Catholic Church During The Middle Ages

The Catholic church had a very heavy impact on society during the middle ages and received a high amount of power. The people during this time really started changing. Once emperors started to show religion, people started buying into what they said and the Catholic church started to catch the attention of many others.

During the middle ages, the church developed into an elaborate hierarchy and the pope was was the leader and he had all the power. The Catholic church played a major role in everyday life in Europe. It’s purpose was to help people spiritually and served as a form of government. (http://www.csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs2c/middle.html) The Catholic church had it’s own land, laws, and imposed taxes. As the church grew, so did its

After the pope, there were the bishops, priests, monks, and nuns in order of highest power to lowest. A bishop’s job was to fill the needs of the priests. The bishops were allowed in court and usually had the same items as the nobles. They wore nice, luxurious clothes. They wore hats called miters which were tall and had a pointed arch and religious garments that usually had jewels or beads. Priests usually were the head of the church and wore long black gowns. Their job was to care for people’s spiritual life and administered sacraments. Men and women who sinned would go to the priests to confess sins and ask for forgiveness. Monks were shut out from the outside world and lived a perfect Christian life and lived together in monasteries. Monks were smart and could read and write Latin, copy the books of the bible by hand, and teach to the sons of the nobels. They provided for themselves by gardening and managing land. They wore brown wool gowns with hoods called cowls and tied at the waist with a piece of rope. The cowls were the hoods they wore that were put on over the gowns. They were clean shaved but usually had a bald spot on their head where they shaved it as a sign of humility called a tonsure. Nuns were holy and lived together in a convent. They were not as educated as monks but were still taught how to read and write. The less educated nuns did the harder work. Nuns served the people by teaching the daughters of families who sent them about how to be a Godly person. They also took in older widows so the they wouldn’t be lonely and have a life that is secure. They wore gowns what were either black, grey, or white and were very long. They tied the gowns to their waist using a leather belt or cloth. They wore a scapular over their robes which was a long piece of cloth that had an opening over their head and wore a necklace made of beads or a chain that had a cross on it. Their heads were