RELIGIOUS DIVISIONS IN EUROPE IN 1600

Christianity united Europe under a common faith after the fall of the Roman Empire. But the
Reformation divided Christianity between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Later, the Protestants
also were divided into several smaller groups. These religious divisions led to many years of
warfare.

Mark the following information on the map provided.

1. For centuries, the only established Christian church in Europe was Roman Catholic. Its spiritual
center was in Rome. Label Rome, Italy on your map.

2. The first major split in Christianity came in the Middle Ages. During this period, the Byzantine
Empire was still powerful. Differences between Catholics in the Byzantine Empire and those in the rest
of Europe led to a division in the church. Most of Europe remained Roman Catholic, with its leadership in
Rome. But the rest now belonged to what came to be called the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The center of the Eastern Orthodox Church was in Constantinople, which is now the city of Istanbul,
Turkey. Label Constantinople/Istanbul on your map.

3. The boundary between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches was not exact. Draw it
on the map as a wavy line.

a. Draw a line from the northern coast of Finland south through to the Ukrainian coast of the
Black Sea. Extend your line southwest to theCroatian coast.
b. Then write ROMAN CATHOLIC along the west side of the line at and EASTERN
ORTHODOX along the east side.

4. The religious picture was complicated by the introduction to Europe of the Islamic faith. The armies
of the Ottoman Turks spread their empire into southeastern Europe in the late 1400s. Some of the
Europeans living in the Ottoman Empire converted to Islam.

a. Write OTTOMAN EMPIRE across Greece and Turkey. Under that label write ISLAM.
b. Show that the Ottoman Empire extended beyond your label by drawing an arrow northeast from it
to the Catholic/Orthodox line.
c. Draw another arrow straight east from the label to the edge of the map.

d. Curve another arrow along the east coast of the Mediterranean and then along the African coast to
the west edge of the map.

5. The Protestant Reformation began in the early 1500s. The first major break came with the
formation of the Lutheran Church (named after its founder, Martin Luther).

a. Lutheranism began in the Holy Roman Empire and soon spread through most of that
territory. Show this with an L in the middle of the Holy Roman Empire.
 b. Lutheranism spread to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
(Finland was part of Sweden at the time.) Write an L on each of these countries.

c. Lutheranism also took hold along the southern edge of the Baltic Sea. Print L’s on Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, and northern Poland.

6. The Lutheran Church spread to many other areas, but it was strongest where you have marked it. By
the middle 1500s, other Protestant churches were competing for converts. Among the more
successful of these were the Calvinist faiths (named after John Calvin).
a. The center of Calvinism was Switzerland. Mark that country with a C.
b. In Scotland, Calvinism was spread under the name of Presbyterianism. In Holland (the
Netherlands) it was known as the Dutch Reformed Church. Mark both of these countries
with Cs.
c. Calvinism also spread to parts of France, where its followers were known as Huguenots.
Most of the French Calvinist strongholds were in the south. Show this by marking a C in the
middle of France's Central Plateau.

7. Roman Catholicism continued to be the official state religion in France. Show this by writing RC
just below Paris.

8. Portugal, Spain, and Italy remained overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. Write RC in the middle
of each of these countries.

9. Ireland and much of Poland also remained strongly Catholic. Write RC in the middle of Ireland
(not Northern Ireland) and in southeastern Poland.

10. England, under King Henry VIII, broke free from the Catholic Church and formed their own
church called the Church of England, or the Anglican Church. Notate this by placing an A in the
center of England.

11.By 1600 the religious picture was much more complex than you have shown it on the map. The
Catholic Church remained a force in other regions, and there were other Protestant sects than those
identified here. Several churches competed for followers in most regions. But the map at least begins
to give you an idea of Europe's growing religious complexity. Use the map to answer the following
questions.