Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
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Western Roman empire
Eastern Roman empire
North
Sea
BRITAIN
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
GAUL
Black Sea
ITALY
SPAIN
Rome
Constantinople
ASIA MINOR
GREECE
Figure 7.12
The Roman Empire, divided into west
and east.
This map refl ects the split in the
empire, with the western empire focusing on
Rome and the eastern empire focusing on
Constantinople.
© H. J. de Blij, A. B. Murphy,
and E. H. Fouberg, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mediterranean Sea
AFRICA
EGYPT
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that resulted caused many Europeans to question the role
of religion in their lives. The Roman Catholic Church
itself also experienced divisions within its hierarchy, as
evidenced by the Western Schism during the early 1300s,
which at one point resulted in three people claiming to be
the pope. Reformers to the Church soon followed. During
the fi fteenth and sixteenth centuries, John Huss, Martin
Luther, John Calvin, and others challenged fundamental
teachings of Roman Catholicism, leading to the Protestant
Reformation and opposing the practices of the Church's
leaders. The
Protestant
sects of Christianity compose the
third major branch of Christianity. Like Buddhism's chal-
lenge to Hinduism, the Protestant Reformation affected
Roman Catholicism, which answered some of the chal-
lenges to its theology in the Counter-Reformation. Some
countries in Europe, including Switzerland (Fig. 7.13), are
still divided into Catholic and Protestant regions.
Christianity is the largest and globally the most widely
dispersed religion. Christian churches claim more than 1.5
billion adherents, including some 430 million in Europe
Figure 7.13
Religions in Switzerland.
These data
show the concentration of religions by
canton and commune in Switzerland. Two
cantons, Neuchatel and Geneva, sepa-
rated religion from the commune govern-
ment; thus, religion is no longer taught in
the public schools in these two cantons.
In Switzerland's other 24 cantons, reli-
gious matters (including taxes of individu-
als and businesses to support churches)
are handled by the canton governments.
Adapted with permission from
: Bundesamt
fur Statistik, Offi ce federal de la statistique,
Switzerland, 2005.
