1. Basic Impacts of Religion in Western Europe & the Islamic Empire
Christianity created cultural unity throughout Western Europe
People identified with each other as Roman Catholics
Shared faith & rituals
Islam created cultural unity throughout the Islamic Empire
Conquered people could unite under their new religion
Remember, they were not forced to convert to Islam!

2. Religion influenced architecture & art
Roman Catholicism
Gothic architecture
Cathedrals were huge and tall to represent the glory of God
Included tall spires able to be seen from a distance
Flying buttresses supported the massive cathedral walls

3. Religion influenced architecture & art
Islamic art developed primarily in the forms of calligraphy and arabesques because they banned illustrating humans or beings with souls

4. Religion influenced education
Catholic convents & monasteries (religious schools) were spread across Western Europe as well as universities
Thomas Aquinas & the scholastics- Catholic thinkers & scholars
Thomas Aquinas: balance religion & science, follow “natural law”
Islamic schools, madrassas, and libraries were common & built in cities across the empire,
The House of Wisdom, massive library, in Baghdad
Pretzels = invented at a monastery