The Church in the Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, European society lived under Catholic church influence,
because most of the continent was a Christian. Thus he was born the concept of
Christianity, a society united by one faith (Christianity) and an institution (the Church).
The organization of the Church
The Church was the only institution organized international reach in medieval Europe.
His wealth, organization and influence over the people gave much power. He owned a
third of the land and was entitled to the tithe, a tax corresponding to one tenth of the
crops of farmers. The spiritual head of the Church was the Pope, who was also ruler of
the Papal States. Representatives of the Church formed the clergy, which was divided
into two groups:
1. The secular clergy together the representatives of the Church who lived with the laity:
the Pope, archbishops, bishops and parish priests. The latter had more contact with the
population and were in charge of small districts called parishes. There officiated the
sacraments and instructed the faithful.
2. The regular clergy was composed of abbots, monks and nuns, monks who, unlike the
secular clergy lived isolated and gathered in monasteries. Thus, they went from the
mundane to devote to prayer activities, study and community work.
3. The European monasteries were governed by the rule of St. Benedict, written by
Benedict of Norcia in Italy the year 529. Therefore, the religious who practiced this rule
were called Benedictines.
The situation of the clergy
The wealth and power of the Church originated that gradually, customs of the clergy to
relax. Two of the major vices of the time were simony, which consisted of the purchase
of ecclesiastical offices through influence or money; and Nicolaitanism, ie, the rejection
of religious celibacy. In addition, there was a great corruption in the hierarchy, including
the papal court. In response to this situation arose from the eleventh century reform
movements within the Benedictine monasteries. The first appeared in the Abbey of Cluny
(France, 910) and reinforced the monastic discipline. However, the mid-twelfth century
Cluny enriched and away from their ideals. Therefore, it followed by a second reform that
left the monastery of Citeaux or Cster (France, 1098). Its main promoter, Bernard of
Clairvaux, spread the ideals of the Cistercian Order in Europe in the twelfth century.

Religious and secular power

According to medieval thought, God gave man a spiritual power, which overlooked the
church religious authority and temporal power, which was in the hands of the political
leaders of Earth. Medieval popes, following the so-called doctrine of the two swords,
raised that spiritual power was greater than the temporal power and, therefore, the
monarchs should be subject to the authority of the Pope. However, the power of political
bosses imposed gradually on the religious authorities. Thus, from the tenth century, the
monarchs decided to reserve the right of investiture, that is, the power to elect or invest
the bishops. In the eleventh century, monastic reforms introduced by Pope Gregory VII
released the regular clergy of secular interference, but the matter was pending the
investiture of bishops. However, in 1075, Gregory VII banned lay invest any hierarch of
the Church. This decision led to a long conflict between the papacy and emperors.
The medieval faith
With religious reforms, the Catholic Church reached a great social influence. This
reinforced the popular religiosity that had been formed since the fall of the Roman
Empire. The faith of medieval Christians was based on the hope of a better life. That faith
is expressed both in the veneration of the Virgin, the saints and relics, and pilgrimages.
Such pilgrimages were long journeys being made by rich and poor parishioners to
different religious shrines. The most important pilgrimage places were Jerusalem, Rome
and Santiago de Compostela (Spain). The Church that popular religiosity oriented so that
the faithful not to fall into heresies and false beliefs. To achieve this, two powerful
available means: excommunication and the Inquisition. Through excommunication he is
expelled from the church anyone who did not obey his orders. This was the worst
punishment of medieval times.
The Inquisition
The Inquisition was a judicial institution created by the papacy to locate, prosecute and
convict persons guilty of heresy. It was established in 1184 by Pope Lucius III to combat
the movement of the Cathars. At that time, the Inquisition was under the authority of the
bishops. Later, in 1231, Pope Gregory IX put the inquisitors under the jurisdiction of the
papacy, which thus had a powerful instrument to influence European countries. The
Inquisition acquired a reputation for cruelty by the harshness of its procedures.
Punishments could be the pilgrimage, a public punishment, a fine, imprisonment or
confiscation of property. The most severe penalty imposed was life imprisonment, since
the death penalty was executed by civil authorities at the request of the Inquisition.