Religion, church, words that by themselves make us think of something quite broad, a little complicated and even tangled, and it is that over the past centuries, a large number of churches, religions and beliefs have been seen and developed and even Thus, will it be possible to compact a single church in the history of the Middle Ages? Is it really possible to know what the religion of that time was? The answer to those questions is yes. In this article we will make you aware about the Role of the church in the middle ages.

The Middle Ages was one of the most exciting historical periods, so you will be surprised to know that there was, at one point in all of history, only one religion that dominated or characterized the world, most professed that faith. What are we talking about? You want to know? So, this article is for you, in the development of it you will be able to delight yourself discovering things like: what was the church of this time, what role it played, how it was organized and other important points that you will surely want to know.

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What was the predominant religion or church in the Middle Ages?

Life in the Middle Ages was led, religiously speaking, by the Catholic Church , Christianity was the main dominant and controlling of the time.

Despite the practice of some people to Judaism and Islam, the religious entity of Catholicism predominated notoriously and greatly influenced the order of life at the time, so much so that no individual was kept free from its influence, whether or not he belonged to the religious group all citizens were victims of the oppression of Christianity, because it was known as the official religion by the Roman Empire of the fourth century.

What role did the church play in the Middle Ages?

Due to the enormous dominance that religion exercised during this period, it interfered in all cultural aspects of the world and even in the sphere or daily life of the population of the moment . In addition, it exercised political dominance , since the Church had sufficient authority and power to decide what things if and what things were not accepted or put into practice and operated on the state. In fact, it was by this means that Charlemagne received the appointment of Emperor of Rome by the pope.

The order of the church in the Middle Ages

First, be clear that absolutely all the members of the Catholic Church made up what is called the clergy . However, these were divided and organized into two groups, one was the so-called regular clergy and the other the secular clergy . Who of these in turn made up each of the sets? Let’s see.

• The Regular Clergy : it was made up of those who had made the firm decision to separate and stay away from the rest of the world to live in a convent where they would be led by an abbot or superior. Where in addition, they should follow a series of daily rules that were based on the motto “ora et labora” (pray and work). To apply it meant to be obedient or submissive to the abbot, to be chaste, and to take a vow of poverty.
• The Secular Clergy : these were believers who were “free” in a certain way, since they lived surrounded by the world and their compatriots. These were a mixed group, it was made up of those who were popes, archbishops and parish priests of the church. Why? Because it turns out that with a set of parishes a see or diocese was formed, a diocese of which a bishop was head or in charge and, in turn, a set of dioceses created an archdiocese that had to be led by an archbishop.

Positive effects

Some of the very good and interesting contributions of faith for the moment have to do with:

• Education : The Clergy favored and founded in a certain way the first universities in the world, among them those located in Paris, Oxford and Bologna since they made an effort so that education was not the sole power of Christian monasteries.
• The decline of the fiefdom system : Feudalism maintained a strict division among all the inhabitants by the caste system .
• The increase in the commercial area in eastern and western Europe : Thanks to this, some kitchen products such as rice, pepper, sugar cane and other useful materials in clothing such as silk and construction could be known, glass, as well as many other things.

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Negative effects

Regarding the aspects in which the empowerment of Catholicism was negatively reflected at the time, we will mention five of them, these are:

• The Economy : Completely without exception, all the members of the church were committed to making their annual monetary contribution to the congregation, which brought with it an economic gap, thus creating some powers and wealth that divided the world causing enormous corruption .
• The Emergence and development of the Bourgeoisie .
• The Wars : 8 crusades or military expeditions were carried out by two specific parties, the Muslims who wanted to recover the city of Jerusalem, where their god Muhammad “ascended to heaven” and the clergy who also aspired to the same land, a space where for them the son of God and messiah Jesus Christ was killed and later resurrected; detail that gave rise to many armed conflicts for owning this area from 1095 to 1272.
• The decrease of the forces of the papacy : Ironically, those who led in order, ended up being “disordered” and dispersed, thus weakening their power.

Church values ​​in the Middle Ages

There were really not many virtues, but only one, faith, this was the main basis or value by which religion was governed at this time. It was simply faith because, as the same sacred scriptures say, “faith moves mountains”, so this hope made the inhabitants of the moment trust, follow and blindly obey everything that Christianity established in any field of their lives . Their faith told them what to do so many of their actions depended on the verdicts and resolutions imposed by the clergy.

At this point it is good that you know as a significant detail, that although this guided and impelled them a long time ago, it is still practiced today. Many of the believers orient their life according to what their pastor tells them. The marks of the medieval era are still noticeable today, it’s just a matter of paying a little more attention to detail.