the byzantine church: the church of rome survived the fall of the western roman empire. its head the pope became the strongest leader in western europe. under the pope the latin churches of the region became known as the roman catholic church. in the east however the roman empire continued. it developed into the byzantine empire. like roman catholics in the west the byzantines developed their own form of christianity. it was based on their greek heritage and was known as the eastern orthodox church.
what were some conflicts between the churches? idols were not the only issue that caused bitterness between the churches of constantinople and rome. the most serious argument was about how churches were to be run. the pope claimed that he was the head of all christians churches. the byzantines did not accept the pope's claim. they believed the patriarch of Constantinople and other bishops were equal to the pope. making matters worse was the fact that each church sometimes refused to help the other when outsiders attacked. in the byzantine empire the emperor was in control with church leaders respecting his wishes. in the west however the pope claimed both spiritual and political power. he often quarreled with kings over church and government affairs . finally after centuries of the tension the pope and the patriarch of comtstantipole took a drastic step in their ongoing feud. in 1054 they excommunicated each other. this was known belongs to the church . this began a separation of the two most important branches of christianity. the split between the roman catholic church and eastern orthodox churches has lasted to this day.
what did monks and nuns do? monks and nun began to play important roles in roman catholic and eastern orthodox life. they ran hospital school and aided the poor. they also helped preserve greek and roman writings. one important duty was to serve as missionaries teach their religion to those who do not believe.
how does christianity spread? in the west christian missionaries looked to the islands of Britain and Ireland. in the 300s roman soldiers in Britain were called home to defend the empire against germanic invaders . when the romans left Britain was opened to attacks by others.starting in the 400s tribes from what are today Germany and Denmark invaded Britain. these people were the angels and saxons. these groups united to become the anglo-saxons. they built settlements and set up several small kingdoms. the southern part of britian soon became known as angle land or England . while invading Britain the angles and saxons pushed aside the people already living there. these people were called the celts. some celts fled to the moutanous regions of britain. others went to ireland. in the 400s named patrick brought ann important role in preserving christians and roman learning. the anglo-saxon kingdoms of britain were slower than ireland to accept a new religion. in 597 pope gregory 1 sent about 40 missionaries from rome to take christianity to england. the missionaries converted ethelbert a ruler of the english kingdom of kent. ethelbert allowed the missionaries to build a church in his capitial city of canterbury. in about 100 years most of england was christian. today canterbury is still an important center of christianity in england.