The Role Of The Church In Medieval Society Essays - Middle Ages

The Role Of The Church In Medieval Society The medieval period was at the very best a down period for civilization. Though not completely without advancement or good points, the period certainly lacked the credibility that other periods of time held in terms of enhancing the overall good of mankind. The Christian church, was certainly a primary force in the lack of success during this period. Owning almost ninety percent of all land, and ruling over the majority of the population with little compassion, the church, and the related nobility did little to quell social problems, and even less to foster learning and intellectuality. As a result, the church was responsible for the majority, if not all of the problems that arose during the medieval period. Evidence of the medieval period being very bad for man can be seen throughout many aspects of medieval society. Take for instance, the level of intellectual thinking during the period. Something, which flourished during the rise of the Roman Empire, but seemed to fall off the face of the earth after its collapse. The problems lied in the church, as the only people trained to read and write properly were monks and high officials of the church, who were locked away behind the walls of the church. Essentially the church limited intellectuality to those who it felt it could trust. If a peasant were to think for himself, thought the church, who knows what could happen to the hierarchy that we cherish. The lack of intelligence among the peasants was clear. Take for instance, the mapping system of the period. Though accurate maps were available, the church put out maps that were not accurate, and told the public they were true. And the public believed. There was however some advancement in technology, but most of it can be linked directly to the church. An example of this was in the area of architecture, where medieval architects took the art of cathedral building to a new level. Though not as stunning a jump as there was during the renaissance period in terms of architecture, some credit must be given to the middle ages as far as its ability to build cathedrals, as many still stand today. Similarly, tools, which became mainstays during the middle ages are still used today, and must thus be recognized as advancements for the middle ages. One example is the Lewis, which was a common masonry tool that has not changed from its medieval form at all even in the current day. Thus, while the Middle Ages were a mostly stagnant time in terms of technology and intellectual thinking, there was some advancement, though clearly linked to the church serving personal gains. Like the repression of technology and intellectual thinking, the hypocrisy of the Christian church also stood out during this period. Church officials were hypocritical about many things, which lead to an unbalanced unfair society, something that is never good for mankind. For example, while the church felt that everyone should be a member and worship Christ, it limited its officials to only those who could afford to buy themselves into a proper office. Likewise, the church spoke out vocally against taking advantage of people for personal gain, and yet, the church was probably the guiltiest party with regard to this during the medieval period. Claiming that a place in heaven can be assured by a monetary donation, or penance received by going to the middle east to kill Muslims for a holy war seems to at best stretch the beliefs of Christianity. Yet, the church took advantage of its power and in doing so showed its hypocritical tendencies. Thus, it was clear that there was much hypocri sy from the church during this time period. As a result of a clearly church dominated society, the level of economic growth was stopped. While there was some movement from one official to the next, it was very hard, if not impossible for one person to gain a foothold in society. Very often, the church owned everything, save what the nobility had protected via military force. As one can guess this is not conducive to a particularly stellar economic record, as this type of lack of movement