Indulgences, relics, crusades(ish), a dynasty, an inquisition . . . hmm. And somehow the U.S. is predominantly protestant. Weird.
Just finished cranking through Bible and Sword which sort of revised my understanding of civilization. It sort of works like this: Judaism - there is one true god, all your gods are wrong. Christianity - There is one true god, and you Jews misinterpreted all that shit. Islam - There is one true god, and you Jews and Christians got a lot of it right but not enough. Protestantism - There is one true god, Jews and Muslims are heretics and the Catholics lost the script. Anglicanism - There is one true god, and while the Protestants are heretics and the Catholics idolaters the Jews are pretty badass. But also wrong. Puritanism - The Anglicans are the most corrupt of all but they were right about the Jewish thing. Except Jews are icky. Pentecostalism - Everybody's wrong but until the Jews are back in the Holy Land Baby Jesus ain't comin'. Lather, rinse, repeat.