Identify some of the features of Christendom in western, northern, and eastern Europe. Compare the Roman Catholic Church and Greek Orthodoxy. How did developments such as manorialism, universities, and the Crusades contribute to Europe's identity as a fragmented, yet distinctive, cultural sphere?

"The history of mankind may be vainly searched for another institution.....which has exercised so vast an influence on human destinies". It is difficult for us to imagine the extent of the influence of the church in the Middle Ages. In Christendom, its power over religion was all-embracing. Everyone belonged to it and anyone who questioned its principles was branded a traitor against God and man. In European civil law in the 12th century, heresy was made a crime punishable by death. The church did not have to depend upon voluntary contributions for its financial support, but reaped a vast revenue from land that it owned and from the "tithe", a regular tax levied on subjects in all Christian nations. The papacy was the term for the office and the authority of the pope of Rome, the successor to Saint Peter as bishop of Rome and head of the universal Church. Also called "the pontiff," "the Holy Father," and "the Vicar of Christ," the pope is the spiritual head of all Christendom and a visible symbol of unity in the Church.

Manorialism represented the economic portion of feudalism where all aspects of life were centred on the lord's manor including the village, church, farm land and mill. Manorialism involved a hierarchy of reciprocal obligations that exchanged labour or rents for access to land. Manorialism also encompassed the political relations between the Lord of the Manor and his peasants. This allowed the Lord of the Manor governmental power which included the maintenance of a court. Manorialism is sometimes referred to as the seignorial system, or Seigneurialism. 

The Middle Ages system of Manorialism was the organization of a rural economy and society. The Lord of the Manor operated the system of manorialism which gave him economic and legal power over his tenants. The lord's land was called his "demesne," or domain which he required to support himself and his retinue. The rest of Manor land was allotted to the peasants, who were his tenants. The land was split up into a large number of small strips (usually about half an acre each). Peasants also had rights to use the common land. and was allowed to take wood from the forest for fuel and building purposes. A peasant's holding, which also included a house in the village, thus formed a self-sufficient unit. 

The Medieval University was a system of higher education that emerged in Western Europe during the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The creation of the university is a matter of debate - how much were they based on the Cathedral and monastic schools of the Early Middle Ages? How much influence did Islamic and Roman classical models have on the development? Or were they unique institutions, the result of medieval teachers and students thinking 'outside the box' and figuring out a new way of learning?. Whatever the reason, by the late 11th century groups of teachers and students started to get together in groups known as 'universitas' - in cities such as Salerno and Bologna in Italy, Paris in France and Oxford and Cambridge in England. The main curriculum was based on seven areas - grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy - all of which were important for a cleric in the Catholic Church.

The Crusades were a series of religiously-sanctioned military campaigns waged by much of Latin Christian Europe, particularly the Franks of France and the Holy Roman Empire. The specific crusades to restore Christian control of the Holy Land were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291. Other campaigns in Spain and Eastern Europe continued into the 15th century. The Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims, although campaigns were also waged against papga Slaves, Jews, Russian and Greek Orthodox Christian, Mongols, Cthars, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and political enemies of the popes. Crusaders took vows and were granted penance for past sins, often called an indulgence.

The Crusades had far-reaching political, economic, and social impacts, some of which have lasted into contemporary times. Because of internal conflicts among Christian kingdoms and political powers, some of the crusade expeditions were diverted from their original aim, such as the Fourth Crusade, which resulted in the sack of Christian Constantinople and the partition of the Byzantine Empire between Venice and the Crusaders. The Sixth Crusade was the first crusade to set sail without the official blessing of the Pope. The Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Crusades resulted in Mamluk and Hafsid victories, as the Ninth Crusade marked the end of the Crusades in the Middle East