 After the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Medieval times (or "Middle Ages"), Western and Central Europe were substantially cut off from the East where "Byzantine" Greek culture and Eastern Christianity became founding influences in the Eastern European world such as the Eastern and Southern Slavic peoples.Roman Catholic Western and Central Europe, as such, maintained a distinct identity particularly as it began to redevelop during the Renaissance.Even following the Protestant Reformation, Protestant Europe continued to see itself as more tied to Roman Catholic Europe than other parts of the perceived "civilized world".