Political, Religious, Social, and Cultural Changes in Medieval Europe - Essay Example

Significant political, religious, social, and cultural changes in Europe Europe experienced many changes politically, religiously, socially, and culturally between 1350 and 1570. Most of the changes resulted from rivalry of various groups in the medieval Europe. Some of the changes also occurred due to invasion of foreigners. For example, the invasion the Mongols made Europe more prosperous because of their aggressiveness in trade. Although the changes occurred after major conflicts that made many people to suffer, they positively influenced the nation. Political Europe experienced various political changes between 1350 and 1570. One of the political occurrences during this time was the Mongol Rule. The armies invaded China, Russia, and most parts of the Islamic world. The countries had strongholds within the south. This invasion resulted into the increased dependence of Russia on the Mongol empire known as the Golden Horde. The Mongols sent their officials to Russia’s different towns. This made it easier to collect taxes from the Russians. The Mongols married the Russian women and persons who refused became slaves. This led to the increase of many Russian slaves and the prevalence of slave trade. The Mongol’s hostility towards women made the Russian women start wearing veils like Muslims to protect themselves. Islam became the central creed of the Mongol empire. The forced mixing of the Mongols and Russians led into further cultural differences between Russia and the West. However, the Mongols did not destroy Russia’s political and religious institutions. The Mongol Rule made Russia prosper because of the Mongol’s far-flung trade (Donald, Ozment & Turner 293). The revival of Monarchy in the Northern Europe also occurred within this period. This revival occurred after the partial end of the divided feudal monarchy. The king and his semiautonomous vassals shared the government power in the past. After the revival, the semiautonomous lost the power to impose taxes, initiate wars, and implement laws. These powers became strong in the monarch. Consequently, the king and his selected agents acquired the power. Additionally, taxes, wars, and the legal systems became national issues instead of regional like previous occurrences. The independence of the monarch led to the elimination of decentralization of the political system (Donald, Ozment & Turner 297). Furthermore, there was the occurrence of the “Voyages of Discoveries and the New Empires in the West” (Donald, Ozment & Turner 303). During this time, Europe discovered the existence of America. The interaction of the Europeans and Americans led to the expansion of the European geographical horizon. The Europeans also improved intellectually. They also took advantage of their newly discovered world. Moreover, they exploited the Americans’ human wealth and resources especially their minerals. The discovery and the exploitation of the West and the East created the new cultural and financial forces in the Western Europe (Donald, Ozment & Turner 303). Cultural Some of the cultural changes also occurred in the Medieval Russia. In the past, Prince Vladimir led the country. During his time, the central city received delegations of various religious groups such as Muslims, Catholics, and Jews. The prince chose the Greek orthodox to be the country’s religion. This resulted into a strong cultural connection between Russia and Byzantine Empire that in turn created their strong commercial ties. Yaroslav took over after the death of Vladimir. This succession made Kiev a magnificent cultural center. The country’s architectures were more magnificent compared to those of Constantinople. Moreover, this succession led to the creation of strong contact with the West. The prince’s aim of creating the contact was to lower the political powers of the Byzantine emperors. However, his efforts were not successful. Vladimir had three sons and after his death rivalry among his sons increases. This rivalry led to the division of Russia into three cultural groups. The groups encompassed the Great Russians, the White Russian, and the Little Russians. The division resulted into different principalities that challenged the country’s dominance. One of the largest cultural divisions in the nation was between the freemen and the slaves (Donald, Ozment & Turner 279). Europe experienced Renaissance between 1300 and 1527. This was a period of transition between the medieval Europe to Modern Europe. The church had ruled the Medieval Europe and people relied on Agriculture to meet their financial needs. After the Renaissance, Europe had more organized political systems, cultural systems, and improved urban economy. Italy underwent Renaissance during these periods as marked by cultural creativity. Renaissance resulted into the spread of the Florentine humanist culture (Donald, Ozment & Turner 282). Humanists encouraged people’s participation in art and moral philosophy. Renaissance led to the growth of cities and urban culture in Italy. The growth of cities in Italy resulted into social conflicts and oppositions of political powers in the cities (Donald, Ozment & Turner 285). Religious Various religious alterations also occurred during the time. The church leaders ruled most parts of Europe. One of the religious changes entailed the people’s resistance of the Avignon Papacy. The function of the pope was to enhance unity and the welfare of the church. It was a legal requirement for the Pope to convene a church council. The counciliar movement led to the transfer of greater religious responsibilities from the Popes to the laity and the secular government. This transfer of responsibilities resulted into the increase in the territorial churches. Kings started to control the churches in England and France. Additionally, the roles of the magistrates and the city councils also changed because they started to set the church regulations in the German, Swiss, and Italy cities. The High Renaissance could not reverse this alteration. From this time, the princes and not the priests started to lead Europe (Donald, Ozment & Turner 270). Popular religious movements and criticisms are equally occurrences in Europe during this period. The church faced criticism because people felt a sense of spiritual crisis. Additionally, people began understanding their world and their rulers during the renaissance. These movements made communities resist the spiritual cruelty of the medieval church. The Medieval Germany did not have a single political system. Consequently, they could not enforce religious reforms during that time (Donald, Ozment & Turner 316). Such movements resulted into many religious reformations like Lutheran and Calvinism reformation. It is clear that Lutheranism led to political triumph that made the protestant movements to acquire a new the lease of life. The German Lutherans created regional consistories and legal system that led into the organization of the modern protestant churches. The modern protestant churches replaced the earlier catholic churches (Donald, Ozment & Turner 330). It caused radical alteration in the traditional religious practices in areas where reformation was successful (Donald, Ozment & Turner 336). The Western Europe also experienced religious struggle. The people’s struggles for religion freedom resulted into the fight between regions. This war led to deaths of many leaders such as Conde. Moreover, many protestant died from the Protestant massacre that was organized by the Catholics. This was especially experienced during the France religious war (Donald, Ozment & Turner 349). The massacre raised the protestant’s alarm making them start sanctioning strong political resistance (Donald, Ozment & Turner 350). The “Thirty Years’ War” in the Holy Roman led to the destruction of many resources and lives. It was the last religious war in Europe that led to regional and international political division (Donald, Ozment & Turner 364). The war ended because of the Westphalia Treaty. Social The medieval Europe was highly affected by plague, war, and schism. Approximately two fifths of the people in the nation died of plague especially around the main trade route areas. Death caused by plague was named the Black Death. This had negative economic effects in Europe in the medieval times. For example, rats infested many house resulting into several vacancies. This also reduced incomes for the owner of the houses since they could not collect house rent. It was also impossible to grind wheat in some areas leading to poverty. More people also died because of war and divisions that occurred after the plague. People tried to defend their cultural rights and privileges against the introduced ones. This led to war in towns and countryside. After the calamities, the population started to increase and many people could access education. This is because there additional universities and colleges were created (Donald, Ozment & Turner 279). The Italian Renaissance led to the growth of cities leading to social division and conflicts. An example of the social division in the nation was Florence. The four social divisions that existed in the city were the old rich, or grandi, the nobles, and the merchant who ruled the city. These social groups were always fighting for political powers. The middle class collaborated with the rich merchants to fight against the old rich. They practiced despotism that led to the upholding of law and order because individuals who caused social conflicts were punished (Donald, Ozment & Turner 284). Renaissance in Italy made slavery flourish just like art and culture because most people became wealthy during this time. Consequently, they could afford to buy many slaves. The wealthy Italians bought the Muslim slaves from the Spanish. It is clear that the Spanish captured many slaves during the wars and invasions. The number of slaves in the plantations also increased apart from the household slavery. Before the Renaissance, the number of slaves had reduced because of the Black Death. The Italian law granted the individuals the power to own, rent, or sell the slaves (Donald, Ozment & Turner 295). Religious reformation altered the role of women in the society. The protestant reformers were against celibacy and monasticism (Donald, Ozment & Turner 338). Consequently, they changed the medieval beliefs that led to the degradation of women. This made people start appreciating women as mothers and houses wives. Additionally, forced marriages among women significantly reduced (Donald, Ozment & Turner 339). Conclusion Europe experienced several changes between 1300 and 1750. An example of political change that occurred in the country was transfer of power from priests to princes. This made religious leaders lose their powers. The social lives within the community also changed during this period. An example of the social changes was the alteration of women roles. The society started respecting and appreciating women especially in marriages. Renaissance was a significant occurrence that led to cultural changes. It changed the nation’s culture from medieval to modern. Most people were encouraged to participate in arts and moral philosophy. Works Cited Danald, Kagan, Ozment, Steven & Turner, Frank. The Western Heritage. New York, NY: Library of Cralogue. 2007. Print. Read More