The spread of Christianity: From year 1000 to the present day

For hundreds of years, Christianity has grown. But around the year 600, a new religion appears: Islam. Those who believe in Islam, the Muslims, now expand into many areas that the Christians had previously taken over. But Christianity is also dealing with internal issues during this time. The Roman Empire has been divided into two: the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.

Each has its own capital: Rome in the west and Constantinople in the east. More and more political and cultural differences arise between the two. And because they speak Latin in the west and Greek in the east, people don’t read each other’s religious texts. Eventually, the two divisions develop different opinions about what Christianity actually means. And in the year 1054 there is a break: a schism.

Now there are two branches of Christianity: Catholicism in the west, and Orthodoxy in the east. Forty years after the schism, the Byzantine Emperor asks for help from the Catholic church against the muslims. The pope in Rome, Urban the second, sees this as an opportunity, partly to unite the two churches under his leadership, and partly to expand the reach of the Catholic church. The Pope tells his followers that a war to reclaim cities like Nicea and Jerusalem from Muslim control has been blessed by God. He says that all Christians should travel to Jerusalem and liberate the holy city.

Because the Christians believe this is a holy war, a crusade, those who volunteer believe they will go to heaven. Many crusaders steal, pillage and murder Jews, Muslims, and other Christians on their way to Jerusalem. But many themselves die of starvation and disease. There are several Crusades, and Jerusalem is alternately under Christian control, then Muslim, then Christian again… … and Muslim once more. Later, in Europe during the 14th century, people have learnt to build ships that can go further, and they now have compasses.

Seafarers from Portugal, Spain, and France sail to northern Africa and China, to find new trade routes.. and to spread Catholicism. Sometimes peacefully, other times… not so peacefully. At the end of the 15th century, the Europeans find a continent that they weren’t aware of before: they call it America. Spanish and Portuguese explorers conquer large areas of South America and force the people to convert to Christianity.

Now Christianity is the world’s largest religion, and the Catholic church keeps expanding. But over in Germany, this man, Martin Luther, believes that the Pope and the bishops have distorted Christianity. His protests lead to a new branch of Christianity: Protestantism. Many countries become Protestant during this time, sometimes because they agree with Martin Luther, and sometimes because the kings want to.. get divorced..

or avoid paying taxes to the Pope.. This shouldn’t be any problem, should it? Well it is. Now the Catholics and Protestants go to war. For a long time.

A really… really… … long time. Are you guys finished? OK, let’s move on. The European countries start taking control of more and more areas, they colonise these areas, and often convert the native populations to Christianity. While Christianity is spreading across the world, it is also splitting again and again.

Although it’s not completely accurate to describe the branches of Christianity as one single religion, they do all agree that Jesus was the son of God. After the Second World War, most imperial countries give up their colonies. But various churches continue to send missionaries around the world to do charitable work, and to spread the message of Jesus to more people. In only two thousand years, Christianity has expanded from a few thousand people in the Middle East to about a third of the world’s population!