What role did the Catholic Church play in feudalism during the middle ages?

Question

so confused...

Answer 1

the Catholic Church (the ONLY church in Western Europe in the Middle Ages) was fully integrated into the fuedal system. Bishops and cardinals replaced barons and counts etc... but the basics remained the same. That is, they owned land, took rents (and Tithing) had peasants and even serfs and some even took their military obligations seriously! That is ,SOME Bishops actualy armed and armoured, fought in battle same as any lord!!!
One bishop in the north of England even said mass with his helm and mace (warclub) on the alter - to reinforce his social possition! This was not that common however.
The basic social structure was based on the idea of keeping sheep. That is, the church was the shepherd-guiding the flock, the commoners were the sheep (flock) and the nobles were the dogs, protecting the flock and the shepherd from attack. Then the middle class became more common and stuffed it all up!!! ;)
The basic structure of the social system

Answer 2

Catholic bishops were involved in crowning kings and emperors (who were at the top of the feudal system).In Germany, 3 out of 7 sovereigns who had the right to elect a new emperor were archbishops.
The catholic church also rented land as fiefdoms to to lower peasants, just like the aristocrats did.
Due to some historians,the chuch was the biggest liege in the high middle ages (25 - 50% of all fiefdoms being owned by the church).
Furthermore,the church gave a legitimation to the feudal system
by declaring that every man should work in the place where he was put (by god) and that the peasants should work, the clergy pray and the sovereigns protect.Since the feudal system is based on the idea of a sovereign protecting weaker ones and receiving tributes in return, this idea matched the idea of feudalism.

Answer 3

Well, the Catholic Church was the moral authority. Most people living in western feudal societies were Catholics, and those outside the Church were not well looked upon. Since the printing press had not yet been invented, monks in these Catholic Churches were responsible for the production of most books. This was in some ways a blessing, for if monks had not done this, copies of books would have been even less available. But it was also a curse, for it meant that the Church got to censor literature they found unfit or unworthy.

The Church was vulnerable to attack, however, so it often had to ally with feudal lords. This meant lords could choose church officials, and sometimes churches had to pay lords for protection. Since Church officials were not necessarily the most morally upright, corruption began filtering into the church, which would eventually lead to the Protestant movement.

The Church also added another burden on peasants, for they claimed a tithe (ten percent tax) of what they produced.

Answer 4

Play Feudalism

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What role did the Catholic Church play in feudalism during the middle ages?
so confused...

Answer 6

The most important. During the Middle Ages, the world was theocentric, which means that everybody believed men were God´s instrument on earth, so everything was done depending on what the Church said, e.g. There was nearly no scientific research becasue everything had an explanation: God´s will.
Besides, the Church had a lot of money then, so it was important.

Answer 7

For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/axEB2

The Church was the one thing that Western Europe had in common., No large kingdom or other political structure arose in Europe to provide stability. The only force capable of providing a basis for social unity was the Roman Catholic Church. The Middle Ages therefore present the confusing and often contradictory picture of a society attempting to structure itself politically on a spiritual basis. There were numerous feudal lords in the early middle ages, and the lords were free to rule almost as they pleased. The only thing that limited their power was the Church, which required them to act as "good Christians". If they defied the Church, they could be excommunicated and their followers no longer owed them allegiance, and no longer had to serve him. Allegiance to a lord was how feudalism worked. Excommunication broke this bond, and could leave a lord without retainers - and thus no power. "After the dissolution of the Roman Empire, the idea arose of Europe as one large church-state, called Christendom. Christendom was thought to consist of two distinct groups of functionaries: the sacerdotium, or ecclesiastical hierarchy, and the imperium, or secular leaders. In theory, these two groups complemented each other, attending to people's spiritual and temporal needs, respectively. Supreme authority was wielded by the pope in the first of these areas and by the emperor in the second. In practice, the two institutions were constantly sparring, disagreeing, or openly warring with each other. The emperors often tried to regulate church activities by claiming the right to appoint church officials and to intervene in doctrinal matters. The church, in turn, not only owned cities and armies but often attempted to regulate affairs of state." (1) The Catholic Church was the only church in Europe during the Middle Ages, and it had its own laws and great wealth. Church leaders such as bishops and archbishops sat on the king's council and played leading roles in government. Bishops, who were often wealthy and came from noble families, ruled over groups of parishes called "diocese." Parish priests, on the other hand, came from humbler backgrounds and often had little education. The village priest tended to the sick and indigent and, if he was able, taught Latin and the Bible to the youth of the village.

Answer 8

Feudalism governed the relationship of "man" to "man," by which I mean a grant of land by a lord who had the land in his "hand," to another man who accepted the land from the lord as his fief and so became his "man." The "man" was a vassal. The vassal owed his lord loyalty, service in war, "suit to court," meaning standing up with his lord in a lawsuit or other appearances bvefore higher powers. The vassal also was obliged to ransom his lord, if the lord was captured in battle, and to make certain other payments. The lord owed the vassal protection (defense from attack), and loyalty.

Men (they were men in those days LOL) who held land increasingly donated it or willed it to the church, mostly in the form of founding parish churches and endowing monasteries. A lord who founded a parish church naturally wanted his younger son ordained a priest and made priest there. His son could then live off the land.

Kings, emperors, and other lesser rulers had rule over places where there were bishops whose sees had lands attached to them from custom or from gifts. The lay rulers wanted to control their lands, in which power and wealth lay. They wanted to name the bishop. Bishops of Rome (Popes) wanted to name bishops of sees. Hence the investiture controversy.

Answer 9

there was a lot of political intrigue, but briefly, Kings were absolute rulers who were given authority by "Divine Right." The Church recognized, blessed, and presided at the coronations of Kings and Queens.

The King, in turn, granted "fiefs" (or land parcels) to loyal Lords and Barons, who in turn parceled out land to their loyal vassals, who in turn contracted out parcels of land to be worked by peasants or serfs. Lords and Barons were often Bishops and Archbishops.

Answer 10

A very large one. The church really made huge tracts of lands theirs by outlawing marriage among its priests.... Since the eldest legitimate son inherited the property of his father when he died, by making marriage illegal, the church kept the property.... priests still lived with women, and still had children, but they were bastard children... even Popes lived with women and had children.... Just remember one thing..... everything is always about money.--- it has nothing to do with piety or anything else.... it was purely driven by money.... was then, still is.