why were cathedrals built and what purpose did they serve in the development of religion?
551873
A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Anglican, Catholic and some Lutheran churches, which serves as the central church of a diocese, and thus as a bishop's seat. As cathedrals are often particularly impressive edifices, the term is sometimes also used wrongly as a designation for any large church. The term "Gothic" is nothing more than high medieval northern European art, especially architecture.\nIt was early decreed that the cathedral of a bishop was not to be placed in the church of a village, but only in that of a city. This was not difficult on the continent of Europe, where towns were numerous and cities were the natural centers from which Christianity was diffused among the surrounding districts. In the British Isles, however, towns were few, and, instead of exercising jurisdiction over definite areas, many of the bishops were bishops of tribes or peoples, as the bishops of the south Saxons, the West Saxons, the Somersætas, etc. The cathedral of such a bishop was often migratory.\nThe history of the body of clergy attached to the cathedral church is obscure, and as in each case local considerations affected its development, all that can be attempted is to give a general outline of the main features which were more or less common to all. Originally the bishop and cathedral clergy formed a kind of religious community, which, in no true sense a monastery, was nevertheless often called a monasterium. The word did not have the restricted meaning which it afterwards acquired. Hence the apparent anomaly that churches like York Minster and Lincoln Cathedral, which never had any monks attached to them, have inherited the name of minster or monastery. In these early communities the clergy often lived apart in their own dwellings, and were not infrequently married. In the 8th century, however, Chrodegang, bishop of Metz (743-766), compiled a code of rules for the clergy of the cathedral churches, which, though widely accepted in Germany and other parts of the continent, gained little acceptance in England.
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Catholic churches are governed by Dioceses or Archdioceses.  Several churches in the same geographical area are "governed" by a specific arch/diocese.
1181728
Religions for the most part were created during a time when most people still believed the earth to be flat and that is was the center of the Universe.  Generation after generation has been indoctrinated into believing the religion they were born into without ever really questioning it.  It's easier for them to ignore science than face the truth.
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-Castles were built to maintain lordship, in times of war as well as peace.\n-Castles were built to serve a whole variety of purposes, to have a military, political, social and economic role. The emphasis on each of these aspects varied according to the wishes of the lord who built it. He was presented with different options, in military or domestic design, which he had to balance against his resources if he wished to be prudent. The site, the military strength and the domestic accommodation all tell us the sort of life that the lord expected to live in the castle.  ^_^
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All websites support your thesis. It's a well known fact that religion has a major impact on society and the law which governs the society.\n\nHence why we need Hindu Law, Muslim Personal Law etc etc...
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Gothic architecture and art \n\nGothic architecture and art, structures (largely cathedrals and churches) and works of art first created in France in the 12th cent. that spread throughout Western Europe through the 15th cent., and in some locations into the 16th cent.\n\nThe essential character of the Gothic period, particularly at the outset, was the predominance of architecture; all the other arts were determined by it. The character of the Gothic visual aesthetic was one of immense vitality; it was spikily linear and restlessly active. Informed by the scholasticism and mysticism of the Middle Ages, it reflected the exalted religious intensity, the pathos, and the self-intoxication with logical formalism that were the essence of the medieval. Gothic style was the dominant structural and aesthetic mode in Europe for a period of up to 400 years.\nyou may find this site helpful:
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the early church is an abomination to Christianity today. there's no denying the past but it was mans doing and not based on any scripture to persecute other religions. man has used religion to gain power; does that make religion bad or man bad ?
835102
Off the top of my head what little I can remember from some of those Western Civ classes.....The height of the cathedral ceilings and the pointed arches of Gothic architecture are to draw the eye upward toward the heavens.....The mind should follow and dwell on heavenly, as opposed to Earthly, things.
1029963
Ahh, religion is full of guilt and rewards... A little too conveinient wouldn't you say...  Religion is man made, so it is full of the wildest dreams that man can have...
1060371
they stuck with it and became more fanatical,\n\nin Europe the people kind of gave up on religion ,\n\nthey realised the extent of  power and political control ,that came  with it,\nand because Europe was more mixed and of different cultures ,truths about the church and contradictions from the bible were exposed more easily.\nmuch less censorship and control to hide behind as far as religion was concerned .\nmost cathedrals are only for the tourists
333802
which monastries? if youre talking christian, then they were built in th early middle ages to house communities of monks and nuns. They were also there as inns and guesthouses for pilgrims, and hospitals for the sick, as well as libraries. By contrast, buddhist monastries and such were more for contemplation and solitude, less worldly use. They were built by masons, in christian case on behalf of the monk by pios community members, not sure for the eastern ones
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Both. Ultimately religion is a tool in the hands of man. Like any other tool it can be used for good or bad. Even the abscene of religion as in Athiests is a sort of religion on it's own. You see athiest activists wasting taxpayer money on really trivial things such as a courthouse having a copy of the Ten commandments or a phrase in a Boy Scout handbook. \n\nSo fanaticism is independent of religion. You can find it in the Linux vrs Windoze wars. You can find it between programmers argueing over which computer language is best. Religion does not cause fanaticism. Man does. Religion is just a common expression of it. \n\nAs a positive, religions give people a common idenity that often motivates them to help total strangers. Without chruches leading the way in helping the poor there would likely be little or no social services at all today. The Western world is a literate culture because of religion. It was religious scholars who preserved the languages during the dark ages and transcribed the books that allow us a peak into history before those times. It was religious scholars who often document history in the ancient world. \n\nReligion often saves lives. Even if you assume it is a purely placebo affect people every day find a new life and a constructive life through religious transformations. Some stay at it, others don't. But while they are "saved" they live a constructive life and attempt to put away destructive habits. \n\nIt is the promise of an afterlife which shapes many people into unselfish people. After they've tried it they often do it naturally but were there no religion society would become very brutish in a hurry. To see an example one merely needs to look into nations with no religion or religions which do not promote charity and other benificial actions toward society. Rome for example before Christianity was an empire built on strength. Weakness was not tolerated and the weak were expected to commit suicide in shame. It was a society with little pity and little ambition except personal glory and the glory of kin and clan. Human life had little value and the end of it was generally seen as entertainment. \n\nHitler was a good example of Athiesm in practice. The same with Stalin. Many athiests have good intentions and mean well for their fellows, however base human nature will always leave them in the minority. It is very difficult to practice ulteristic motives in a society that does not value them. Religion gives society a reason to value those motives. To sacrafice one's own life for the good of others. Few would do that if they thought there was no after life. \n\nMost major religions promote harmony among citizens. Some are openly pacifistic. This can be a hinderance or a help to society depending on the context. In times of war pacifists are not a help to a nation and every nation finds itself at war or depends on a stronger nation to protect it. Where there no promise of punishment it would raise aggression levels in societies and between societies. Given that all of the major religions promote peace and discourage war as basic tennents I think a world without relgion would mean a world with more wars. \n\nYes there are many examples of religious wars. As often as not they have stronger and deeper roots. For example the Crusades were not a religious war to the leadership of either side. Religion was only a way to motivate the commoner to die in the power struggles between two cultures. \n\nEthnic cleansing comes in many forms and much of it is because of actions not actual religion. The strife in Northern Ireland is more a nationalistic (native Irish against English imigrants who never assimilated into or assimilated the natives into their culture). It was not just Christian against Muslim it was ancient invaders and people who sided with or against the Nazis and other invaders which caused the deep hatreds that bubbled into Bosnian ethnic cleansing. \n\nAll of the ills attribute
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I don't have any solid research but I imagine there were at least a few general reasons:\n\nTo spread out a kingdom because individuals and their livestock needed more land, OR to accomodate growing populations in a certain kingdom/city/empire.\n\nTo provide a safer buffer from enemies, that is, cities in the center of an increasing territory for better protection.\n\nTo secure resources or trade routes\n\nTo convert other people to the expanding religion\n\nTo populate newly/randomly discovered territories\n\nI am editing now, I suppose those things could have been the reason in the very earliest of times but in prehistoric societies, I bet survival sums it up pretty well. Maybe not expansion but certainly the nomadic thing...pick up and move to beat the weather or a threatening pack of animals, to find food or land appropriate to grow food and support livestock. Territory would certainly have had something to do with it, if there was a serious enough pissing contest with a threatening enough adversary, such as an unfriendly neighboring clan, a settlement of people might pick up and move to give themselves more safety by giving the big guy wider berth.
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Because churches - all centers of organized religion - do not care about god at all, their sole purpose is to control the masses and use them; churches are the false prophets, really. Top clerics in all religions would kill god and any true messenger on sight to defend their wealth gained by deceiving people.
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The Crusades. There were seven of them sponsored by various Kings and Popes. \n\nChow!!
1164716
Gargoyle's had dual purposes. The 1st was to scare away evil spirits. The 2nd was architectural, their tongues hanging out of their mouths was actually a rain spout designed to direct water away from the buildings foundation.
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Religious history follows the chronicles of how a religion began and how it has impacted a culture.\n\nNormal history is a gambit of how a people progressed through the ages.  Religion will be a part of this too, but it won't be the focus.