How Did Religion's Influence On Culture

Over the course of the early modern period, specifically the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, religious power consolidated itself around cities that were the political hearts of their respective faiths. As the main influence on culture during this era, religion shaped the way that people around the world understood how to live. This concept manifested itself in different ways within the cities of Rome and Istanbul; these centres of power were influenced by distinct religious institutions with disparate intentions. Despite the unique religious organizations in both cities, similarities arose due to both being defensive of their sacred texts. The most prominent difference between Rome and Istanbul was the different institutions from which religion was spread through the cities during this period. On the one hand, Rome’s main religious institution was the Catholic Church, led by the Pope. This position, that of the Bishop of Rome, holds primacy over all other bishops in the Catholic Church. During the Baroque Period in Rome, the Papacy’s earthly powers, alongside their spiritual ones, were at their zenith.
Whereas Rome had this Catholic presence, Istanbul’s …show more content…
Although they aim to achieve the same goals at points, be it spiritual or physical, these institutions attempt to resolve, in different fashions, the problems that they are overcome with; this contrast can be attributed to the different religious regulations that the Catholic Church and the Shariah courts were bound by. These institutional differences between the religions, in how the political and religious facets of each intertwine with one another, could display early signs of why Islam and Catholicism interact with political institutions in distinct