Latin Christendom, Essay Example

The spread of Christianity in the new Latin Christendom occurred following the crash of the Western Roman Empire (Levack et al., 2011). During this time, Christians formed groups in order to promote their beliefs. Many influential monks, including Benedict of Nursia, founded monasteries that were used to act as places of prayer and religious study. These individuals dedicated their lives to the faith and wished to spread their beliefs to others. However, this was not possible under the rule of the Roman Empire. Until the empire crashed, Christians were not allowed to practice freely. Roman Emperor Nero actively punished them and blamed them for the burning of Roman. However, after the empire dissolved, Constantine the Great, the ruler of the land, favored Christians and worked to protect their beliefs. Due to the backing that he provided individuals that actively worshipped the religion, it was able to spread within the region and become more dominant than polytheism, which was the predominant belief of the Romans.

Later in his life, Constantine promoted wars that acted as crusades to bring Christianity to new areas. Although historians are not certain as to whether he promoted the Christian faith for political reasons or as a consequence of true belief, his actions contributed to the widespread belief that started to become present around 313 CE when he decriminalized Christian worship. From this point, he allowed the faith to spread in a manner that allowed it to become not just in the former Roman territory, but across Europe as well. This deep faith in Christianity is what inspired many of the cultural traditions and practices that is known about medieval Europe today.

References

Levack, B., Muir, E., & Veldman, M. (2011). The west: Encounters & transformations, vol I (Rev: 3). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Longman.