Medieval Social Hierarchy

One economic system used in Europe during the Middle ages was manorialism, and one system used during the Industrial Revolution was capitalism. Manorialism was used back when there were kings and peasants, and rendered the peasants dependant on the king's land. Capitalism is when the economy is controlled by private businesses, and not the state or

The Church was the absolute most predominant foundation in medieval life, its impact invading practically every part of individuals’ lives. Its religious observances often shape to the plan; its customs checked every minute in a person 's life; and its lessons supported standard convictions about morals, the significance of life and existence. Church in Western Europe was recognized as the Roman Catholic Church went from the religion of the Roman Empire to the official religion and the most powerful institution of the Middle Ages. All of Europe had been converted to Christianity by the year 1000. Although this process was peaceful at times but other times it got downright ugly.

Religion was far more important in almost every aspect of Medieval life than it is in most modern societies. The majority of people in Europe followed the Christian religion under authorizing of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church in the Medieval Era possessed great wealth, political power and influence over art, architecture, community life and education. It's religious acknowledgments gave shape to the calendar and its spiritual rituals marked important moments in an individual's life (such as baptism, acceptance, marriage, forgiveness, holy orders and the last rites). Its teachings depend upon dominant beliefs about ethics, the meaning of life, and the afterlife and Churches where ultimately the only connection that the peasants and nobles shared.

The Catholic Church was by far the largest owner of land during the Middle Ages. While bishops and abbots occupied much the same place as counts and dukes in the feudal hierarchy, there was one important difference between the religious and secular lords. Dukes and counts might shift their loyalty from one overlord to another, depending on the circumstances and the balance of power involved, but the bishops and abbots always had (in principle at least) a primary loyalty to the church in Rome. This was also an age during which the religious teaching of the church had a very strong and pervasive influence throughout Western Europe. These factors combined to make the church the closest thing to a strong central government throughout this period.

The church in the Medieval era, however, was incredibly powerful and mostly unopposed. Salvation, to the religious, was and remains the most important aspect of faith. Religion without a fate after death is almost entirely hopeless and borders on nihilistic. The Catholic church used this incessant fear to fuel their political vendettas. This is made evident by the attempted squelching of the Reformation sparked by Martin Luther as well as the expulsion of the Moriscos, Jews, and Protestants from Spain. The church had successfully convinced an entire continent that the only true way to attain eternal life was through the doctrine of the church. This gave the Pope authority, power, and uncontested control over the Christian people, for a

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.

The Church had a lot of power over the government(OI). For example the church had so much power that the Code of Chivalry has rules that talk about the church. In the Code of Chivalry it states “Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches, and shalt observe all its directions”(Doc 5).The Code of Chivalry is important because that is the code the knights followed.That is how the politics of the Catholic Church influenced the Middle Ages of Rome.

Throughout the time frame between 1450 and 1700 the Catholic Church had power over all European countries because the main religion everyone followed was Catholicism. One main priority

In the Middle Ages, everyone believed in the same ideas, so the Popes were very influential, while in the Renaissance, some people became Protestant, so the Pope held much less

Honore de Balzac once said, “Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.” In the law system of the Middle Ages, one of the major courts was the church court, where the leaders of the Catholic Church held the jurisdiction. However, there were countless problems with the attitude of the church and the misdeeds they performed. Despite the fact that medieval laws were justified in the eyes of religion, it was the abuse of those administering the laws that caused the failure of medieval justice system.

This law, rooted in religious teachings, regulated many facets of daily life, including morals and marriages. During the later Middle Ages, the law of Europe was governed by the Church. An entire jurisdiction was exercised by the church which protected the widows, orphans and helpless and also dealt with offenses. Popes of the Middle Ages eventually had a power over all rulers, even kings and emperors. The pope was the leader of a bureaucratic structure of churchgoing men in charge of church-related business. Based in Rome, the pope was the medieval Church's leader. Church leaders such as bishops and archbishops sat on the king's council and played leading roles in government. Bishops, who were often wealthy and came from noble families, ruled over groups of parishes. The Roman Catholic Church was the supreme power during the Middle Ages. It was the stabilizing force in everyday life which kept the community framework together. The laws and rules of the land, public policies and governance of the people were all affected by religion during the Middle Ages. Any attempt at threatening Christianity by other religions was met with force and all measures were taken to spread the religion in other parts of the

The body politic is a way of comparing society and government to the human body. The comparison is used to show that if the government and the people work in unison they will be effective like the human body works together to make the vital organs function. The body politic has changed over time, but the need for the people and the government to work together has not.

They came up with this idea called the great chain of being. The basic notion is that everything in the universe, from God all the way down to people, animals, plants and even rocks, has a set, unchangeable place in the proper order of things. The system feudalism was based off of the great chain.According to the great chain some people (nobles) were better than other people (serfs) (Richardson 2). Like the feudal system, the Roman Catholic Church has a complex hierarchy that orders the spiritual life of every person, and in many cases their daily toil. The pope is the leader, the head of the church he is representing God on earth. Below the pope there's the Cardinals and so on(Hunt 44). The Catholic Church was the only church in Europe during the middle ages. It had its own laws and leaders such as bishops and archbishops who sat at the vassals council and played leading roles in the government (Peppé). A little fun fact of peasants daily life they usually ate meals of heavy, dark bread pottage, six soup made with greens in the water, crops were added for flavor this was one of their daily meals(Cels). Life in the middle ages was hard for many people, your house, food, live all depended on your

People faced the rise and the fall of the Catholic Church during the medieval time. The Popes used to hold the final authority for the church and over the state. Pope Gregory VII asserted the Pope had granted the divine power from God because Saint Peter was the first of getting this

During the Medieval Ages the Catholic Church was able to rise to one of the most powerful institutions in Europe. After Rome subsequently