History of Western civilization AS405

Running head:WESTERN CIVILIZATION
History of Western Civilization
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WESTREN CIVILIZATION
Introduction
Western civilization has a long history and traces its development from the
Mediterranean and Europe. It has been linked to the medieval Christendom that emerged in
the middle ages and the emergence of the Roman Empire. The transformational periods
occurred in periods of middle Ages such as the Renaissance, the industrial revolution, the
Reformation periods, the Enlightenment periods, the scientific periods and the development
of a liberal democracy. The Greek civilization and the classical Ancient Rome kingdom are
considered seminal periods in western civilization and history (Embree, & Gluck, 2015).
Influences by the Roman Catholicism, Christianity and other significant religious
contributions also played a prominent role in shaping the western civilization and cultures.
Behind all these events are famous people who played major role in revolutionary civilization
of culture. The fall of Rome in the fifth century and the middle ages was inspired by some of
the people who will be mentioned in this report.
Alexander III( 1105-1196)
Alexander III was born in 1105 in Siena Rome with the original name of Rolando
Bandinelli. He was the pope from the year 1159- 1181 during which the Roman empire had
started being influenced by the Catholicism. He was known as a vigorous exponent of the
powerful papal authority dearly against the challenges and barriers that were put by the Holy
Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa and the king of England by then Henry II (Graham,
2017). In his rule of the church, Alexander stood in the reform of tradition and law. His main
concern was for education which witnessed the development of early education with

WESTREN CIVILIZATION
development of universities where he acted both as a pope and a teacher. He ordered that
teaching licenses should be confirmed to worthy candidates without any charge.
Medieval kings and popes – Henry and Gregory
During civilization emergence, kings and popes were revered and were very
influential. In the middle ages, King Henry was the most powerful king in Europe. However,
Gregory was willing to give him problems in administration of the vast kingdom. Gregory
was threatening the king and was ready to take over although he did not have an army of his
own. Popes were also influential in that Gregory decided to put an end to the civil authority
over the church. Gregory decided that the church had the right to transfer, appoint and
remove the bishops (Mielants, 2016).. The Saxon war was very influential in development of
western civilization where Henry worn and immediately began to restore the royal authority
on winning places. In that year, Henry had not gone to talk to Pope Gregory but he appointed
an imperial candidates arch bishop. He did not take any advice from the pope or the
preceding bishops who were appointees of Gregory. This made the pope very furious so he
wrote an admonishing letter to King Henry.
The Renaissance: 14th to 17th century
John Calvin
When the pope refused to give King Henry a divorce grant in England, he declared
himself the head of the church in England. Some of the people in England felt that the church
had embraced or was too similar to the Catholic Church and therefore formed the more
radicle Puritanism,

WESTREN CIVILIZATION
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543)
He was influential in the advancement of mathematics and classics in his native
country of Poland. He was also influential in formulation of canon law in Bologna and
medicine in Padua Italy. His key interest in astronomy was natured in Italy and developed in
his native country of Poland where he was a canon at the cathedral (Perry, 2015). In 1504, he
saw a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and this drove him to develop an improved system.
He was conservative in nature and never published his works for fear of ridicule but was
eventually persuaded by Rheticus. In 1543, he work was published on his deathbed.
Joan of Arc ( 1412-1431)
Nicknamed the maid of Orleans, Joan was considered a heroine in France for her role
in Lancastrian phase in the hundred year’s war. She gained prominence during the war and
the siege was lifted after nine days (Spielvogel, 2014).. This gave way to the French victory
of the English. She was captured and later handed over to the English and was put on trial.
She was found guilty and was burned at the stake. She died at the tender age of 19.
Martin Luther (1483- 1546)
A Saxon priest and a theologist who was influential in the reformation of the
Protestants. Luther rejected some of the doctrines and teachings of the Catholic Church
leading to the introduction of the protestant movement (Spring, 2016). .

WESTREN CIVILIZATION
References
Embree, A. T., & Gluck, C. (2015). Asia in Western and World History: A Guide for
Teaching: A Guide for Teaching. Routledge.
Graham, L. J. (2017). Introduction to Western Civilization up to 1500.
Mielants, E. (2016). The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western
Civilization by Jonathan Daly. Journal of World History, 27(4), 689-692.
Perry, M. (2015). Western civilization, a brief history. Cengage Learning.
Poling, J. (2018). History 102 History of Western Civilization II Syllabus Spring 2018.
Spielvogel, J. J. (2014). Western civilization. Cengage Learning.
Spring, J. (2016). Deculturalization and the struggle for equality: A brief history of the
education of dominated cultures in the United States. Routledge.