of European Christendom: Connected and Divided. When I read the chapter’s title I had to look up the word Christendom because I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what the word meant. So I look it up and the Merriam Dictionary defines it as the part of the world where most people are Christians — sometimes used in the old-fashioned phrase in all of Christendom. I put the two together and the chapter discusses the Eastern European religious beliefs and the Western European religious beliefs. The Byzantine Empire is associated with the east and Latin/ Constantinople’s Empire is associated with the West.  The two sides had one religion Christianity, but within the religion they believed different things.  Constantinople had a political court that they believed represented “God’s Court” because the authorities symbolized the “peer of apostles.” They were a centralized state. When Eastern Europe heard of this court the Turkic Ottoman Empire invaded Constantinople, in 1453. This came a time when different beliefs started to split the church and state in Europe. It was known as Caesarpapism because Caesar was in head of the state during that century. The split between the two religions were evident in the Orthodox Christianity because they believed that the Roman had “right thinking” due to disbelieve they had towards idols displaying in the churches. They also influenced the Byzantine life styles in all aspects.

            To understand the difference in Orthodox and Catholic religions I will explain it in an easier pattern. To begin, communion is an annual tradition that churches strongly belief in. It is a way to remember Jesus’ death. In the Orthodox Church, they partake in communion by uses leavened bread to symbolize Jesus’ body. The Catholic Church uses unleavened bread. Also, within the churches, the Catholics had many statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, The Orthodox saw this as a sin because they believed the statues were used as idols, which in their religion they were not suppose to have any idols. In their community Catholics believed that men should never shave, so many men had long beards; whereas the Orthodox shaved their beards because they saw it as appearance does not matter.

            Another difference in the two religions was their location. The Orthodox parted on Western Europe and the Catholics were on Eastern Europe.  On the western side of Europe they were seen as Barbarians because they were muscular, and not as well organized as they were on the eastern half of Europe. When the roam civilization fell in 476 the population decreased leaving the existing people with little to work with. They imitated the Roam hierarchal status with their popes, bishops, priests, education foundation, and welfare functions. In their everyday living I associate their society as a democratic party because they had popes that provided security for families and individuals. They provided for everyone just like how democrats believe one person overall who takes care of everyone. This chapter, Chapter 10, brought several topics to narrow down the differences in Europe. Although I only specified small issues they dealt with, it still supports the objective. To understand more differences take a look at the chapter, it brings up several more interesting facts to the topic.As we read further along the history book called Ways of the World, Chapter 10 is called, The Worlds of European Christendom: Connected and Divided. When I read the chapter’s title I had to look up the word Christendom because I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what the word meant. So I look it up and the Merriam Dictionary defines it as the part of the world where most people are Christians — sometimes used in the old-fashioned phrase in all of Christendom. I put the two together and the chapter discusses the Eastern European religious beliefs and the Western European religious beliefs. The Byzantine Empire is associated with the east and Latin/ Constantinople’s Empire is associated with the West.  The two sides had one religion Christianity, but within the religion they believed different things.  Constantinople had a political court that they believed represented “God’s Court” because the authorities symbolized the “peer of apostles.” They were a centralized state. When Eastern Europe heard of this court the Turkic Ottoman Empire invaded Constantinople, in 1453. This came a time when different beliefs started to split the church and state in Europe. It was known as Caesarpapism because Caesar was in head of the state during that century. The split between the two religions were evident in the Orthodox Christianity because they believed that the Roman had “right thinking” due to disbelieve they had towards idols displaying in the churches. They also influenced the Byzantine life styles in all aspects.

            To understand the difference in Orthodox and Catholic religions I will explain it in an easier pattern. To begin, communion is an annual tradition that churches strongly belief in. It is a way to remember Jesus’ death. In the Orthodox Church, they partake in communion by uses leavened bread to symbolize Jesus’ body. The Catholic Church uses unleavened bread. Also, within the churches, the Catholics had many statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, The Orthodox saw this as a sin because they believed the statues were used as idols, which in their religion they were not suppose to have any idols. In their community Catholics believed that men should never shave, so many men had long beards; whereas the Orthodox shaved their beards because they saw it as appearance does not matter.

            Another difference in the two religions was their location. The Orthodox parted on Western Europe and the Catholics were on Eastern Europe.  On the western side of Europe they were seen as Barbarians because they were muscular, and not as well organized as they were on the eastern half of Europe. When the roam civilization fell in 476 the population decreased leaving the existing people with little to work with. They imitated the Roam hierarchal status with their popes, bishops, priests, education foundation, and welfare functions. In their everyday living I associate their society as a democratic party because they had popes that provided security for families and individuals. They provided for everyone just like how democrats believe one person overall who takes care of everyone. This chapter, Chapter 10, brought several topics to narrow down the differences in Europe. Although I only specified small issues they dealt with, it still supports the objective. To understand more differences take a look at the chapter, it brings up several more interesting facts to the topic.