History

Grade 8

All through history, there have been incidences that affect the world we live in

significantly. Wars that have left the world still fighting today, for example, the two

hundred year war, better known as the crusades. There have been times where nothing

but medical breakthroughs could be made. The plague destroyed the middle ages and

what was left of the feudal system. Creating the renaissance, a time where new ways of

thinking were found and when literature and art were more truly appreciated. Although

we have been significantly impacted by all of history, Constantine, The printing press and

Martin Luther are ultimately the most important aspects of our history.

Constantine was the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire. He imposed

Christianity on the Roman people. Seeing as Constantine was the Emperor, he had a

significant influence on the people. This emperor made a large population of the Roman

Empire Christian. During the six day fire, when Nero ruled over Rome, He used the

Christians as a scapegoat and instantly the Romans believed him. Not for any reason

other that they hated Christians and Constantine was able to entirely alter the beliefs of

these people. Constantine was also the cause of the crusades. A two hundred year war

against the Seljuk Turks. The reason for this “holy” war was nothing more that religious

exploitation, Constantine showed leading figures that the people were merely putty in
their hands and that they could easily be manipulate and made to walk thousands of

miles and all for what, to receive salvation from a corrupt church. Constantine is no

doubt one of the most influential men that had ever lived. He was able to, as the prophet

Muhammad had done convert a whole civilization of Pagans, atheists, and agnostics to

Christianity. Constantine was also able to make Christianity quite a violent religion. First,

he killed people who did not convert to Christianity, next he made sure Christianity kept

people in their places. The poor stay poor and the rich stay rich.

The renaissance made people pull their heads into the light and out of the cavern

made for them by the Church. One of the many ways the renaissance was able to do this

was by using the printing press. Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press during the

mid-1400s. The printing press revolutionized not only Europe, but the whole world. In

1455, the first copy of Gutenberg’s Bible was completed. This was the start of the fall of

the Church. The Church was a corrupt organization that feasted on the ignorance of the

uninformed peasants. The only reason they were able to persuade all those people to

take part in the crusade was that they had Bibles, and the churchgoers did not. The

peasants could not read, write, or even think for themselves, and the invention of the

printing press changes all that. It created availability of not only the bible, but other

books. This enraged the rich because peasants decided to learn how to read and write.

The church was enraged by this. Years before the printing press, having a limited copy of

the Bible allowed Popes, Cardinals, and maybe even Bishops easily alter, add, or even

remove sections of the Bible. The Bible for all anybody knows has always been incorrect.
It was passed down orally through generations before finally being copied down on

paper. The First Bible though, was definitely the most accurate copy the world knew. But

the Church disagreed with sections that did not benefit the elite and made a slight

change. Over generations of “slight” changes being made, the Bible became quite a

corrupt weapon of the Church. The church still had one way of controlling the people,

language. Almost all books were printed in Latin and to learn to read the books, one

would have to learn Latin. This allowed everybody to interpret the Bible however they

chose to. This eventually killed the Churches’ last hope for controlling the people. Books

were printed in all sorts of languages. Rather than Latin, people decided to print books in

English, French, Italian, and a lot more. The printing press helped great minds such as

Leonardo Da Vinci, and Martin Luther spread ideas the Church would otherwise kill them

for in a matter of months. The printing press is similar to the modern day internet. Both

significantly have revolutionized the world. Allowing people easy access to information

and making sure the powers that be are unable to control their minds by misinforming or

un-informing them all together. In a world where one knows what is happening, when

they know their government is doing wrong, propaganda is harder to spread. The

printing press was responsible for spreading humanist ideas all over Europe. It printed

books that told people, one must not me uncomfortable to remain a good Christian, and

that people must work and think for themselves to be better people and reach their true

potential. These were ideas that the Church was completely against. Because of that, the
people used their new found thinking skills to assess the Church and the decisions they

made and also take a second look at the institution they were once deferent to.

Martin Luther was a German professor of Theology. He was born in 1483, began

the reformation, and he was one of the great minds that challenged the Church. In 1505,

Luther became a monk after being caught in a thunderstorm. As a monk, he tried to live

a pious life as the church ordered, but disagreed with the ways of the church. He caused

a split so large in the Church, that people began openly questioning and leaving the

Church. Luther used his ninety-five thesis to begin the Protestant reformation. In 1521,

Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church because in his theses, and his

disobedience to the Church. He was quite dubious about the way the Church dealt with

sin. He strongly believed that money could not be used to save people from God’s wrath,

and that people must show faith and good works in order to be forgiven for their sins.

Luther was also responsible for translating the Bible and making people able to interpret

it for themselves. Luther believed that the Bible was the only source of divinity and that

if the Church did not teach that, they were disobeying Gods orders and were not good

Christians. Protestantism was a new sect of Christianity formed. With it came Calvinism,

the belief of predestination, Anglicanism, Which started when the pope did not allow

King Henry VII divorce his wife and he decided to split from the church.

History is a game of chess. Every move impacts all others that would be made.

Constantine was a great leader although he has brought much unneeded animosity into

the world we live in today, he was able to control his people and that will always be his
legacy. The printing press is possible the most noteworthy invention the world we know

has ever seen. It helped men like Martin Luther create a new sect of Christianity which in

turn created three more; Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism. Everything that went

on and that is going on will affect generations to come inevitably, but some will be more

important than others and some will even go unnoticed, but that is history, that is what

will keep the world going. Constantine, the printing press, and Martin Luther have

become legacies. They are immortal and will remain in all our history books because they

are the most