Christianity spread throughout Europe over many centuries, beginning in the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. It was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD. Missionaries and monks helped spread Christianity to areas outside the empire, converting nobles and royalty who then helped spread it to the general population. By the 15th century, most of Europe had been Christianized. Major figures like Augustine of Canterbury and Saint Boniface played important roles in establishing and spreading the religion.

1. Christianity
Spreads
Throughout Europe

2. Instructions
for use
Christianity is the largest religion in Europe.Christianity
has been practiced in Europe since the first century,
and a number of the Pauline Epistles were addressed
to Christians living in Greece, as well as other parts of
the Roman Empire.
As of 2010 Catholics were the largest Christian group
in Europe, accounting for more than 48% of European
Christians.[3] The second-largest Christian group in
Europe were the Orthodox, who made up 32% of
European Christians.[3] About 19% of European
Christians were part of
the Protestant tradition.[3] Russia is the largest
Christian country in Europe by population, followed
by Germany and Italy.
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3. Constantine was responsible for the Edict of
Milan in 313, which ended persecution of
Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Also
when faced with squabbling bishops and sects
(and Constantine needed a stable religion to
keep the empire stable), he summoned them to
Nicaea in 325 and instructed the leaders of the
church to sort things out. One result is the
Nicaean Creed (aka the Apostles Creed) which
remains the definitive set of beliefs at the core
of Christianity. Most churches still recite as a
part of their services.
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4. ▫ The Roman Empire officially adopted
Christianity in AD 380. During the Early
Middle Ages, most of Europe underwent
Christianization, a process essentially
complete with the Baltic Christianization in
the 15th century.
▫ Originally, Christianity was a small,
unorganized sect that promised personal
salvation after death. Salvation was possible
through belief in Jesus as the son of God—
the same God the Jews believed in. Early
Christians debated whether they should only
preach to Jews, or if non-Jews could
become Christians, too. Eventually,
Christianity gained followers not only from
Jewish communities, but from throughout the 4

5. SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY IN EUROPE
Initially, the Christianized Romans had no desire to spread
Christianity beyond their borders. Around the time the
Roman Empire collapsed Christianity began spreading
throughout Europe, primarily through the efforts of monks
and missionaries.
The process of the spread of Christianity took place slowly.
It took time for the religion to reach different places and
then it took time for it to be embraced by local people. In
Europe, Christianity began as an urban religion. It spread to
wealthy landowners and then to rural tenant farmers.
Missionaries focused their attention on noblemen. The
belief was that of leader were converted their people would
follow. Attention was also directed at noblewomen. Several
Christian queens converted their pagan king husbands.
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6. Christian Missionaries and the Spread of
Christianity
Missionaries played a greater role in Christianity
than any other religion. Unlike Muslims who
conquered by the sword, Christians relied on
missionaries to spread the word on the fringes of
Europe.
Over time reclusive monks and pilgrims became
missionaries and monasteries were established
that became centers of learning and of Christian
preaching. As early as the second century a
missionary college was founded in Alexandria
and another in Constantinople in 404.
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7. Famous Missionaries and Early Christian
Figures
▫ Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine
monk sent by Pope Gregory to England in
A.D. 597 to convert King Ethlebert of Kent
and establish England's first Christian church
at Canterbury.
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8. ▫ Saint Boniface (675-755) was born in
England and ordained as a priest after joining
a Benedictine order. He is credited with
helping to bring Christianity to Germany and
unifying the tribes there. His most courageous
act was destroying a sacred oak tree
worshiped by the Germanic tribes at the
home of their main god, Thor. After that
Boniface won many converts to Christianity
and was able to found many churches in
Germany and establish himself as the
archbishop of Mainz in A.D. 748. He was
killed by pagans while doing missionary work
in Frisia. He now is often referred to as the
“patron” or “apostle” of Germany.
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9. ▫ Early Christian figure Count Wilfred the Hairy
of Barcelona; Eric Bloodaxe, the last
Scandinavian ruler of Britain, and Nicholas
Breakspeare, the only Englishman ever to
become pope. On other early Christian
leaders in Europe, Fletcher wrote:
"Converting to the religion after a fall from his
horse in about 1114, Norbert adopted a
regime of ferocious asterism (it killed his first
three disciples)...Wulfstan was a realist who
did not ask the impossible of his clergy. They
must shave regularly, must not bring their
weapons to church, must try to keep out of
fights and must not perform in taverns as 'ale
minstrels.'"
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10. Europe Becomes Fully
Christianized
The Coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas day in 800 by the
Pope Leo III marked beginning of Holy Roman Empire and the
unification of church and state in Europe. The Christian conversion
process was relatively peaceful until Charlemagne decided to
covert the Saxons. The brutal campaign Christianity was dealt
some setbacks.
Islam made its way into Spain, southern Italy and Sicily. Rome
was plundered by Muslim in 846. Genghis Khan entered Hungary
Poland and Russia. Tamerlane destroyed Christian settlement in
Asia Minor
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11. 11
Unifying the Christian Church and
Christians Leaving the Holy Land
In 1948, the World Council of Churches---part of the
ecumenical movement to reunify the Christian
denominations--- was founded. One of the goals Second
Vatican Council in 1962-65 was to support the ecumenical
movement. Leaders of different Christian denominations---
including Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Nestorians---
have gathered with Muslim and Jewish leader to prayer
for world peace

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• In recent years mysticism has had a profound influence on
Christianity in terms of Christians developing an interest in
Buddhism and yoga and other eastern religions in a search for
the inner self and exploring mystical branches of Christianity and
Judaism such as Gnosticsm and Kabbalah.
• Christians has traditionally regarded itself as the successor and
legitimate heir of Biblical Israel. Even in recent decades
Christians in once large, healthy and vibrant communities of the
Holy Land and the Middle East has been forced to flee the places
of their birth. According to the World Council of Churches, the
number of Christians in the Middle East had declined from 12
million in the late 1990s to 2 million in the late 2000s.

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First Domed Churches
Roman and Greek temples were primarily homes of the gods. A church was
different in that it was both a house of god and assembly place for worshipers.
The first churches used domes like those on pagan Roman temples such as the
Parthenon to create a space for the worshipped; the altar was placed at one end.
The best example of this kind of church, or basilica, is Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
(A.D. 532) and Saint Costanza in Rome (A.D. 350). The next advancement was
creating a long church with a rectangular plan, instead of round one, and a
system or arches and columns to support it that created a long nave to
accommodate the worshippers. The original St. Peters (begun A.D. 333) in Rome
and S. Apollinare (A.D. 549) in Ravenna are built in this fashion.

14. This is a
slide title
▫ Haghia Sophia
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Constantinople) was the
largest religious building in the world until St. Peters
was completed in Rome. But what was even more
amazing was that it was finished 1000 years before St.
Peters was even started. Also known as Saint Sophia
and Aya Sofya, it was described soon after it was
completed by the historian Procopius wrote as “a most
glorious spectacle, extraordinary to those who behold it
and altogether incredible to those who are told of it. It is
distinguished by indescribable beauty, excelling both in
is size and the harmonies of its measures."
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15. ▫ Haghia Sophia is comprised of a large dome attached to
half domes and semicircular niches. The rectangular
basilica measures 230 feet by 250 feet and the dome is
180 feet above the ground and 100 feet across. Its interior
spaciousness is created by the arrangement of arches,
half domes and 40 stone ribs. Light enters through 40
windows and is focused on the emblematic sun at the
dome's center. There are also great columns and pillars,
intricately designed ceramic tiles and some of the world's
most admired mosaics.
▫ "Haghia Sophia" is Greek for “Holy Wisdom." It is an awe-
inspiring site today, but just imagine what it must have
been like for people who witnessed it when it was finished
in A.D. 536 and there was nothing even remotely like it in
rest of the world. Byzantine Emperor Justinian supposedly
spent 320,000 pounds of gold to build it and upon seeing
the completed product for the first time he exclaimed "O
Solomon I have surpassed thee!"
You can
also split
your
content
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16. Let’s
review
some
concepts
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▫ Medieval Churches
In the Middle Ages, churches were important
gathering places. Town meetings were usually
held inside churches and moneychangers often
greeted their customers on the square in front of
the church. The churches themselves were cold
and dark and there often no chairs or pews, only
a straw covered floor to sit on. Worshippers often
brought hand warmers and cushions when they
attended mass. ["Life in a Medieval City" by
Joseph and Frances Gies, Harper Perennial]

17. ▫ Rise of the Papacy
Even in the early centuries of Christianity, the
Bishop of Rome made claims to be the head of the
church, although it is unclear how much other parts
of the Christian world accepted this claim or what it
meant it practically. The Roman bishops, who were
known as Popes, at times had considerable
influence, but during parts of the Early Middle Ages
the Popes were overseen and controlled by the
Byzantine Empire. However, the Popes were also
prominent in sending out missions to convert other
parts of Western Europe. Gradually the Roman
church broke off from their co-religionists in the
Eastern Mediterranean – the main churches would
be known as Roman Catholic and Orthodox.
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18. Presentation
design
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