Sentence:  Certainly one of the most important comments that can be made upon the spiritual and cultural life of any period of Western <WSD>civilization</WSD> during the past sixteen or seventeen centuries has to do with the way in which its leaders have read and interpreted the Bible . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a society in an advanced state of social development (e.g., with complex legal and political and religious organizations)