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Change Over Time: Christianity’s Impact on Europe Christianity had spread its influence widely over the Mediterranean well before 1500. Many of the world’s major religions rose during the same time as Christianity, but Christianity didn’t stand out during those times. There were other religions such as Islam and Hinduism that were uniting their people more and contributing more to the world than Christianity was. The development of the Renaissance in Italy and the spreading of the Renaissance made Christianity a lot more popular.
The period from 1500 to 1700 marked a huge opportunity for Christianity, and the religion took advantage of that and left its mark on Europe. Although some cultural aspects remained the same and Christianity remained the dominant religion in Europe from 1500 to 1700, a lot of other cultural aspects, economics, and political characteristics changed due to Christianity’s impact. Christianity continued to dominate Europe through the Renaissance period with little shifting to other religions; Christianity stayed pretty much the same, aside from differences in Catholic and Protestant groups.
Christianity remained a monotheistic religion, meaning that its followers believe in one god. Not only did this religion remain a major influence for the ordinary people of Europe, but it also influenced the artists and authors coming into the Renaissance. Christianity continued to be a huge source of power for the Pope and other religious leaders during this time; religion, essentially, gave these leaders more control and power. These leaders set up churches all across their areas in Europe, which continued to spread the influence of Christianity even more.
Christianity remained a uniting source for the people which, in turn, led to making Europe a very rich and powerful force. Christianity remained a powerful force in Europe because a lot of the religious leaders were looking at continuing older Roman legacies. Even though Christianity developed after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Roman Catholic Church makes the claim of apostolic succession; they claim a unique authority over all other churches because they claim they have a common heritage with Roman Catholic Popes centuries before.
Because of historical significance and the need of wanting to bring back older Roman and Byzantine religious traditions, Christianity was able to continue to dominate Europe through the influence of the church during 1500 to 1700. With so much power, different aspects of life in Europe wouldn’t remain the same. Because Christianity continued to remain the major source for power and influence in Europe, economic, political, and cultural changes were inevitable.