Were Christians the terrorists of the Middle Ages?

Answer 1

No.

To the many who will undoubtedly use the crusades as an example; As ugly as aspects of The Crusades most certainly were, they were merely a European reaction to Islamic expansion into the Christian heartland.

It really would be helpful if people would get their history straight.

Answer 2

Some of them qualify I think. Especially the persecutions under the papacy. But I wouldn't say that those who were non Roman Catholic were into that form of communication according to John Foxe, who wrote, "Foxe's Book of Martyrs".

Christianity in the vast majority in these times is not to be compared to the terrorism associated with Islam, where entire Muslim countries persecute people to this day. Islam seeks to do something that Christianity has hopefully learned from long ago: That it is not conducive to peace to require a government to recognize a religion as "The Official" or "Authorized" religion. What happens then is that government will become used to persecute those who have not the same ideas of that religion. The Muslims have never learned this. Everywhere in the world where there is such a government, persecution from government sources have imprisoned and put to death people merely for their thoughts.

Furthermore, the terrorist scheme is funded by some of those governments, perhaps all.

Answer 3

Very much so. The Church had an iron grip on the people and purposely kept them ignorant. Only the rich could go to school and then the schools were run by the Church (was mostly individual tutoring). Those who refused to comply with Church doctrine were either excommunicated (which meant they were shunned by society in general) or threatened with death (Galileo was threatened with execution when he pushed the idea that the Earth orbited the Sun). It reached the height with the Spanish Inquisition.

The Dark Ages began to come to an end when Gutenburg invented the printing press. Up to then books were very precious commodities; each was handwritten and very expensive. With the printing press it was possible to mass-produce books cheaply and get the written word into the hands of the masses. As the forced ignorance began to be peeled off the people began rejecting the absolute rule of the Church. The rest, as they say, is history.

Answer 4

Yes and no.

Terrorists are usually a small minority who are trying to change the state though acts of terror against the general citizenry.

Since the religious leaders either were the state or held strong influence with the state for most countires I do not see this as terrorism.

The closest recent examples I can think of would be Afganistan under the Taliban, Russia under Stalin or Germany under Hitler.

Answer 5

Yes.

Crusades, Inquisition, burning and torturing heretics, witches, or anyone accused of those things with no evidence.

The actual number burned to death, obtained by examining court records and other official documents, is between 50,000 and 100,000. That's only the people burned as heretics and witches - it does not include the many others who died in crusades or in normal executions for other Christian-influenced non-crimes (fornication, etc.)

The Christians got off to their violent start with the murder of Hypatia. That murder, and the burning of the library at Alexandria, were the end of scholarship and human progress in the West for over 1,000 years. What followed are known as the Dark Ages.

Answer 6

No, they are the terrorists of ALL ages in which they had a bible. The other religions have a lot of work to do to catch up, but they really don't want to as they consider it a generally bad idea.

Answer 7

No... there certainly have been wrong things done in the name of religion by people of all beliefs including secular/atheist leaders like Mao, Stalin, Hitler and even Castro and Gueverra whom people like to idolize currently :-) ?? Christian churches did some terrible things in the middle ages but what they did wouldn't fit the definition of terrorism.

Answer 8

The crusaders were. They were just men with a mission. If they were truly christians they would have followed Jesus' plan of love one another and do good to others. They were flawed individuals that do not represent what Christianity is all about.

Answer 9

Yes, the Inquisition alone counts as Terrorism, never mind the Crusades and the forced conversions.

Answer 10

No they thought that they were freeing the Holy Lands.

And many people have used the name of religion, to hide their own agenda, but that doesn't mean that all Christan's through the ages were bad.

Answer 11

Yes