Religious+Byzantine

 Mainly Christianity (Orthodox) * A growing religion that followers were persecuted from up until Constantine converted * Became dominant throughout most of eastern Europe * Polytheism gave way to monotheism  How it spread * Missionary appeal * When Constantine made it legal, it was easier to spread and therefore spread faster

Who was involved * Constantine o Constructed many Christian churches during his reign o Protected Christians and did not persecute them himself o Called many councils (Council of Nicaea and Milan, where the Edict of Milan came from, and more)

* Missionaries o Cyril and Methodius both converted people in the Balkans and southern Russia to Orthodox Christianity

* Developed a Cyrillic script for the Slavic alphabet as well o The split between East and West

* Growing separation between Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism * Split from the west showed that it wasn’t just religious differences but also cultural and political differences as well

Consequences * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The schism lasted, never reunited and eventually broke off into even more sections of the church

Lasting effect * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Christianity is now a major world religion and may not have been if they had never gained support from any of the major leaders