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The Catholic Church
In the Middle Ages the church was the most powerful institution in Europe. Religion was the focus of every citizen at this time, it provided education, put on plays and concerts, held markets and festivals, and was in general a common gathering place for a town, city, village, or manor. Because religion was such a big part of people's lives they worked very hard to follow their beliefs and were willing to go to great lengths to ensure their place in heaven. People went on crusades and pilgrimages, gave tithes or 10% of their income to the church, and even decided to become members of the clergy.
Church Hierarchy
At the top of the Catholic Church was the pope. Always a man, the pope was chosen by the church as its most powerful leader. The pope was even more powerful than kings because he could select the leaders of the church and had the power of excommunication. Excommunication meant that someone could have their membership in the church taken away from them. Only the pope had the power to do this.
After the pope in the hierarchy were cardinals, archbishops, and then priests. All these members of the church were know as clergy.
Monks and Nuns
Many men and women either by their own choice or by their parents became monks and nuns. One reason many people made this choice was to show their devotion to God or to escape the chaos of life at this time. Parents often forced their kids to do this to win favor with God as well. Monks were men who gave up their possessions, free will, and lived in monasteries. Most of their time was spent in prayer, study and work. Nuns were women who lived in convents and had a similar life to monks.
Pilgrimages and Crusades
Because so many people were devoted Christians during the Middle Ages they were willing to show their devotion in many ways. One way was to go on a pilgrimage, which was a journey to a holy site. People would go on a pilgrimage to show their faith, heal an illness, or be forgiven of a sin. People would often journey to a cathedral which had a holy object called a relic. Relics were items that were associated with Jesus or the saints. People believed these objects had the power to heal them. Some popular places at the time to visit were Canterbury Cathedral in England or even the Holy Land where Jesus lived and died near Jerusalem.
Crusades were a series of religious wars between the Muslims and European Christians over the Holy Land. Many Christians decided to go on a crusade to show their faith or be forgiven of their sins.
Cathedrals
Cathedrals were huge churches built all over Europe during the Middle Ages. Many towns and cities built cathedrals to show their devotion to god and to show their importance in the kingdom. Many cathedral projects were competing against other projects being built at the same time so each cathedral tried to outdo the other. Cathedrals were built very tall to get as close to heaven as possible. Gothic style cathedrals were very heavily decorated with stained glass, statues, carvings, and mazes. They were also often built in the shape of a cross an important Christian symbol. The highest part of a cathedral was a spire which was at the top of the highest towers. Cathedrals also had gargoyles which were statues meant to scare off evil spirits and acted as water spouts. A cathedral's stained glass was meant to tell Bible stories because many people could not read and learned their religion from these windows.
In the Middle Ages the church was the most powerful institution in Europe. Religion was the focus of every citizen at this time, it provided education, put on plays and concerts, held markets and festivals, and was in general a common gathering place for a town, city, village, or manor. Because religion was such a big part of people's lives they worked very hard to follow their beliefs and were willing to go to great lengths to ensure their place in heaven. People went on crusades and pilgrimages, gave tithes or 10% of their income to the church, and even decided to become members of the clergy.
Church Hierarchy
At the top of the Catholic Church was the pope. Always a man, the pope was chosen by the church as its most powerful leader. The pope was even more powerful than kings because he could select the leaders of the church and had the power of excommunication. Excommunication meant that someone could have their membership in the church taken away from them. Only the pope had the power to do this.
After the pope in the hierarchy were cardinals, archbishops, and then priests. All these members of the church were know as clergy.
Monks and Nuns
Many men and women either by their own choice or by their parents became monks and nuns. One reason many people made this choice was to show their devotion to God or to escape the chaos of life at this time. Parents often forced their kids to do this to win favor with God as well. Monks were men who gave up their possessions, free will, and lived in monasteries. Most of their time was spent in prayer, study and work. Nuns were women who lived in convents and had a similar life to monks.
Pilgrimages and Crusades
Because so many people were devoted Christians during the Middle Ages they were willing to show their devotion in many ways. One way was to go on a pilgrimage, which was a journey to a holy site. People would go on a pilgrimage to show their faith, heal an illness, or be forgiven of a sin. People would often journey to a cathedral which had a holy object called a relic. Relics were items that were associated with Jesus or the saints. People believed these objects had the power to heal them. Some popular places at the time to visit were Canterbury Cathedral in England or even the Holy Land where Jesus lived and died near Jerusalem.
Crusades were a series of religious wars between the Muslims and European Christians over the Holy Land. Many Christians decided to go on a crusade to show their faith or be forgiven of their sins.
Cathedrals
Cathedrals were huge churches built all over Europe during the Middle Ages. Many towns and cities built cathedrals to show their devotion to god and to show their importance in the kingdom. Many cathedral projects were competing against other projects being built at the same time so each cathedral tried to outdo the other. Cathedrals were built very tall to get as close to heaven as possible. Gothic style cathedrals were very heavily decorated with stained glass, statues, carvings, and mazes. They were also often built in the shape of a cross an important Christian symbol. The highest part of a cathedral was a spire which was at the top of the highest towers. Cathedrals also had gargoyles which were statues meant to scare off evil spirits and acted as water spouts. A cathedral's stained glass was meant to tell Bible stories because many people could not read and learned their religion from these windows.
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