During medieval times in Europe, the only religion to be recognized was that of Christianity particularly the Catholic faith. The lives of both men and women were undeniably dominated and defined by the Christian faith. It matters not what tier or status you have, you still fall under Christian religious dominance. The lives of many, no matter what occupation were dedicated to, follow Christianity. Many monasteries and institutions were created for support and worship and thus gaining more wealth and power. The events that played out due to such a system brought great change to the Catholic Church and those surrounding it. It led to splits in the Church which is called the Schism of 1054. The prospects of the Roman Catholic Church were questioned by many men like Martin Luther who actively pointed out the wrongs in the Church’s doings by posting his 95 theses and he brought a call for reform within the Church. Further splits were coming with the invention of Protestantism. It wasnt uncommon to see those who would pray to God five times a day or to see those who
would attend mass at any opportunity they had. When good fortune would come upon them, they would kneel and thank God, and when misfortune plays, they would take the blame for their sins. This is where the issue of ignorance can be seen. The issue was that the Christian faith was everything and the only thing that mattered among the common folk. They fail to question anything because they believe that Christian dogmas are the only things to believe in. When the Black Death came around, most blamed it on their sins, nothing else. It was so apparent that no one questioned or looked into any other cause. They would pray, and even when they knew deep down that nothing worked, they would just say that they failed to pray enough, they failed to commit completely to their faith, never anything else. In reality, if these people could only keep up good hygiene, the crisis would have been prevented. Maybe the cause of sin was what they wanted to believe to further strengthen their faith. This is where I would say that secularism was actually a step in the right direction.