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Noah Osborn
Mr. Tierney
Per 1
1/25/14
Convince your reader that religion had either a mostly positive effect OR a mostly negative
impact on the middle Ages.

Was Religion Good or Bad?

Religion in the middle ages was everything. People lived their lives by it, they sacrificed
themselves for it and their laws were based off of it. The middle ages were a time of disease, war
and death. Religion in the middle ages had an overall negative impact on the world due to its iron
grip over peoples lives.
Christianity in the middle ages was a predominant religion that was mainly
practiced in Europe but it also had influence farther out. Christianity had a very bad influence on
the medieval ages and it was part of the reason that the medieval ages lasted for as long as they
did. People in Europe were very poor due to the feudal system that was in place. The feudal
system kept the kings and pope very rich which then allowed them to make a bigger army and
control even more people. The religious people were the government and they did anything in
the name of god. The people who said anything against the pope or king were publicly executed
and the public was just told that they committed heresy. This instilled fear in the people and then
they wouldnt fight back against their controlling government and it was a never ending cycle.
Since people were afraid to speak and do anything outside of the norm, innovations in better city
planning or plumbing were not made and so cities just had raw sewage dumped in the middle of
the street. Medicine didnt make progress because many people just believed that god would heal
them if they prayed more and committed fewer sins.
Christianity had one very big influence that was so significant that it is still
around today. The cathedrals were built for god and they used some very advanced techniques in
building them. The weight of the cathedrals was unthinkable and to support that weight it
required some complicated building methods. This wouldnt have gotten done if it hadnt been
for Christianity but since it was smart people were allowed to let their ideas flow and they made
structures that are still around today.
Islam in the medieval ages had many innovations and its people
practiced not out of fear. Islam was predominant in Egypt and Jerusalem and the areas
surrounding it. There were huge libraries in many Islamic cities and that was because their
religion wasnt like Christianity. Many books on medicine and city building techniques were
made and so Islam was a very advanced religion in comparison to Christianity. Christians were
still using the bible as their only book and they were trying to figure out why diseases were
happening and many other problems that couldnt be explained through the bible.
Religion in the medieval ages had an overall
negative impact because so many people died due to it and it hindered many great inventions that
would have come much sooner. It slowed down the advancement of humans and humans would
be much further along if it hadnt had been for the Religion and the dark ages.