The Influence Of The Roman Catholic Church During The Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, Catholicism was the predominant religion in Europe. It had a very large following and was very powerful. The Roman Catholic Church was such a powerful institution during the medieval times due to the education that they taught, the substantial amount of money they had, and the amount of power that they had over other institutions.
One reason that the Catholic Church was such a powerful institution was because of the education that was taught and learned there. The Catholic Church was one of the only places that promoted education during the Middle Ages. Since the fall of the Roman Empire, most of Europe was illiterate. With their teachings, more people came to the church and, as a result, got a larger following. All learning was found in cathedrals and monasteries. With many people moving towards these cathedrals, cities began to grow. With it, the schools began to grow. What started as small schools eventually turned into universities. According to the book World History: Early and Medieval Times, “these cathedral schools expanded as early forms of universities.” (324). Monasteries were also a source of education during the Medieval times. Monks and …show more content…
First of all, the Catholic Church had a lot of lands. Land earned a lot of money for the church. Having a lot of money resulted in even more power. Wealth also contributed to the Catholic Church’s power because of the Pope. The Pope was very wealthy and had more money than the monarch, or the leaders of individual kingdoms. This resulted in more power because money=power and the Pope had more money than the leaders of kingdoms. According to the textbook World History: Early and Medieval times, “The church also had great wealth, which made it an even more powerful institution.”(325). That quote reiterates that money equals power and that the Catholic Church had a lot of power due to its great