Church During The Middle Ages

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Recommended: Society affected by the black death

Chanah Leyah Oberlander
Professor Bietry
Survey of Modern History I
10 February 2015
The Church During the Middle Ages The Middle Ages are referred to by some historians as the "Age of Faith," owing to the extensive reach of the Christian religion. During the Middle Ages, the Church played a highly central role in society. It was nucleus of religious activity, with worshippers coming several times a day. Natural disasters were viewed as punishments of god and people believed that only religious devotion would save them from god's wrath and eternal damnation. The church helped the town's poor and the ill and also served as its hall for town meetings and concerts. Merchants and farmers usually sold their produce in the square surrounding …show more content…

Gregory strongly believed that the choosing of bishops was solely the church's role and opposed German Emperor Henry IV's policy of "lay investiture" which allowed the bishop to bestow a bishop title on a layman. When Gregory excommunicated Gregory for continuing this policy, Henry was forced to beg for forgiveness and submit to Pope Gregory. This led to decades of quarrel as popes and emperors struggled for supremacy. Many years later, Pope Innocent III immortalized his papacy by fully actualizing Gregory's vision and successfully establishing a united Kingdom of Christianity throughout most of …show more content…

The beginnings of these confusing times coincided with that of the Black Death many religious Christians began to question the extravagance and lavish spending of the church. Religious insecurity became common as many sensed weakness and troubles within the church. Some turned to witchcraft and flagellation as an alternative hope for salvation and new, dark, trends began to form across Europe. With time, not only did rulers and lay people become disillusioned with the church, but even low level priests began to have misgivings about their ecclesiastical superiors. Doubt began to spread across all ranks throughout Europe as the Church's integrity, and perhaps even its necessity, were brought under question. Church councils were formed to come up with ideas to reform the

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