Church Corruption In the Middle Ages
Introduction. The middle ages, highly romanticized in modern media, but quite possibly one of the worst historical time periods to have lived in. From the brutal pseudo-caste system that dictated the life of you and your descendants, to the leaders that were all either massive cowards or power-hungry generals, and even the many holy wars that ravished the peasants livelihood, simply making it another day was a challenge for the people. When times get tough, what do the lowly masses do? They turn to a higher power, and the denizens of the medieval period were no exception, as this was the last time when christianity was at it's most powerful since the death of Christ. This may seem at first like a very good …show more content…
Not to mention the lines between who was a churchman and who was a noble back then were very blurred, as the clergy tended to live the very lives that they condemned others of, with lavish clothes, expensive meals, and no conscience, all at the expense of their unknowing congregation (Walker, Max, Jr.). While there were problems that led to corruption, the perpetrators were the ones who really fanned the flames with their crooked practices, though eventually all this led to a select few men becoming protestors and writing reformative works that went down in history.
Problems. The major problems that paved the way to corruption piled up quickly over time, each one building on and compounding the one before it. The first in this vicious sequence was The Black Death, this catastrophic disease lasted from roughly 1300-1350ad., and left an estimated two hundred million people dead in its wake ("Black Death"). While this mainly hurt the peasant populous, it also took the lives of many of the old clergy, leaving sometimes entire monasteries like a graveyard ("Priests and the Black Death"). The majority of church staff loss was because they were selfless enough to go to terminally
Introduction. The middle ages, highly romanticized in modern media, but quite possibly one of the worst historical time periods to have lived in. From the brutal pseudo-caste system that dictated the life of you and your descendants, to the leaders that were all either massive cowards or power-hungry generals, and even the many holy wars that ravished the peasants livelihood, simply making it another day was a challenge for the people. When times get tough, what do the lowly masses do? They turn to a higher power, and the denizens of the medieval period were no exception, as this was the last time when christianity was at it's most powerful since the death of Christ. This may seem at first like a very good …show more content…
Not to mention the lines between who was a churchman and who was a noble back then were very blurred, as the clergy tended to live the very lives that they condemned others of, with lavish clothes, expensive meals, and no conscience, all at the expense of their unknowing congregation (Walker, Max, Jr.). While there were problems that led to corruption, the perpetrators were the ones who really fanned the flames with their crooked practices, though eventually all this led to a select few men becoming protestors and writing reformative works that went down in history.
Problems. The major problems that paved the way to corruption piled up quickly over time, each one building on and compounding the one before it. The first in this vicious sequence was The Black Death, this catastrophic disease lasted from roughly 1300-1350ad., and left an estimated two hundred million people dead in its wake ("Black Death"). While this mainly hurt the peasant populous, it also took the lives of many of the old clergy, leaving sometimes entire monasteries like a graveyard ("Priests and the Black Death"). The majority of church staff loss was because they were selfless enough to go to terminally