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Rise of Modern Europe

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the rise of modern Europe during the Renaissance and Reformation periods. Including the Medieval roots of the Renaissance, the discussion will cover roughly the period 1100 to 1600.

The roots of the Renaissance were laid because of the rivalry between Christianity and Islam for domination of the Mediterranean area. The Islamic invasion of France in the seventh century had inspired the French resistance that created the Holy Roman Empire, which lingered on in Germany until the nineteenth century. The Islamic universities in Spain transmitted the knowledge of the classics to Europe, as did the works broke back from Byzantium and the east by Crusaders returning home. This influx of what had been lost knowledge led to the transformation of cathedral schools in Europe into universities, at first in Italy, soon after in France and England.

The ôBabylonian Captivityö of the Pope in Avignon, France, from 1309 to 1372, which was followed by the Great Schism from 1377 to 1417, during which there were always two or three persons claiming to be the true Pope, effectively destroyed the churchÆs moral authority. Marsiglio of Padua, rector of the University of Paris, published his Defensor Pacis, which argued that final authority in the Christian church rested not in the Pope, but in the Ecumenical Council meeting of all the bishops. He was, of course, excommunicated as being a heretic, but his theory founded the ôConciliar Movementö within the Christian church that has continued to affect church politics ever since. The Schism was healed when the Council of Constance elected Martin V as the sole Pope in 1417, but his successors generally behaved like Italian princes rather than universal pastors, and the public opinion of the church continued to suffer.

The Hundred YearsÆ War (1337-1453) between the English and French, in which the Pope was no powerless to intervene, further weakened Eu...

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Rise of Modern Europe. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:50, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1712220.html