Editing Christianity

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{{Spoilerhd|19 January 2022}}
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[[File:ACV Christian Cross.png|thumb|250px|A Christian cross]]
'''Christianity''' is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of [[Jesus of Nazareth]]. It originated as a sect of [[Judaism]] in the [[Levant]], from where it spread to [[Europe]]. Though initially persecuted by the [[Roman Empire]], its adoption as the state religion by [[Constantine I]] set it on the course of becoming first Europe's most prominent faith and then that of the whole [[Earth|world]]. Its adherents are commonly known as '''Christians''', and in the 21st century, it remains the world's largest religion with a huge number of denominations.

==Beliefs==
As in other {{wiki|Abrahamic religions}}, the central belief of Christianity revolves around the existence of only one deity, the {{Wiki|Abrahamic God}}, who is believed to be a primordial omnipotent entity.<ref name="In Bocca al Lupo">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' – [[In Bocca al Lupo]]</ref>

Unlike Judaism and [[Islam]], however, it also bears the conviction that Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah which [[human]]ity had awaited for and that following the teachings of Jesus would result in mankind achieving eternal peace in the Kingdom of Heaven. In Christianity, Jesus himself is God, a doctrine encapsulated in the doctrine of {{wiki|Trinity}} where though there is one God, God is of three distinct persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.<ref name="WP">{{WP|Holy Trinity}}</ref>

==Denominations==
===Eastern Orthodoxy===
Eastern Orthodoxy is one of the main branches of Christianity and the official state religion of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. After the [[Fall of Constantinople|fall of the Byzantine Empire]], the church had as {{Wiki|Patriarch}} [[Pachomius I of Constantinople]], who was hated by the Templars, and became the target of the [[Byzantine Rite of the Templar Order|Byzantine Rite]]. [[Master Assassin]] [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]] killed [[Cyril of Rhodes]] and prevented the Patriarch's assassination.

==History==
Jesus was a legendary man from Nazareth, near [[Jerusalem]], who was renowned for his divine wisdom and a number of miracles which are believed to have been the work of the [[Shroud of Eden]], which [[civilian|everyday people]] know as the Shroud of Turin. Deified after his death, his most remarkable feat is said to have been {{wiki|resurrection of Jesus|reviving to life}} three days after his crucifixion by the [[Roman Empire]]. His legacy was kept alive by his disciples. By the 5th century, Christianity had become central to [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] politics and society;<ref name="ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref> by the 11th century, it pervaded every aspect of European life. [[Church]]es, places of worship for this faith, were built in virtually every European city, with the largest cities like [[Constantinople]], [[Paris]], [[London]], and [[Rome]] boasting the architectural marvels that are [[cathedral]]s.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref><ref name="ACB">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref><ref name="ACU">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''</ref><ref name="ACS">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''</ref> Rome became the capital of Christendom when its bishop was established as the [[Papacy|Pope]], the supreme authority on Christen doctrine and the community's link with God.<ref name="AC2" /><ref name="ACB" />

===Religious persecutions===
Religious zealotry, however, became a prevailing issue throughout Christianity's history. The 11th to 14th centuries were the high point of the [[Crusades]], a series of religious wars waged by [[Crusaders|European Christian armies]] against [[Saracens|Saracen]] states in the east, principally to conquer the [[Kingdom|Holy Land]].[[File:AC1_Crusader_Sergeant.png|thumb|A Crusader sergeant. Crusaders were Christian warriors who fought to control the Holy Land]] Among the military orders participating in these Crusades was the [[Templars|Knights Templar]], actually a front for the millennia-old, secret organization that thereafter became known as the Templar Order.<ref name="AC1">''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref> In the 15th century, persecution of non-Christians escalated with the [[Spain|Spanish]] ''[[Reconquista]]'' headed by the [[Spanish Inquisition|Inquisition]], where Jews, Muslims, and atheists alike were purged as heretics and [[Auto-da-fé|burned to death]] in public.<ref name="AC2D">''[[Assassin's Creed II: Discovery]]''</ref><ref name="ACReb">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rebellion]]''</ref> Meanwhile in [[Florence]], the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] monk [[Girolamo Savonarola]] used an [[Apple of Eden 6|Apple of Eden]] to seize power and impose his fundamentalist vision by forcing residents to [[Bonfire of the Vanities|destroy works of art and literature]] at pain of death.<ref name="Bonfire of the Vanities">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' – ''[[Bonfire of the Vanities (DLC)|Bonfire of the Vanities]]''</ref>

===Corruption under the Borgia===
[[File:A-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-memory.png|thumb|250px|Mass being held at [[St. Peter's Basilica]], 1503]]
Simultaneously, the Roman Catholic Church became rife with corruption even while it patronized the [[Renaissance]] through artistic wonders like [[Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore|Santa Maria del Fiore]], the [[St. Mark's Basilica|Basilica di San Marco]], and the [[Sistine Chapel]].<ref name="AC2" /><ref name="ACB" /> Cardinals and monks like Archbishop [[Francesco Salviati]], [[Antonio Maffei]], and [[Stefano da Bagnone]] took part in the [[Pazzi conspiracy]], murdering [[Giuliano de' Medici]] in broad daylight,<ref name="Wolves in Sheep's Clothing">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' – [[Wolves in Sheep's Clothing]]</ref> Others like [[Ristoro]] regularly molested [[courtesan]]s at [[brothel]]s and even murdered fellow monks who questioned his devotion to his vows.<ref name="Fiora Cavazza">''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' – [[Rome: Chapter 1 – Fiora Cavazza]]</ref><ref name="Excommunication">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' – [[Excommunication]]</ref> Even outside of Spain, it was not unheard of to find Catholic priests who were wiling take bribes to brand random [[civilians]] as heretics and have them arrested and executed.<ref name="Francesco Vecellio 1">''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' – [[Italian Wars: Chapter 2 – Francesco Vecellio]]</ref>

A great deal of these cases, however, were perpetrated by the Templars. Grand Inquisitor [[Tomás de Torquemada]] led the [[Spanish Rite of the Templar Order]] while [[Rodrigo Borgia|Pope Alexander VI]] was the [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Master]] of the [[Roman Rite of the Templar Order|Roman Rite]] who, prior to his tenure, had orchestrated the Pazzi conspiracy. The Pope presided over an unprecedented level of corruption in the Church, using his [[House of Borgia|Borgia family]]'s influence to extort and shutdown businesses for its own benefit and engage in wanton killings of anyone who offended the Borgia or their patrons, among them scientists,<ref name="ACB" /><ref name="Francesco Vecellio 2">''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' – [[Rome: Chapter 3 – Francesco Vecellio]]</ref><ref name="Conpernicus Conspiracy">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]]'' – ''[[Copernicus Conspiracy]]''</ref> Christian reformers,<ref name="Contracts">''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' – [[Contracts (Project Legacy)|Contracts]]</ref> and women they had violated.<ref name="Well Executed">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' – [[Well Executed]]</ref> Notwithstanding this, he had only become Pope for the purpose of overthrowing God and stealing his power, believing that the being lay dormant in the [[Vatican Vault|Vault]] beneath the [[Vaticano District|Vatican]] and could be slain by the [[Piece of Eden|Pieces of Eden]].<ref name="In Bocca al Lupo" />

===Protestant Reformation===
The Borgia reign over the Papacy collapsed in 1503 under an active campaign by the Templars' sworn enemies, the [[Assassins|Assassin Brotherhood]], to [[liberation of Rome|liberate Rome]]. Tensions between the Catholic Church and common Christians did not end there however. [[Julius II|Pope Julius II]], earning the epithet "the Warrior Pope", actively engaged the Papal States in [[Italian Wars|wars of domination]] over [[Italy]] that were not unlike the conquests of [[Cesare Borgia]], who he had a hand in arresting.<ref name="All Road Lead To...">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' – [[All Roads Lead To...]]</ref> His successor, [[Leo X]], was an ally of the Assassins but was also notorious for the commercialization of {{wiki|indulgence}}s, selling absolution from sins.<ref name="Revelations novel">[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations (novel)|''Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' novel]]</ref>

Church practices such as these alienated Christian [[scholar]]s who agitated for reforms. Among the most notable were [[Desiderius Erasmus]], a prior target of the Borgia,<ref name="Contracts" /> and [[Martin Luther]], an archenemy of Leo X.{{Fact|24 April 2020}} The two were at odds; Erasmus had become an Assassin of the [[North European Brotherhood of Assassins|North European Brotherhood]] and had written a letter in 1512 warning [[Mentor]] [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]] of Luther's radicalism.<ref name="Revelations novel" /> In 1517, Luther nailed his famous ''{{wiki|Ninety-five Theses}}'' denouncing Catholic Church onto the door of a church at the [[University of Wittenberg]], kick-starting the {{wiki|Protestant Reformation}}.<ref>{{WP|Protestant Reformation}}</ref>

The movement triggered more than a century of religious warfare in Europe as governments and families alike increasingly found themselves divided between Catholicism and Protestantism. The schism played a prominent role in the [[English Civil War]] of the mid-17th century, with Catholics largely siding with the monarchy and Protestants siding with the {{wiki|Roundheads|Parliamentarians}}.<ref>{{WP|English Civil War}}</ref>

===Modern legacy===
By way of the European colonial empires, particularly the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] and the [[British Empire]]s, Christianity spread to the [[Americas]] and grew in prominence in [[Africa]] and [[Asia]].{{Fact|24 April 2020}} The thirteen British American colonies which seceded as the [[United States|United States of America]] in the late 18th century was already heavily Protestant at the time of its [[American Revolution|revolution]] as a result of its cultural and political history.<ref name="AC3">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''</ref> At the same time, the faith faced new challenges in Europe owing to the rise of Enlightenment ideas; a significant segment of Parisian society professed to atheism during the [[French Revolution]], rebelling against the church.<ref name="ACU">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''</ref> Nonetheless, Christianity remains the largest religion on Earth in the 21st century.

Its troubled history likely weighed on the mind of the Assassin [[Desmond Miles]] when, on 21 December 2012, he was presented with the choice of either sacrificing his life to save humanity from a [[Second Disaster|coronal mass ejection]] or surviving to become a leader to the few populations of survivors. In the vision he was shown by [[Minerva]] and [[Juno]], he witnessed his future in the latter course, where he would become an exalted hero whose teachings of love and peace would inspire the hearts of many and lead to a rebirth of civilization, but in death, that love would become zealotry and dogma. Eventually, he would become deified by later generations, and the very memory of him as a saviour would be twisted into an icon to justify persecution, violence, and oppression. The vision echoed Jesus's legacy, and Juno even drove home the point that for Desmond to choose that route would mean renewing the cycle. With his mind set, Desmond touched the [[Eye]] that would activate the planetary shield at the cost of his life, thereby saving the world.<ref name="AC3" />

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="180" position="center" captionalign="center">
ACV Celtic Cross.png|The Celtic cross, a variation of the Christian cross in the Early Middle Ages
</gallery>

==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''
**''[[Freedom Cry]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''
**''[[Dead Kings]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''
**''[[Jack the Ripper (DLC)|Jack the Ripper]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Odyssey]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]''
**''[[Wrath of the Druids]]''
*''[[Discovery Tour: Viking Age]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[zh:基督教]]
[[Category:Religions]]
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Biblical mythology]]