Introduction
According to proposition by various sociologists, there were various types of social and religious movements within in the middle ages, 100-1300. Some of these religious and social movements include Christianity, Islam, crusading movement, medieval monasticism, RomanState religion and the papal supremacy. This paper will give a detailed discussion on these social and religious movements.
Discussion
Christianity is among the religious movements that existed in the high middle age period, 1100-1300. Christianity is defined as a monotheistic religion that is chiefly based on the teachings of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Christianity falls under the category of Abrahamic religions and is made up of three branches namely Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Majority of Christians believe on the fact that Jesus is the son of God and the savior of humanity. Moreover, they believe on the Hebrew bible prophesizes of a Messiah who is believed to be Jesus Christ. Christians further believed that Jesus died, rose and bodily ascended to heaven where he reigns with God. It is therefore evident that Christianity played a major role in shaping the Western civilization (Noble, 2010).
The other social and religious movement that shaped western civilization in the medieval period is the crusading movement. Crusades were military campaigns that were mainly sanctioned by the military and waged by The Roman Catholic in Europe during the medieval period. Crusading movements were mainly active within 1095-1291. The role of these movements was to fight in order to restore Christian control of the Holy Land. The people who were majorly involved in crusade fights were Roman Catholic Christians and the Muslims who occupied the near East of Europe. Crusade campaigns were also waged against the Jews, Russians, Orthodox Christians, Pagan Slaves, Hussites and Old Prussians (Noble, 2010).
The other social movement that is worth noting is the medieval monasticism whose key objective is to survey the different forms of religions and religious lives in the medieval west. It also studies the various contributions of medieval monasticism to the modern and medieval culture. The other point that is evident during the medieval period is the papal supremacy. This indicates a state whereby the Roman Catholic Pope has great power and authority and was therefore a supreme figure. The powerful Pope in question was Pope Innocent III who greatly extended the power of papacy. Hence, papal supremacy may qualify to be one of the religious aspects during the medieval age.
Islam is the other religious movement that dominated during the medieval period, within 1100-1300. Islam is defined as a monotheistic religion articulated by the Quran. It is therefore evident that Muslims are monotheist individuals who believe in the existence of one God. Muslims believe that Quran is a text representing a word from God. They believe in Mohammad, the last prophet of Islam. Islamic civilization flourished during the Islamic Golden Age and its capital was the cosmopolitan city, Baghdad (Noble, 2010). The two denominations that fall under the Islamic religious movement are the Sunni and Shi’a. There is also a small minority of other Islam sects. Islam has been considered as the second largest denomination and religious movement and it is also fast-growing.
Conclusion
The medieval age, 1100-1300 had several religious and social movements including Islamic, Christianity, crusading movement and many other movements. The movements mentioned above flourished or extended over the new age including the 19th century. It is worth noting that civilization has led to emergence of other new religious movements such as Baptist movement and many other modern denomination and sects.
Reference
Noble, T. F. Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries (6th Ed.) Cengage Learning, 2010
