The Role Of The Church In The Middle Ages

During the medieval age, Europe underwent significant changes that shaped its political, social, and cultural landscape. Spanning from the 5th to the 15th century, this period saw the emergence of powerful feudal states, such as the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. The feudal system dominated society, with a rigid hierarchy of nobles, knights, and peasants. Religion played a central role in medieval Europe, with Christianity being the dominant faith. The Roman Catholic Church held immense power and influence, and its authority extended over both spiritual and secular matters.

These relationships were called feudalism (Doc. 1). Feudalism and the Church greatly contributed to the social, economic, and political life in Europe in the Middle Ages. “Feudalism was a political, economic, and social system which included kings, nobles, knights, and serfs (Doc. 1).” Every position or status had a job that benefitted another ranking (Doc. 1). For example, a king grants land to nobles, nobles granted land to knights, and knights grant land to serfs (Doc. 1).

The Middle Ages was a period that lasted from about 500 to 1500(OI). There were kings and queens, nobles, knights, and peasants (Doc. 1). People were treated and respected differently according to their class(OI). There were special relationships and responsibilities that everyone had. In the Middle Ages feudalism affected people’s lives economically, socially, and politically.

The three levels would be The Clergy, which was the highest part of the social system this consisted of Bishops, which administered to the needs of the priests, the Priests, cared for the spiritual life of the population. The Priests were a big deal during the middle ages because the population or the people went to them to confess their sins through confession. The Clergy also held the Monks, which were men who lived in monasteries and served as example of the perfect Christian life. Nuns were the lowest part of The Clergy social system, Nuns pretty much consisted of younger girls whose parents placed them in there to make sure they have a secure life.

The Middle Ages was the time period after the fall of the Roman Empire around 500 CE to the 1350’s. During this time the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope held the most power throughout Europe, the priests often lived in a closed area inside the walls of the monasteries. “Schools were few. Illiteracy was widespread” (Background essay) because of this average person of this time was illiterate .and more than 85 percent of the population were farmers and peasants called serfs and they worked in an estate for the owner called the lord.

Introduction From 700 A.D to 1400 A.D, feudalism was the way society was ruled. God and the king had all the power during the Middle Ages. Peasants and serfs were the lowest class. Your family history and wealth determined your class level.

Before the industrial revolution two there were two major classes: the nobles and the peasant. Nobles gained most of their wealth through inheritance while peasant worked the land given to them by the nobles. The peasants were forced to give up most of their harvest to the nobles in order to pay for their land. During the industrial revolution two new classes emerged the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie was the middle class and the proletariat was the working class.

Underneath the nobles and barons, there are knights that are trained from the age of 7. In return for service to the nobles and barons, they are given grants of land. The peasants and serfs are on the bottom of the social system, there are peasants who farm the land in return for shelter and protection (history.com). This compares with

Lived on a Nobles property. The last social class which is not included on the Feudal system was the Clergy which included Popes, Bishops, Priests and

In the Middle Ages, the power of people impacted the society, because of the Feudal System. In other words, the rankings of people. There were four groups. The Kings and Queens were at the top, then the nobles, the knights, and last peasants and serfs(Doc. 1). Serfs and peasants had very little land given and they even had to provide food that they farmed for the knights and nobles.

The class system that defined Europe during the Middle ages was very similar to the caste system implemented in India. These systems both had a single leader atop the order followed by wealthy landowners and intellectuals. In the Middle ages like India the lowest level of society was subjected to manual labor and harsh living conditions. Also, in both of these systems the gap between wealthy and peasant was extremely large. The people that gained from these conditions were the upper classes because they were able to make a lot of money off the back of these lower-class individuals.

In the medieval society in Europe, there were the nobles, kings and the Pope who claimed religious and political

1. The bourgeoisie developed into the dominant class by dismantling the feudal system of societal relations. Through machinery and manufacturing they took over society’s means of production from guilds. Guildmasters and specialized classes were all transformed into wage labor under the management of the bourgeoisie. As demand increased they accumulated more and more capital, thus controlling more and more of the economy.

Rome to Renaissance Essay What do the sources for this course tell us about the Church and politics in the middle ages. During the Middle Ages, various events caused the Church to become gradually powerful and dominant as it was the only universal European institution. The fall of Rome resulted in the Rise of Christianity. As Rome ceased to be the political centre and was replaced by Milan and Nicomedia, Christianity slowly began to rise to prominence and by 325AD, Christianity was made the preferred religion of the empire. By 380, Christianity became the official religion.

The Middle Ages was a time full of systems and different jobs that made the era run successfully and truthfully. Feudalism was the major basis of the time period since it covered the society’s political information and loyalty. Along with feudalism was the system of manorialism, the system that gave people an economic lifestyle so they could make money and survive. There were many helpers to keep the systems running, the main helper was the Reeve who assisted the Lord in running the huge manor. The Reeve was a helper in the middle ages that contributed to the major systems of feudalism and manorialism.