Religious Successors of Rome

The Roman Empire dominated the Mediterranean Sea for centuries. People of the time probably believed the huge empire would last forever, but over time, the empire became unstable.

The Roman empire split by the 400s CE. Following the empire’s decline, three main successors emerged in the region. Religion was central to these new communities. One successor was Islam, whose followers established a caliphate that later conquered a large portion of Roman territory. The other two were the Byzantine Empire (or Byzantine Christendom) in the east and many states practicing Roman Catholicism in the west.

The communities of Western Europe in this period are generally known as Latin Christendom. The eastern region of Europe formed a Christian state around the city of Byzantium or Constantinople. It was similar enough to the Roman Empire that people living under Byzantine rule called themselves Romans. The Christian faith became a network that linked the entire region together. People could travel and trade across this vast region, even though they may not have spoken the same language.

Although Latin Christendom and the Empire of Byzantium shared one Christian faith, they developed different religious traditions. These traditions shaped their communities in important ways.

Byzantium and the beginnings of religious schism

Unlike Latin Christendom, Byzantium remained a unified empire during most of this period. One of the most important early rulers of Byzantium was the emperor Justinian, who ruled from 527 to 565 CE. Justinian’s wife, Theodora, was his most important advisor. Theodora and Justinian wanted the emperor to control all aspects of the state and the church.

Religious differences emerged between the Byzantine practice of Christianity and that of Latin Christendom. One of the most important disputes revolved around the divine nature of Jesus. The eastern church believed that Jesus was the son of God and therefore of two natures—one divine and one human. The western church also believed that Jesus was the son of God, but that both had existed for all of eternity. Therefore, God and Jesus had an essentially divine nature. Justinian called a council of church leaders together to resolve these differences but neither side was willing to budge. There were also divisions based on language, with eastern Christians speaking Greek and western Christians speaking Latin. The churches had different traditions about married priests. They also used different types of bread for the Eucharist.

In the 700s there was a dispute about icons, or artistic images of Christ, Mary, and the saints. This division became known as the iconoclasm controversy. In Byzantium, the emperor Leo III banned images depicting Christ or Mary during the early 700s. For a community bound by their religious faith, these images meant everything. At a time when many could not read, these icons represented links to the divine and a tool to understand Biblical stories. The icons allowed people from all social classes to understand and participate in Christianity. The ban was eventually lifted, but not until the mid-800s. By that time iconoclasm created even more tension between the two churches of the east and west.

Latin Christendom as a new community

Around 700 CE, a new dynasty arose. The dynasty almost re-created the old Roman empire in Western Europe. The new ruling family, the Carolingians, mixed Germanic culture and Christian faith. Unlike the Byzantine empire, the Christian rulers in Western Europe did not control religious beliefs. That was the pope’s job. On Christmas Day in the year 800 CE, Pope Leo III crowned the Carolingian ruler Charlemagne “emperor of the Romans.” This affirmed papal authority to crown emperors and declared a firm separation from Byzantine control. Tensions between the west and east were nearing a breaking point.

By the 1000s, Latin Christendom was experiencing a new wave of religious enthusiasm. Churches sprang up across the medieval landscape. People would travel great distances to visit shrines dedicated to Christian saints.

Yet this religious passion endangered religious minority groups. Bursts of anti-Semitic violence threatened Jewish groups. Peaceful pilgrimages eventually evolved into armed crusades against the so-called “enemies of Christ.” These enemies often included Jews, Muslims, and even members of the Byzantine church. These crusades united the communities of Latin Christendom against what was perceived as a common enemy. The goal was to reclaim the Holy Land (Jerusalem) from Muslim rule. However, the crusaders often persecuted Jews and other minority groups as well.

The Byzantium and Latin Christendom network splits

By the eleventh century, Byzantine and Latin forms of Christianity were quite different. Both sides wanted to prevent the other from spreading. The pope began closing churches in Italy that were aligned with the eastern faith. The Byzantine patriarch, or head of the church, responded by closing Latin churches in the empire. Eventually, the pope decided to excommunicate the patriarch from the church and the patriarch did the same to the pope.

In 1054 CE the two churches officially broke apart in what is known as the Great Schism. Now there were two Christian faiths: Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Religious and non-religious rulers all actively promoted the Crusades. These holy wars dominated much of the 1100s and 1200s. Thousands of ordinary people from all over Latin Christendom walked over 2,000 miles through Europe and the Byzantine empire to reach the Holy Land. Many others traveled overseas. They were driven by religious enthusiasm and the promise of new land. This campaign was remarkably successful in uniting Latin Christendom and even mending the division between eastern and western Christianity for a time. Yet the truce didn’t last long. During the fourth Crusade, Latin crusaders sacked the Eastern Orthodox city of Constantinople.