Aside from being monotheistic belief systems that arose in the Middle East, Christianity, Judaism and Islam have a great deal in common. There are notable similarities in notions of sacrifice, good works, hospitality, peace, justice, pilgrimage, an afterlife and loving God with all one's heart and soul.
The Institutes of the Christian Religion was a text written by <span>John Calvin and it dealt with </span><span>Protestant systematic theology, serving as a textbook for protestants.</span>
Feudalism is the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.<span />
Some european governments, even before the advent of the Exploration Era, had the practice of giving wealthy individuals the right to economically exploit their newly discovered territories as a means of attracting investments to fund their expansion, with Portugal being one of the earliest examples. In the 1440s the Crown of Portugal divided and donated its recently found island of Madeira to a number of nobles close to the court, being the first Captaincy, Machico, given to Tristão Vaz Teixeira in 1440. The scheme was successful and was then repeated during the colonization of Brazil.
Private investments helped the european courts secure their positions on those new territories and cover their financial shortcomings. It was exerted through official sponsorship of certain expeditions in the form of politicla, technical, military or other forms of assistance, or the patronage of individuals close to the administration.