<P> By the year 1000 feudalism had become the dominant social, economic and political system . At the top of society was the monarch, who gave land to nobles in exchange for loyalty . The nobles gave land to vassals, who served as knights to defend their monarch or noble . Under the vassals were the peasants or serfs . The feudal system thrived as long as peasants needed protection by the nobility from invasions originating inside and outside of Europe . So as the 11th century progressed, the feudal system declined along with the threat of invasion . </P> <P> In 1054, after centuries of strained relations, the Great Schism occurred over differences in doctrine, splitting the Christian world between the Catholic Church, centered in Rome and dominant in the West, and the Orthodox Church, centered in Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire . The last pagan land in Europe was converted to Christianity with the conversion of the Baltic peoples in the High Middle Ages, bringing them into Western civilization as well . </P> <P> As the Medieval period progressed, the aristocratic military ideal of Chivalry and institution of knighthood based around courtesy and service to others became culturally important . Large Gothic cathedrals of extraordinary artistic and architectural intricacy were constructed throughout Europe, including Canterbury Cathedral in England, Cologne Cathedral in Germany and Chartres Cathedral in France (called the "epitome of the first great awakening in European civilisation" by Kenneth Clark). The period produced ever more extravagant art and architecture, but also the virtuous simplicity of such as St Francis of Assisi (expressed in the Prayer of St Francis) and the epic poetry of Dante's Divine Comedy . As the Church grew more powerful and wealthy, many sought reform . The Dominican and Franciscan Orders were founded, which emphasized poverty and spirituality . </P> <P> Women were in many respects excluded from political and mercantile life, however, leading churchwomen were an exception . Medieval abbesses and female superiors of monastic houses were powerful figures whose influence could rival that of male bishops and abbots: "They treated with kings, bishops, and the greatest lords on terms of perfect equality;...they were present at all great religious and national solemnities, at the dedication of churches, and even, like the queens, took part in the deliberation of the national assemblies ...". The increasing popularity of devotion to the Virgin Mary (the mother of Jesus) secured maternal virtue as a central cultural theme of Catholic Europe . Kenneth Clark wrote that the' Cult of the Virgin' in the early 12th century "had taught a race of tough and ruthless barbarians the virtues of tenderness and compassion". </P>

Because of increased immigration after the world wars became the center for developing western art