The Religious Changes from 1450 to 1750 in European and the Middle East
Religion can be one of the most important things in the majority of people lives even in today's world. In the 1450’s to 1750’s there was a lot of changes and some conflict having to do with religion. Comparing European and Middle East religion throughout the time period and looking at the different conflict or social classes change to show the importance the effect religion has on each area.
The Europeans since the begging have been Christian and followers of the Catholic Church, but then the protestant movement started. There were many reformers that had different views, but most talked about the separation of church and state. Martin Luther was one of the first reformers who was a monk who was soon excommunicated from the church after his views came out about the church. Martin Luther disliked the sale of indulgences inside the church which caused him to start his movement. He gained a lot of support from people who were tired of the Roman Churches policies and even more when he was able to print his work which caused talks throughout Europe even people who didn’t support him were looking at his work. He had the biggest support in Germany where they banned Catholic services and instead it was Luther's religious services . In the 16th century they were there were more alternative Lutheran churches in places like Switzerland. The next famous reformer is John Calvin who was even more influential then Luther. He started his reformation in French speaking countries; while he had some similar ideas as Luther, they were not the same. He thought that god was ultimate and had pre-determined decision about who was going to Hell before birth the idea called Predestination.
The Calvinists lived a life of strict rules like reading the bible regularly and they couldn’t dance or play cards. They had the most support in France, Netherlands, and Scotland. The protestants tried to gain clout in England but faced government resistance. King Henry VIII separated from the church because of conflicts with the Catholic Church and become head of the church of England and called it the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church had mostly the same concepts as the Catholic Church, but when they separated there was a slight differential. After all this came the Catholic Reformation, which was a small victory for the protestant movement. It was also done to try to gain support back from the protestant movement. The Catholic Church put together a council of high church officials called the Council of Trent that met between 1545 and 1563 to go over the reformation. There was also the Society of Jesus who were highly trained and went all over to conform rules and convert people to the Catholic Church. Both of these groups were the efforts to convert the majority back to the Catholic Church in order for the church to have more power and influence.
The Middle East were the start of the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Empire, and The Mughal Empire. The Ottoman empire was the biggest and held rule for longest empire during that time and the main religion was Islam. There are two types of Islamic groups are the Shiite and the Sunni. There has been conflict throughout history between the two religious' groups. The Ottoman Empire was mainly Sunni Muslims but had tolerance for Christians and Jews. The 3 empires employed the Millet system that allowed the other religions a little power to their own group while still being under the Empires control. The other religions were not persecuted but were treated lower than the Muslims; they had to pay more taxes and sometimes had to pay a blood tax. A blood taxes was when young sons were taken and trained in an enslaved army controlled by the Empire. The Safavid Empire were tolerant to Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians. Finally, the Mughal Empire were tolerant and even welcomed Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians, Christians, and Sikhs. The Mughal Empire was the more tolerant of the 3 empires and was the most diverse. The Islamic Empires created a diverse and more tolerant view on religion then the Europeans by far.
Religion changed so much from the 1450’s to 1750’s; it brought more diversity and more wars than anything else. The Middle East showed great tolerance and great strength during that time for religion. “ You will therefore do well to forsake your Religion, or else I will give Order to Consume you with Fire”; this shows the animosity that religion can cause. Religion has always played an enormous role in all of history, but particularly during this time period because all of the changes that happened throughout it like the Protestant movement and the reformation of the Catholic Church in England. This time period was the change of religion and start of religious tolerance.
Work Cited
- Bentley, Jerry H., et al. Traditions & Encounters. McGraw-Hill, 2015.
- “Religions - Islam: Ottoman Empire (1301-1922).” BBC, BBC, 4 Sept. 2009, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ottomanempire_1.shtml.
- The Sultan’s Declaration of War on the ... - Ghdi.ghi-Dc.org. ghdi.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/9_MilitaryAffairs_Doc.2_English.pdf.
- Shuster, Mike. “The Origins Of The Shiite-Sunni Split.” NPR, NPR, 12 Feb. 2007, www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2007/02/12/7332087/the-origins-of-the-shiite-sunni-split.
