European answers

Joel AltésJúlia del RíoJavier EspinoNil Jiménez

Adrià Recort

Nationalism versus cosmopolitanism: In the West a number of political, economic, cultural and religious factors destroyed the balance of medieval feudalism. The war in France was in 1346 and ended in 1453. This war caused the both of the country and the authority of the king. Epidemics appear in most of regions, doe to, the Holly Roman Empire abandoned its imperial universalism. Finally, the Church was destroyed by the Great Schism, between the Papacies of Avignon and Rome, paving the way for the great clashes of the 16th century. Faced with this crisis, sought to impose a single rule, and then, the Italian city-states accepted their identity. Bohemia join to Wenceslas and Hungary to Matthias Corvinus. France was against the English. In Spain, Castile and Aragon gathered in 1479. Alpine cantons got a political independence. But this manifestations of nationalism led some rules to do some previously unthinkable things. In 1534, the king detached the Anglican Church from Rome and declared himself its head.

Was Byzantium European? Byzantium was the heir of the roman empire and in the 6th century dreamed to recover the west Germany. But then at the 7th century there was a dangerous threat from the Arabs and the failure of their siege in 677 halted the expansion and saved Christian civilizations as the victory at Poitiers at 732. From then onwards Byzantine Empire looked to the East and Constantinople remained until the 18th century one of the richest and most brilliant cities in the world. Relations with west did worsened, but didn’t cease. The religious separation of the 1054, divided the two churches and Byzantium suffered from waves of Crusaders. The growth of Turkish empire involves Byzantium in an incessant war. Nobody helped them so in 1453 Constantinople fell into Ottoman Sultan’s hands. Then, during 9 centuries Byzantium has protected Christendom from Arab expansion and Asian invaders in the east.