Tradition And Authority Around The World Circa 1688

3 Pages 800 Words

Every culture in the world of 1688 had it’s own distinct social traditions. These traditions affected everyday life as well as politics and commerce. The traditions and customs of these societies had been shaped for centuries, some for millennia. These customs dictated how people worshipped, how their governments were set up, and how they conducted business. These deep-rooted traditions set the stage for many confrontations and blending of beliefs to take place all over the world.
The different religious traditions around the globe have been an enormous factor in the shaping of our world today. There have been countless wars over differences in religious beliefs throughout earth’s history. Take the crusades for example, millions of Christian and Muslim faithful died because they both believed Jerusalem was their holy city. The clash between followers of Islam and Christianity was still around in 1688, and is definitely still around today. The funny thing is that both religions are very similar in that they are both monotheistic, they have some holy places in common, similar beliefs, and the Quran even has some of the same characters as the Bible does. Even within these two religions there were quarrels about beliefs, in Islam between the Shi’ite Muslims and Sunni Muslims, In Christianity between Catholics and Protestants. Western Europe was basically torn apart between these different Christian beliefs. France was a stronghold for Catholicism around 1688, banning all other religions, whereas the Netherlands was very tolerant of different beliefs. England was probably affected the most by this clash in religions. The court of James II was a staunch supporter of Catholicism, while the majority of the people in England were Protestant. This is why William of Orange, a protestant, had such an easy time capturing the throne of England for himself.
There was also religious conflict at this time going on in India. Whe...