Europe from the 5th to the 18th century was the best and most peaceful period in European history.
I posted another comment earlier detailing the multiple genocides inflicted by Pagan tribes against one another in prehistorical times and later by the Pagan Romans who committed genocide against numerous European nations.
Not one nation in Europe suffered genocide under Christian rule between the 5th and 18th centuries. With the rise of secularism, the British state committed genocide against both the Scots and Irish in the 18th and 19th centuries. The secular French Revolution murdered hundreds of thousands. And of course the 20th century was truly the darkest in human history with both Nazism and Communism.
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... Peaceful? The doubtfully complete list of European conflicts during that time period on Wikipedia is too long to fit in a post. Pretty long list for the best and most peaceful period in European history. Psst. some of those are even fought over religion. You know, Protestants vs Catholics. Or do only one of those count as 'christian'
Just from the top of my head:
Persecution of Huguenots in France during 17th century
Yeah. Those Christians were really peacefull.
Genocide isn't the only kind of mass-murder, asshole. The Church (and state, but they were one and the same during most of that "peaceful" period) killed a lot of heretics, witches and others who were perceived as committing crimes against God's Word. Think Sharia Laws, False Nonthinker, that's how peaceful the Christian Rule during the Dark Ages were.
Nazism was supported by the Catholic Church. Quite a bit of the killings in that darkest period happened in Northern Ireland, during the Troubles.
"Europe from the 5th to the 18th century was the best and most peaceful period in European history."
No need to read further - massive fail. Almost blowing the warp core. Then:
"Not one nation in Europe suffered genocide under Christian rule between the 5th and 18th centuries. "
Sorry cap'n, ye canna abuse t'engines like that!
And that’s why there were conflicts with names like 100 years war“ and “30 years war” in this period
One wonders what all these knights, mercenaries, soldiers, warriors etc. were doing with all that free time they apparently had. Maybe they spent it building all these castles, fortresses and fortifications you still can see everywhere in Europe. Or by inventing, developing and/or perfecting numerous weapons, including longbows, crossbows, swords, cannon and firearms. But then one would again wonder why they would need them in the first place
Europe from the 5th to the 18th century was the best and most peaceful period in European history.
Earlier in the Middle Ages, the records are scantier and we have to rely on a very small number of sources. Later, however, the picture is clearer: there was a war going on somewhere in Europe for every year of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, every year of the 17th century bar fourteen and every year of the 18th century bar seven. That's 21 years of peace in 500 years.
How about the Hundred Years' War, the Crusades within Europe as well as those outside, the Wars of Religion, or the Thirty Years' War which destroyed a third of Germany?
Not one nation in Europe suffered genocide under Christian rule between the 5th and 18th centuries.
The Wends, the Albigensians, the Polabian Slavs, the Old Prussians, the Semigallians, the Mudéjars and especially the Jews would like to differ.
Total history fail.
That's, errrrm, impressive. Impressive BS revisionism, of course. Not the usual things we read here, yet thanks for submitting anyways.
Didn't persecution of "witches" peak during this time frame. 12th to 17th centuries I believe. Oh, and there was the plague as well. Yeah, great time to be alive. Especially if you were a single woman and your neighbors cow got sick.
@Doubting Thomas & Grimsoncrow:
There was also at least one in what is now part of France, the Albigensian Crusade. And there was the Prussian Crusade by the Teutonic order.
Someone clearly missed history classes at school.
Can you say 'Crusades', Lies FAIL (non)thinker? I know you can.
Oh, I think you'll find that it was from the Renaissance onwards that real peace was found. As people started questioning the RCC's authority, thus this theocratic regime started crumbling.
And compared to the genocides in the Old Testament, Secularism deserves to destroy religious fundamental ism. We Brits should know, via the English Civil War: Catholics vs. Protestants. Where was Secularism then ?
"the 20th century was truly the darkest in human history with both Nazism and Communism."
WWII: All those Luftwaffe bombs/V-1s/V-2s used against us. Can you say 'Gott Mit Uns'? I know you can.
All that's left, re. hardcore Communism, is North Korea. Russia's annexation of Crimea. Poo-tin. Russian Orthodox church and all that jazz...!
Not one nation in Europe suffered genocide under Christian rule between the 5th and 18th centuries.
The Thirty Years War wiped out almost half the population of Europe. It's considered one of the most horrific events in history, full stop.
The Thirty Years War was about religion, Christian religion, Christian against Christian. Go figure.
If you want to go to bed with nightmares, read up on the Thirty Years War.
Hussites, 30 Years War.
You must learn your history from the back of a cereal box.
Look up Queen Isabella, for starters. Not many people can say they were hated by Protestants, Muslims, Jews, and Meso-Americans all at the same time. There's a reason for that. And hell, that's just one example.
Here we have the Internet, the greatest fact-finding system ever invented, and this shithead comes up with the biggest pile of bullshit ever.
Jeebus Harvey Chrispy, TF, just type "St. Bartholomew's Day massacre" into Google and prepared to be sickened.
>>Swede
Actually witch-hunting is a fairly modern phenomenon. During the Middle Ages the Church, at best, highly frowned on belief in witches, and sorcery. They believed that God alone had dominion over the earth, and that he ruled by, and through the Church. To imply that Satan had any influence, was to challenge God and therefore, the Churches authority.
It was the invention of the printing press, and an obsession with the occult amongst the upper and the emerging middle class of the early modern era, that lead to widespread belief in witchcraft. If you research any occult school of thought that exists today, in the West, they all ultimately trace their roots back to the Renaissance, even though, most of them try to pretend like they've been around in some form since the earliest days of civilization.
The church certainly latched onto the belief, and made it their own, once they realized that it was pretty much futile to try and suppress it any longer.
bullshitter. but let's say it's true. i find it interesting that you only seem to mention genocides by europeans against europeans. by the sounds of it, genocides committed by europeans against non-europeans would slip your notice, because it wouldn't harm eurpoe's peace and it wouldn't cause europeans to be murdered, the only kinds of mass murder you mention.
it's very interesting.
Not much thought was put into this gem, free or otherwise.
I wonder what it's like to be this stupid/ignorant/clueless/duped.
The 13th century massacre of the entire population of Beziers was orchestrated by the Catholic Church under Pope Innocent III. They killed a reputed 20,000 people, then burned the town to the ground just to get rid of a handful of "heretics" (Cathars).
"With the rise of secularism, the British state committed genocide against both the Scots and Irish in the 18th and 19th centuries."
Yeah, Oliver Cromwell's army burned, raped, and pillaged out of the good of their hearts. Nothing to do with religion, no siree. And it was totes awesome before 18th and 19th centuries!
Europe from the 5th to the 18th century was the best and most peaceful period in European history.
You've gotta be fucking kidding me. I'm not even going to respond to that because I'm awestruck anyone would actually try to argue something so completely wrong on every level.
Not one nation in Europe suffered genocide under Christian rule between the 5th and 18th centuries.
Besides, you know, the Jews. And leaving out genocide, we certainly can't forget about the Thirty Years War with 1/3 of the population of Germany dying.
Someone who doesn't know what genocide means. Genocide against the Scots was never attempted. The Highland clearances did happen, but I don't know if the people who did it were secular. More likely they were good God-fearing Christians. One could argue about the Irish. But the people who were exporting grain from Ireland while the Irish peasants starved were probably not secular, but, again, good God-fearing Christians.
I'll give him the French revolution, and Communism, but not Nazism. The Holocaust was at least partly influenced by old-fashioned Christian anti-semitism.
[Also, this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conflicts_in_Europe )
So what happened to the Old Prussians when they didn't abandon their old gods for Christ? What happened to the Muslims of Andalusia? How did Ulster come to be inhabited in large part by Scottish Presbyterians?
Christianity has typically opposed genocide, preferring forced conversions. That doesn't mean religious leaders were always able to prevent it, and in many cases they didn't care; 1300 years is a long, long time.
"Pagan Romans who committed genocide against numerous European nations."
But by the time there were anything even vaguely resembling 'nations' in Europe, Rome was both Christian and in rapid decline. Explain.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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