How did Christianity affect the post-empire Europe?

Answer 1

The rise of Christianity undermined the old Roman view of the world. For the Roman aristocracy, conducting wars and showing your valour in battle, or better still your tactical skill when engaged in military contests, was an important part of self-identity.

Christ's teachings invalidated this kind of aggrandisement of the military life, so it is not surprising that the aristocracy in Rome were reluctant to accept Christianity. Indeed the Roman Senate was still struggling to put the old order back in its place in the late fourth century, wanting to restore the old Altar of Victory to its usual place in the Senate house, an action that would never have been proposed if the Christians were in the majority in the Roman Senate.

It is significant that, a little earlier, an attempt to redress the situation had also failed. This was when Eugenius, a priest of the old religion, attempt to seize control of the empire in the west. After this, apart from the failure to restore the Altar of Victory, very little is heard of the old Senatorial aristocracy. It was as if they had given up.

In 476, the Senate in Rome decided that it no longer wanted an emperor in the west. The result that followed was that Emperor Zeno (in the eastern half of the Roman Empire) appointed the German tribal leader of the Ostrogoths as his delegate, with full imperial power in the west. The empire in the west had virtually come to an end.

After the effective end of the Roman Empire in the west, it gradually declined as an economic and cultural power-house. It took many centuries for the west to find its new way forward. This eventually resolved itself with power being spread throughout the region, and with different political and cultural centres developing in different parts.

Thus it came to pass that, for most of the period since the end of the Rome Empire in the west, there has not been just one central cultural and political axis in Europe, such as in Rome in the period of the Republic and the Empire. Instead, different centres have risen to importance according to the power and influence that the different regional rulers and powers have been able to exert. In the five hundred years after 476, the most important (or outstanding) of these was the revival of the old authority in Europe, parallel to the former Rome Empire, by the Frankish / German king, Charlemagne.

Answer 2

Christianity played a significant role in shaping post-empire Europe. It provided a unifying force, as the Catholic Church became the dominant institution and a central figure of authority. The spread of Christianity also influenced social, political, and cultural aspects of European society, including the establishment of monastic communities, the development of education and literacy, and the influence on art and architecture. Additionally, Christianity played a role in the conversion and assimilation of various Germanic tribes, making it a key factor in the creation of medieval Europe.