How Did The Corrupt Church In The Middle Ages

Church Corruption in the Middle Ages The fall of the Western Roman Empire was a very important event in history because after the great empire of Rome fell, a dark time in history covered most of Europe, called the Dark Ages. It ushered in the Middle Ages, a time when the church of western Europe consisted of an elaborate hierarchy led by the pope (“Sigona”). The Roman Catholic Church had complete control over the clergy and all “religion, philosophy, morals, politics, art and education” (“Arnold”). They not only had total control over the clergy, they also had a significant influence on the kings (“The Middle Ages | Feudalism”). Although many people followed the Roman Catholic Church, there were some who disagreed with how much power the church had over them. The person who went against the church would be hunted down until found and be “labelled a heretic and burnt at the stake” (“Trueman”). Sadly, killing people for protection of their power wasn’t the only corruption in the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church slowly became more corrupt, resulting in the Middle Ages being named the “black spot” for all Christians then and now. While Christians don’t enjoy looking back at history to see how corrupt the church had gotten, they do it to help avoid history from

The practice of simony got its name from Simon Magus, a man in the Bible who tried buying the power to confer the gifts of the Holy Spirit (“Simony”). Although simony isn’t legal by the Ecclesiastical Law, it was another way for the Church to easily make money and so the Church set aside the law and began practicing it (“Simony”). Simony became a normal thing to do in the Middle Ages, as people were tricked into thinking the more spiritual gifts a person had, the closer they were to heaven