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A reconstruction of society characterized the Mid

A reconstruction of society characterized the Middle Ages. The Catholic Church stepped in to fill a secular leadership void created by the collapse of the Roman Empire. From about 800 A.D. to 1547 A.D. the church succeeded in uniting society under a papal monarchy. No event during the Middle Ages more clearly illustrated the extent of the centralized power of the Catholic Church than the Crusades.

Church and a spirit of religious faith dominated the Middle Ages. Ever since the reign of Charlemagne, the church had acquired enormous landholdings throughout Europe and had become a wealthy, powerful institution within the feudal system. As the only organization of the Christian faith in Western Europe, its power spread far beyond matters of faith. The church, whose roots went back to the days of the Roman Empire, was the center for art, philosophy, history, legal teachings, and all other education: "the church was not only a state it was the state; it was not only a society, it was the society--the human societas perfecta" (Southern 22). Consequently, the church as an institution held tremendous power over the lives of most medieval Europeans, who were an extremely religious people.

Religion played an all-encompassing role in the lives of the common people because of their dependence on agriculture. So much of their livelihood involved the weather, the whims of nature, and other phenomena (epidemics, fires, etc.) that they could not comprehend. The people believed that God controlled these phenomena, and further, that the church was the only earthly avenue by which access to God's mercy could be gained. This line of thinking set the stage for the acceptance of papal infallibility, the cornerstone of the papal monarchy: "The Popes became the busiest men in Europe; their interventions reached down into the lowest strata of society" (Bokenkotter 112). Two of the most powerful tools in the hands of the papacy were ex-commu...

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A reconstruction of society characterized the Mid. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 04:09, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1707718.html