How Did The Roman Catholic Church Influence Medieval Society

Significant reforms took place during the reign of King Henry VIII in the 16th Century, which influenced Christianity and the way it is practiced today. Prior to this, the institution of the church was very powerful with the Pope and bishops held in high esteem as they presented themselves as the gateway to God. The Pope, head of the Catholic church, would not grant an annulment in the marriage of Henry VIII to enable him to marry Anne Boleyn and this seems to be the catalyst for the changes to the church’s power pursued by Henry. The Catholic Church’s authority was systematically attacked through a series of events brought about by the actions of Henry, through economic, personal and political means.

Feudalism, during medieval society, was parallel to the existence of the Catholic Church and its influence over the population. Religion permeated all elements of society and the way in which they related to each other. The Church wasn’t only a spiritual power, but a political and economic one and the struggles between the political and religious leaders will be key factors in the development of the medieval world. The church will also be the primary keeper of knowledge in the Middle Ages, and they will accomplish most cultural advancements.

In the Medieval times, the Roman Catholic Church played a great role in the development of England and had much more power than the Church of today does. In Medieval England, the Roman Catholic Church dominated everyday life and controlled everyone whether it is knights, peasants or kings. The Church was one of the most influential institutions in all of Medieval England and played a large role in education and religion. The Church's power was so great that they could order and control knights and sends them to battle whenever they wished to. The Church also had the power to influence the decision of Kings and could stop or pass laws which benefited them in the long run, adding to this, the Church had most of the wealth in Europe as the

Towards the end of the Middle Ages and into the duration of the Renaissance, the Medieval Church’s social and political power dwindled. Centuries prior the Catholic Church gained a surplus of control, largely due to the stability it maintained during the chaotic breakdown of the Western Roman Empire . Yet toward the end of the Middle Ages the Church set in motion factors that would ultimately lead to its downfall as the definitive figure of authority. However, despite political and social controversy surrounding the church, the institutions it established cleared a path for a new way of thinking, shaping society in an enduring way.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was no main dominating force in Europe to enforce laws and protection for the people. The Middle Ages had begun and without the Romans, life became centered around survival. The destabilization caused rates of illiteracy, disease, and deaths to rise dramatically and to remedy the average peasants worry, the feudalism system flourished and required work in exchange for the safety of manors. Yet while there was not a overlooking empire to look towards for authority, the Catholic Church served its role to bring all classes together (Document 6). The Middle Ages will be ultimately known as an age of faith because of the prevalence of violence, power of religion, and the Catholic Church’s preservation of knowledge.

The role of the Roman Catholic Church also had a big influence on the social life of people during the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church “touched everyone’s life, no matter their rank or class or where they lived,” (Doc. 3). The church gave people a sense of belonging. As well, the Code of Chivalry states that “thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them,” (Doc. 5).

To begin with, religion and the church was an extremely important factor in people's lives in the middle ages. For example, the text states, “...he

The Christian impact on feudalism is most notable when looking at the incorporation of religious figures as both lords and vassals. “Along with granting land to knights, lords gave land to the clergy for spiritual services or promises of allegiance. In addition, the church held its own lands, and bishops, archbishops, and abbots and abbesses of monasteries sometimes granted fiefs to their own knightly vassals” (UWS, 235). The ownership of land by the church shows how feudalism incorporates the Christian culture because by having religious leaders in charge of land, it encourages the spread of Christianity across Europe. When talking about the influence Christianity had on feudalism, it is important to incorporate the duties tasked to the members of the clergy. Throughout the middle ages, the primary task of the clergy was to preserve the works of the both the church and the Romans. The importance placed on the preservation of Classical and Christian works in a Germanic structured political system is the epitome of feudalism’s ability to assimilate

The power of The Church, in The Middle Ages, was enormous. It touched almost everyone's life in many important ways. The Church baptized a person at birth, performed the wedding ceremony at people' marriages, and

The greatest power in medieval Europe was the church and few people disagreed with it. Before the black death, most people believed in the church and its teachings. In medieval times, you were apart of the church, jewish, or part of the minority of non-christian. People believed that as long as At the time, all Christians where catholic and cathedrals were built everywhere. They obeyed a pope, the leader of the catholic church. Many church leaders were in it for money and power instead of religion as some of the most important church leaders played a part in ruling the country. Though not all religious people were involved in the government. Monks and nuns shut themselves away in monasteries to pray and serve to god. Church was very important

In the 1400s, Europe had been left in devastation from the aftermath of the black plague. This had left Europe in major religious, social and economic upheavals. Orphans, theft, intoxication, prostitution, brutality and misuse of powerful by important figures were very common. Education was unavailable to anyone without enough money to pay for it, creating an extremely large gap and social division between the classes. Church services and the bible were spoken and written in Latin, resulting in the majority of the common people being unable to understand the true meaning behind the words. As People were unable to read the bible, the only way to connect with God was through church services. Priests and Monks had several different jobs and often refused to help peasants when they asked for it, generating mistrust between the clergy and lay people.

By the late 1500s, Christian denominations had been popping up all over Europe. This was in response to the reports of indulgences (selling of freedom from purgatory), clerical immorality, abuse of money, along with many other bad actions that were rampant among the Church. It was these problems that Luther and others rebelled and created their own religions. With the rising of these Reformation movements, the Church needed to make some reforms itself. These reforms took the form of educating the clergy, opening monasteries, the Inquisition, and the organizing of councils. In fact, even though Protestant attacks brought these reforms, many of these reforms were needed anyway. The problems in the Church were so bad that the Church would not

People in the middle ages were very religious. People believed that Roman Catholic Church represent God. The church had a big influence on the content spread in the Middle Ages, and they were content with religious or moralistic. The only religion recognized in Middle Ages Europe was Christianity and specifically Catholicism. Christianity in the middle ages dominated the lives. The life of the medieval people was dominated entirely by the church and many religious institutions gained power and wealth. It was single the larges institution in west of Europe. It touched everyone’s life no matter what rank in social class they lived in. Everyone in western Europe was Rome Catholic Christian at that time. From the reaches king all the way down.

In the Dark Ages, the Christian Church had developed into the most powerful institution in Europe; however, in the start of The Church’s rise, there were many Germanic tribes who did not follow its teachings. The Church then gradually mixed old faiths and new religion to convert the Germanic tribes to Christianity. Then in 771, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, supported The Pope and created the first true Christian kingdom in Europe. His Christian faith led the Germanic tribes to follow the teachings of The Lord and convert to Christianity. He encouraged the growth of monasteries and valued priests who could read and write. He made the Frankish Army defenders of The Church and Pope in Rome and gave The Church a financial base by payments of tithe, 10% of peoples’ income, to support The Church and priests. In AD 800, Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, ruler of France, Germany and Italy. In a violent society were cruelty and murder were common, The Church was the only stable body that offered some hope of salvation for suffering people. By the 11th century, The Church owned approximately one-third of Europe, it had its own language, Latin; its own Law, Cannon Law; and its own tax, Tithe. The Church’s eminent power was based upon: the faith of the people, the control of education, the power of excommunication and inderdictment, its ownership of land, its ties with nobility and its control of sacraments.

During the Medieval era, countless cathedrals and churches were built as religion became popular and widespread around Europe. Back in the Medieval period, churches gained an absurd amount of money in various ways, such as people would travel to church to observe relics and donate to be blessed or healed, people would buy indulgences, and people would donate their land to church when they died.