Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Worlds of Christendom-Contraction, Expansion and Division

• Christian contraction in Asia and Africa
• Islam spread driving force in contraction of Christianity
• Asian Christianity
• Within century of Muhammed's death, Christianity had disappeared in Arabia
• Islamic forces seized Jerusalem and holy sites
• Syria and Persia Christians converted voluntary 
• If they didn't they could practice their religion only if they paid a special tax 
• African Christianity
• Coastal North African largely converted to Islam
• Coptic Church survived in Egypt
• Tolerated by Muslim rulers until Crusades and Mongol threat
• Ethiopian Christianity was exception
• Rulers of Axum adopted Christianity in 4th century 
• Developed distinctive traditions in isolation
• Byzantine Christendom: Building Roman Past
• Byzantine Empire=no clear starting point 
• Continuation of Roman Empire
• Byzantine advantages over Western empire
• Wealthier and un urbanized
• More defensible capital (Constantinople)
• Shorter frontier
• Access to Black Sea
• Stronger defense 
• Byzantine State
• Arab/Islamic expansion reduced size of Byzantine state
• Territory shrank when Europeans and Turks attacked
• Byzantine Church and Christian Divergence 
• Church closely tied to state
• Emperor head of both church and state
• Orthodox Christianity influenced by all of Byzantine life
• Cultural identity 
• Common people engaged in theological disputes
• Eastern Orthodoxy increasingly defined itself to Latin Christianity 
• Sense of religious different related East/West political difference 
• Rise of Islam, Constantinople and Rome remained sole hubs of Christianity 
• Schism in 1054, mutual excommunication 
• Crusades worsened situation
• Conversion of Russia
• Prince Vladimir of Kiev
• Orthodoxy transformed state of Russia, central to Russian identity 
• Top-down conversion 
• Western Christendom: Rebuilding in the wake of Roman collapse
• Western Europe on margins of world history 
• Removed from growing world trade routes
• Geography of Europe made political unity difficult 
• Moderate climate enabled population growth
• Political Life in Western Europe
• Roman Collapse
• Large-scale centralized rule vanished
• Europe population fell by 25% due to war and disease 
• Diminution of urban life
• Survival of classical and Roman heritage
• Germanic people substantially Romanized
• High prestige of things Roman
• Several Germanic kingdoms tried to recreate Roman-style unity
• Society and the Church 
• New kingdoms
• Decentralized society 
• Local variation 
• Social hierarchies 
• Serfdom displaced slavery 
• Catholic Church was major element of stability
• Hierarchy modeled Roman Empire
• Became very rich
• Conversion of Europe's non christians 

This chapter was very eye opening to see how much religion impacted society.  Church and state went hand in hand during these times and often times people had to follow the same religious beliefs as those in political power.  Today, it is so different in the United States.  Church and state are completely separate and I can't imagine how hard it would be to be forced to practice something you truly don't believe in.