Churches in Medieval Times

A detailed Summary of Churches in Medieval Times

The medieval period was at the very best a down period for civilization. Though not completely without advancement or good points, the period certainly lacked the credibility that other periods of time held in terms of enhancing the overall good of mankind. The Christian church, was certainly a primary force in the lack of success during this period. Owning almost ninety percent of all land, and ruling over the majority of the population with little compassion, the church, and the related nobility did little to quell social problems, and even less to foster learning and intellectuality. As a result, the church was responsible for the majority, if not all of the problems that arose during the medieval period.

Evidence of the medieval period being very bad for man can be seen throughout many aspects of medieval society. Take for instance, the level of intellectual thinking during the period. Something, which flourished during the rise of the Roman Empire, but seemed to fall off the face of the earth after its collapse. The problems lied in the church, as the only people trained to read and write properly were monks and high officials of the church, who were locked away behind the walls of the church. Essentially the church limited

Continuing with this economic idea, the church also had a constant source of income, as a result of its coercion of the population. Many things done by the church raised large amounts of money, and unless they wanted to be branded a heretic would follow these activities. Obviously baptism was one of these things. The church made a great deal of money off of baptism, as it is a requirement of all Christians. As a result, if they did not follow this they could face serious legal problems that would cause them to be left ridiculed, excommunicated, or even dead. Likewise, the church manipulated the population with relics too. Claiming that various non authentic bones were actually some one of holy notes bones caused many to pay all of their money only to get a sheep's bone, that someone told them was the bone of St. Peter. Like baptism you were not someone in society until you bought a relic. The result was a strong economic hold by the church, which gained lots of money for their exploits.

The result of the overwhelming control of the church over the state was that their was stifling sameness in society. Everyone apparently, lived the same life, especially if you were a peasant. They all lived in small quarters, worked the land hard every day, and then went back and did it again the next day. So monotonous was the life, that most peasants didn't make it off of their manor in a lifetime. This was the fault of a church that not only repressed these people, but was also flat out cruel to them with regard to personal rights. Peasants were not allowed to go to other places without permission, which was rarely if ever granted. If a peasant did not want to live this life any longer that was fine. He only had to save up enough money to buy land, or an office in the church. One problem, this was a virtual impossibility. The nobility would not want to sell their land, and the likely hood of someone being able to save up enough money to buy an estate from a peasant lifestyle is unlikely at best. Thus, the church caused not only the life of a peasant to be the same, but also the people that ruled would always be the same.

As a result of a clearly church dominated society, the level of economic growth was stopped. While there was some movement from one o

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Approximate Word count = 1523
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History