The Global Role of Religion in Politics and Commerce: 1400 - 1650

The Global Role of Religion in Politics and Commerce: 1400 - 1650

Paul Ludwig

Professor Jason LaRocco

HIST 115 7980 World History I

April 03, 2017

What role did religion play in politics and commerce in the various cultures of the world between 1400 and 1650? 

        The most significant role religion had on politics and commerce during the period from 1400 to 1650 was directly related to, and influenced by, the expansion and growth of communication and commercial trade networks that linked every region of the world to every other region. The most dramatic example of this is that people of Afro Eurasia began to interact on a large scale with people of the Americas (from the early sixteenth century) ("Big Era Six," n.d.).  The exchange of plants, animals, and microorganisms between Afro Eurasia and the Americas was a direct consequence of the success of European sea captains in permanently linking the two hemispheres. Europeans gained access to important new sources of food including maize, tobacco, and the potato, which were American crops, and sugar and cotton, which came from Afro Eurasia, thrived in the Americans ("Big Era Six," n.d.). This period in history was the first emergence of a truly global economy. From the 1550s onward, silver financed Europe’s increasing involvement in the economy of maritime Asia and subsequently provided the basis of the emergence of an Atlantic-centered world economy ("Big Era Six," n.d.). Religion and politics were intertwined to the point that there was almost no separation of church and state in most regions of the world. Religion had direct influences on politics and law, and the efforts to proselytize could not have been supported, nor been as successful, without the global trade system supporting the spread of religions.

         Religious and political developments during this era saw the greatest changes in European governments. In 1450, the kingdoms in Europe were governed by rulers with only a tentative grasp of political power (Henderson, n.d.). They were fragmented and the political structures were still held together by feudal ties. During the 16th century, the growing wealth of Spain tilted power toward the Habsburg family that ruled many areas of Europe (Henderson, n.d.). Competition for control of the new Atlantic trade system deepened the divisions among them and by the end of the century, rivalries among the countries were intense (Henderson, n.d.). In Asia, the Ming Emperors continued to rule China until the mid-1600s. Although its cultural brilliance and economic achievements continued until about 1600, China was dealing with the same problems that the Muslim empires had: borders difficult to guard, armies expensive to maintain, and transportation and communication issues (Robinson, 2008). The 1500s saw the reemergence of the Mongols as a regional power, this time with the help and support of Tibet. In gratitude, the Mongols bestowed the Tibetan leader with the title of Dalai Lama, or "universal teacher" of Tibetan Buddhism. Also, the famed Silk Road trade fell into decline during this era (Robinson, 2008). New technologies and European control meant that more and more trade was conducted by water causing land-based trade to decrease.

Which cultures showed the most religious toleration:

        Many empires, such as the Persian and the Mongol, encouraged religious pluralism, while others, like the Holy Roman empire and the Sui dynasty in China, had policies favoring a single religion (The Great, n.d.). In Muslim states such as the Abbasid and Ottoman empires, where Islam was the major faith, other religions were tolerated (The Great, n.d.). After the Protestant Reformation, which in the sixteenth century ruptured the Roman Catholic Church, each new European nation-state tended to opt to remain Catholic (France, Spain) or chose one variety of Protestantism (England, the Netherlands, Sweden). In the process, national identity began to inter mix with religious identity requiring the people’s loyalty to both simultaneously. Eventually, the tensions between religious faiths contributed to the shaping of Europe into nation-states and zones of Catholicism and Protestantism (The Great, n.d.).  In the four decades after 1453, the Roman Catholic Church with the advent of world colonialism ushered in waves of Christian expansion into the Western Hemisphere and East Asia. Both Protestants and Roman Catholics sought to spread their faith into the newly “discovered” areas (The Great, n.d.). Meanwhile, increased expansion and militancy among Inner Eurasian Turkic groups and increased Muslim maritime activity, especially in the Indian Ocean, fostered Islam’s continued growth in South and Southeast Asia. The Ottoman empire’s conquest of most of the lands of the Eastern Orthodox Church brought Islam to the gates of Western Europe. Meanwhile, Muslim traders and missionaries carried their faith into central India, Inner Eurasia, and Southeast Asia (The Great, n.d.). To the south, Islam was prospering in Africa, dwarfing Christian efforts at conversion there. Meanwhile in the Indian subcontinent, Afghan and Turkic armies based in Afghanistan penetrated the Indus and Ganges valleys and had established nominal rule over large areas of the region (The Great, n.d.). In 1526 the Mughals, another invading Turkic nomadic group, conquered northern India and established the Mughal empire. During the Mughal era, Islam spread across India, winning many converts, especially in the Punjab and Bengal (The Great, n.d.). These conversions were largely the result of Sufi missionaries, that is, adherents of mystical beliefs and practices. In the thousand-year relationship between Hinduism and Islam, both conflict and synthesis occurred (The Great, n.d.). Islam has left an indelible impression on Indian culture, and it has been an integral part of Indian history. Buddhism in East Asia, without state patronage, had blended into a tradition of Neo-Confucianism. Buddhism. in a variety of forms. not only dominated China but also became the official state philosophy in both Korea and Japan (The Great, n.d.). Korea combined Shamanism, Neo-Confucianism, and Buddhism. In Japan Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism intermeshed with the native Shintoism (The Great, n.d.).