preview

What Role Did The Church Play In Medieval Europe

Decent Essays

The Church during Medieval Europe was the most predominant institution of the time. The Church's power and influence penetrated deep into people's lives and served an important purpose in nearly all facets of Medieval people's day-to-day lives and practices too. For Example, the Church's sacramental and religious rituals distinguished certain significant events and rites of passages in people's lives. These significant events include: baptism, penance, confirmation, holy orders, marriage, the last rights and so forth. Furthermore, the Church's teachings were for the most part responsible for the predominant ideas and beliefs of ethics, morals and daily life of Medieval Europe. One could suggest that one of the main reasons why Church was such …show more content…

The church during this time was separated into two somewhat non-equivalent 'sections' (for lack of a better word). One of these sections, was the regular church, those who followed the monastic rule, and the other was the secular church, which of course, was followed by the general population of Medieval society. The secular church played an important role in Medieval civilisation as most of the regions that civilians lived in were administered by archbishops of the church, and subsequently, territories were separated into what is known as diocese, and these areas too were managed by bishops. The church was the primary assemblage of the Christian community, and it is believed that people in medieval Europe attended church regularly for religious festivals, and of course on Sundays. While on the other hand, the regular church was made up of women and men took vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. These people generally known as nuns and monks, lived in populaces that were governed by a rule. The rule that was most popular amongst these people was the Rule of St Benedict 620-630, which was relatively strict, but not the

Get Access