The Importance Of The Church In Medieval Europe

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 Pope was the title give to the head of the church, to which he was changed with the religious care taking of the clergy and other believers. For military aid and expansion, early popes looked to medieval kings like Clovis of the Franks, but by the time of Charlemagne’s coronation by Pope Leo III, it became questionable whether the pope or the king was the higher authority. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe was decentralized with the development of feudalism, and this allowed the only unifying establishment, the Church, to become more powerful. Though the Pope and medieval kings originally held separate roles, with the rise of feudalism the popes gained greater political power despite challenges from kings and lay investiture.

For most civilizations, religious figures have had a large influence over the lives of the common people. The Roman Catholic Church was a very influential figure in many civilizations. It can trace its origins to over 2000 years ago. One of the Church’s most influential periods of this time was the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church played a very big role in the lives of the people during that period. For many, it was the center of their life. The three most important impacts of the Church on medieval life were their secular roles concerning laws and their position over the state, the way that the Church unified Europe, and their power over the common people.

The Catholic church played many important roles during the Middle Ages. First of all it was the only church at that time. Therefore the church did much to determine how people would live. Which means it had tremendous power over people's lives.

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

The influence churches had on Europe was massive. Catholicism was the main religion at that time and people stopped to make the churches the center of everything. Its power had been built up over the centuries and relied on ignorance and superstition on the part of the populace. It had been indoctrinated into the people that they could only get to heaven via the church. Each Catholic church consisted of a priest. Everyone that practiced this religion thought that the priest was their way to heaven, giving him an enormous power. However, the relationship between people and churches was essentially based on money. If people didn't have the same religion as the church they either lied, fled, or they died.

There is irrefutable evidence that over the period of the Middle Ages, both Christianity and Islam have been anchors in both shaping and influencing governance of kingdoms and empires comprising Western Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and territories ruled by Islam. Religion during this period was widely used to set laws,

From being a persecuted religion, Christianity rose up to be an official religion of Rome with the support of the Emperor Constantine and Theodosius I in the fourth century. By the early Middle Ages, the Church had become extremely powerful and was one of the two dominant forces that controlled the entire Europe, with the other being the State. Although the popes and the kings were ought to be supportive of each other, there usually existed between them a constant struggle for ultimate authority over the kingdoms. More than often, these conflicts created tension between the State and the Church eventually resulted in the people's sufferings.

To what extent did the role of the Church influence medieval society? 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.

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

What was its impact on the mission of the church? 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.

The Pope was the supreme authority while there was an emperor who was second in the command. For example, Charlemagne served as the Roman emperor after being elevated to the position by Pope Leo III. The church became powerful in many aspects; the people were required to pay tithe to the church while there was exemption of the church from taxation. The church went to the levels of owning armies as well as cities in addition to playing a great role in the regulation of state affairs.

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

CHHI-301-D10 LUO FALL2013 PAPER 2 The Rise of the Papacy INTRO In the void left by the collapse of the Roman Empire, the bishop of Rome grew even more in both power and prestige beginning in the sixth century and continuing to the reformation in the ninth century. It is the aim of this paper to explain how and why the papacy in Rome became the center of power of the medieval world, the factors contributing to this dominance over Western Europe, and the positive and negative ramifications of the position becoming so powerful. Through this paper you will discover how papacy was able to fill the vacuum of power left by the fall of an empire.

There is irrefutable evidence that over the period of the Middle Ages, both Christianity and Islam have been anchors in both shaping and influencing governance of kingdoms and empires comprising Western Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and territories ruled by Islam. Religion during this period was widely used to set laws,