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Impact of religion on societies
The importance of religion in the middle ages
Impact of religion on societies
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The Pope’s Impact on Medieval European Society
If one thing is for certain, it is that the pope and the Catholic church played a huge role in Medieval Europe. They helped shape the people’s lives and political authority. While the pope was in control of the Catholic church, he was also in control of politics; he was over the kings, and the kings had to answer to the pope. While having so much political power, it eventually lead to the kings wanting their power back and trying different ways to get it back, which lead to a decline in the pope’s authority. The decrease in the pope’s authority lead to the Great Schism; where Europe was split up due to disagreements in the Papacy.
Throughout most of the Middle Ages, the pope had nearly always
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been the main authority of Europe. He worked straight from God and received his authority from God, so he was over the kings who just ruled over lands. The church was a mainstay in Europe and there was a very religious society throughout the continent. The people being so religious helped them stay in the favor of the pope; if he gets his orders directly from God, why mess with him? The pope was more powerful than any of the kings, so who was there to tell him what to do other than God? The church was the wealthiest institution in Europe and the people were very religious, so lots of trust is placed in the church and the pope. The pope had the power of excommunication; which is where the pope kicks someone out of the church. Since anyone could be excommunicated, everyone had this respectful fear for the pope. The pope had a very large range of influence over Europe and was the most powerful man in all of Europe at the time. Even though the pope was over everyone in Europe, this did not mean that everyone liked it. People who really did not like having the pope in charge of them were the kings. The kings did not like being told what to do when they were kings of a country, but they were afraid to do anything about it. If they tried to rebel against the pope, there was always the possibility of them being excommunicated. No king wanted to be excommunicated, but some kings eventually just had too much and decided to take matters into their own hands. One of the first kings to take a real stand against the pope and his authority was Emperor Henry IV. He challenged Pope Gregory VII. They began arguing through letters which ultimately lead to Henry being excommunicated. He begged for forgiveness from the pope and had his excommunication lifted. The next stand against the pope was the people against pope Innocent, who was the strongest medieval pope. He began to increase the power of the pope secularly and this lead to many conflicts. Despite all the conflicts that occurred, the pope was still on top. After the death of pope Innocent, power began to transfer over to monarchs and strong centralized governments. People began to question the Catholic church and its practices. The pope slowly began to lose his power and respect from the kings and people of Europe. The pope’s continual decline lead to a huge split in Europe.
When King Philip IV wanted more money, he decided to tax the church; it was the wealthiest institution at the time. Pope Boniface did not like this, so Philip charged him with heresy and had him arrested. The pope was released just a few days after his arrest, but died shortly after his release. After Pope Boniface’s death, they elected a new pope, Pope Clement V. Clement was French, not Italian. He moved the Papacy to Avignon, France, which began the Babylonian Captivity. This made it possible for the next six popes to be French. People did not like that the popes were French, they wanted an Italian pope. They got their wish, but the French pope did not step down, this lead there two different popes. This gave lead to the Great Schism; a period where two different people claimed to be pope, one Roman and one French. This really split Europe up and caused people to “pick a pope.” To make matters worse, another pope was elected in Pisa. There were three different popes in Europe and no one knew who to trust or who to listen to; the pope lost a lot of respect. Having three popes just got out of hand so the Council of Constance just got rid of them all. After getting rid of the former three popes they elected Martin as pope, who was Italian. The effects of the Great Schism weakened the church’s authority and increased criticism toward
it. Throughout a lot of the middle ages, the church and pope was, above all, including kings and all other authorities. The pope being over everyone lead to many conflicts that caused the kings to try and take their power back from the pope. After having total power for so long, the pope started to lose his political authority and eventually lead to the Great Schism. This in the end weakened the church and pope’s authority and made it harder for people to give him the respect he used to get.
The Pope has agreed to help defend the Byzantine Empire! After being appealed to by Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, in 1095, Pope Urban II assembled the Council of Clermont. In order to help the Byzantine Empire and ensure his power over the church he has decided to call for a military expedition to get back the Holy Land.
In conclusion, the Roman Catholic Church was a major influence on the people of Europe and changed the people lives in many ways.
The periods during the Reformation, Industrial Revolution, and the World at War all experienced religious and church conflicts. During the Renaissance and Reformation (1330 – 1650), the fundamental practices of the church came under fire. The church at this time was the largest and most political body. The pope, himself, was the most recognizable political figure. It was due to this authority that the church and its pope were more interested in political issues and less with the spiritual needs of the people (McGraw-Hill, p. 76). Many of the Roman Catholic Church’s high priests had bought their way into position and had very little religious experience. Often the only members of the community that were literate were the clergy thus adding to their control of the common people.
Pope Urban II was sought by Alexius Comnenus, a Byzantine Emperor who wanted the papacy to help his army hold off the advancing Seljuk Turks in Asia Minor. The reason for Alexius Comnenus contacting the pope rather than another emperor or monarch wasn’t just the fact they were secular, but because the pope would have more power to persuade the people. The Gregorian movement in 1050-80 was ultimately was responsible for the new instilled power of the papacy’s position over nonreligious rulers. The pope agreed to aid the Byzantine emperor, but he also had his own agenda when it came to the military advances and the new power of his position. The papacy did not intend to only help the Byzantine Empire but to further save all of Christendom from being overrun.
5).” “Finally, the Church influenced politics at that time” (Doc. 3).” “The Church unified Europeans and gave every person a sense of how the world worked (Doc.3).” “Ultimately, political leaders only had local power, the Church was the most powerful institution (Doc.3).” These are just some of the things that we’re going on in the politics of the Middle Ages.
...and France. However once the Great Schism came about many other political problems arose. The church became weakened since three popes had exited at the same time. There was a need to create a second council and reunify the church. Also, it had led to reformers and the reformation of M. Luther. Both of these events show that they had weakened the church which is politically adverse and proves that these events had created change.
The Roman Catholic Church greatly influenced the lives of many people during the medieval times. At the head of the Roman Catholic Church was the pope. Followers believed that the pope was the representative of Jesus on earth. The spiritual classes below the pope were the cardinals, the archbishops, the bishops, and finally the local priests. This was a very efficient system where each class ruled, and directed each class below them. Peasants, of course, were all the way at the bottom of the social class system, but took up 95% of the population. Their lives were very closely tied to their local churches. The main responsibility of the Roman Catholic Church was to serve the spiritual needs of medieval society, and to get people to heaven. This slowly started to change as soon as the Church turned to their corrupt ways to control the people. The Church owned everything from land, to even peoples souls! Going against the Roman Catholic Church was absolutely unacceptable. Not only would you be
Government of the medieval society was impacted greatly by the rise of the church. As time passed after Jesus’s crucifiction, preaching’s of his heroic sacrifice for human’s sins intrigued many people including leaders from different places. “In the latter part of the Middle Ages, the pope, as head of the church, had much influence over the king and total control of the clergy” (The Middle Ages). Knowing the belief that common folk had in Christianity, many leaders seemed to take advantage or work with religious role models like popes, bishops, priests, etc. for ways of taking control of people or simply being crowned emperor. In 800, Charlemagne “was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day” (Charlemagne). The pope was appealed to Charlemagne (also known as Charles the Great) for protection against the Lombards. Though this appeared to be a mutual trade, it is interesting as to how Pope Leo III had the power to crown someone to be e...
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 Church demanded a Tithe from all the common life which meant that they had to pay 10 percent of their income to the Church. The Church controlled all the of the beliefs and religion of the Church as they were the only ones who could read or write Latin and as such could decipher the Bible and scriptures which gave them all the power to be the mouth of God. The Legacy of the power and the influence of the Church can still be found, even today in modern times.
The Reformation was a decisive period in the history not only for the Catholic Church, but also for the entire world. The causes of this tumultuous point in history did not burst on the scene all at once, but slowly gained momentum like a boil that slowly festers through time before it finally bursts open. The Reformation of the Church was inevitable because of the abuses which the Church was suffering during this period. At the time of the Reformation, a segment of the Church had drifted away from its mission to bring Christ and salvation to the world. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had gradually become weaker because of abusive leadership, philosophical heresy, and a renewal of a form of the Pelagian heresy.
The Renaissance Papacy was a period in which the church was attempting to recover from the effects of the western schism and regain a sense of control and composure within the church itself. After the prolonged period in which the papacy had been based in Avignon, and then the intermittent years in which two popes existed in contention with the other, the Catholic model was being doubted for its ability to function well, and there was a desperate need to demonstrate that the papacy was still a powerful and influential institution, both in the west and in the immediate regions surrounding Rome. Moving along this vein of thought, the papacy turned its sights to the Papal States, and how re-establishing a sense of dominance over these states would
The medieval Roman Catholic church was extremely powerful and influential through their taxes and ability to control peoples beliefs and religious ideas. The Church acted as a sort of over-lord to the monarchs of the European Christendom, encouraging and in some cases forcing rulers to act by their will and influencing the citizens of the country. The Pope gave himself the power to bestow the power of Holy Roman Emperor, a position which gave the emperor power over a large area of Europe. This ability gave the Pope power over the emperor therefore making the Pope ultimate leader of the continent. Because of all the Popes abilities, the Church became an extremely significant institute and force in the middle ages. Although the church is not nearly as powerful as it was, the remnants of its most powerful times can still be found today.
The Great Schism originated in 1309, when Pope Clement V moved the papacy from Italy to Avignon, just outside of French territory. The move was the result of the constant power struggle in Rome between the Pope and the king. The purpose of the move was to insure the Pope freedom of action, but it appeared that the move allowed the King of France, Phillip the Fair, to wield a great deal of influence over the Pope. Many felt that the presence of the papacy in France compromised the Pope's independence and made it the vassal of the French King. In 1376, Pope Gregory XI made a significant move and returned the papacy to Rome. After his death, the College of Cardinals convened to choose the new Pope. "The people of Rome and the vicinity, turbulent and easily roused, had, under the sway of circumstances, loudly declared their preferences and antipathies, and endeavored to influence the decision of the cardinals" (Knight). The Roman mobs insisted on an Italian pope, and the cardinals elected Urban VI. The French did not approve of the new Pope or the method by which he was chosen, so they elected their own Pope, Clement VII, who would once again rule from Avignon. As a result, "Western Chris...
The Roman Catholic Church’s reputation in wealth and power furnished them with the ability to have a major impact over feudal society. Their wealth earned them great power and loyalty from the royals and citizens. Their power was used to restrict not only peasant folk but also nobles and the monarch in following the Catholic faith. This influenced everyone’s daily life and morals. The Church was similar to a government institution where it sustained its own laws and rights. This provided stability to the land as people have benevolent morals with the assistance of religion. Education from the Church has initiated structural learning which made a gradual end to the barbaric era (Dark Ages). The Church’s legacy gained them the medieval reputation from society and this has influenced the reputation of the Church today.
Early in history, the Roman papacy consolidated its power. It became one of the most influential organizations in the medieval period. This rise to power resulted from the decline in the Western Empire, the leadership of Roman bishops, and special grants that gave the church land holdings. This rise to power caused some positive ramifications, such as the protection of the church from heresy. However, the absolute power of the pope also caused corruption and abuses, many of which would eventually spark the reformation.