Church Power and Corruption
Emma Hoskins Zoë Wheeler
Period 5
Age of FaithBackground info.
• Another term for the Middle ages and the most important• Faith and religion played extremely
important roles during the middle ages.• Power of faith was so strong that it
functioned like a government • Dominated all aspects of life
Age of FaithEffect of Religion
• Christians taught that faith was divine grace, granted only to those who would fortify it.
• People began listening to the Pope before the Emperor, because he had a connection with god.
• Also listened to church leaders over political rulers
• Faith was the most dominant force.
• Catholics viewed the era as harmonious and productive
Influence of the Church
• Roman Catholic Church• Daily Life was based around the
church• Controlled political and economic
aspects• Usually was the biggest building
in town and at the center of the town
• Collected taxes from people within the town
• Often used as town halls.• Faith and religion in the middle
ages had absolute power and basically absolute rule
Influence of the ChurchClergy of the church
• Priests- weren’t rich like bishops.• Generally head of the church• Cared for spiritual life of
people• relieved men and women of
their sins through confessions
• Bishops- acted like judges• Both in civil and criminal
matter
Influence of ChurchOver Society
• Controlled peoples beliefs
• Not lead by the King but the Pope• King couldn’t tell anyone from
the church what to do
• Church owned many large areas of farmland• Peasants workers grew crops• Taxed by church, had to give
one 10% of produce to the church and Tithe
CorruptionSimony
• Simony was the practice of giving or obtaining an appointment to a church office for money.
• Also the exchange of spiritual for temporal things is considered simony• Pope Julius II declared having
practiced simony during his elections
• “Sin of Simon”
• Selling church offices to unqualified men
CORRUPTIONPriests become illiterate and
unable to lead religious ceremonies
Bishops led lives of luxuryLived in palaces wore jewel-encrusted gold
robes
Found ways to pay for luxuriesCharged to see holy relicsSold indulgences
Corruption of Church• Led to many doubts
and questioning of authority
Crimes tried by fellow churchmen resulted in lenient verdict
• The church told its people that pilgrimages to sites of relics and holy places were suitable ways to repent for their sins.
CORRUPTION-CELIBACY
• Celibacy: members of the clergy were required to be unmarried
• Popes married
• Fathered and raised children
• Priests and nuns in spite of taking vows of chastity engaged in sexual relationships
CorruptionIndulgence
• Indulgence: Full or partial dismissal of a sin
• Earned through confession and granted by a Catholic Church• Being sold instead of earned
• Commissaries sought to extract the maximum amount of $ for each indulgence
• The professional “pardoners” collected their donations by selling indulgences in order to get $
WORKS CITED
• http://www.the-orb.net/non_spec/missteps/ch11.html
• http://cyberscally.com/
• http://michael-streich.suite101.com/medieval-church-corruption-a173579
• http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE49&iPin=EMW0496&SingleRecord=True
• http://michael-streich.suite101.com/medieval-church-corruption-a173579
• http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&gbv=2&spell=1&q=cache:eQboJM7aMF4J:http://www.enotes.com/topics/middle-ages+%22age+of+faith%22+background+info&ct=clnk
Works Cited
• http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&gbv=2&spell=1&q=cache:eQboJM7aMF4J:http://www.enotes.com/topics/middle-ages+%22age+of+faith%22+background+info&ct=clnk
• http://ezinearticles.com/?Corruption-of-the-Church-in-the-Middle-Ages&id=969734
• http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/198631/middle_ages_the_age_of_faith_pg2.html?cat=37
• http://thirdmill.org/newfiles/jac_arnold/CH.Arnold.RMT.1.html
Works Cited
• http://thirdmill.org/newfiles/jac_arnold/CH.Arnold.RMT.1.html
• http://www.google.com/search?q=simony+in+the+middle+ages&btnG=Search&hl=en&gbv=2&prmd=ivnsb&ei=2ljVTpmtHoXLsQLnmJz9Dg&sa=N