The Catholic Church

1.  Discuss the role of the Catholic Church during Medieval Europe.

Well the Catholic Church organization was just like the Medieval social order. The Pope was like the King, the Archbishop was like the Lord, the Bishop was like the Knight, and the Priest was like the Peasant. The pope made dioceses which were large divisions which had many Churches where the Catholics could attend church. Then he appointed Bishops to be in charge of those dioceses. Then if there was a problem and the bishop needs help he would ask the person above him. But since the pope didn't want to have to worry about all of that he appointed archbishops to help out, they oversaw a few dioceses. Then there was the Priest, he oversaw just one of the many churches in the diocese. He helped the members there. Charlemagne helped the Catholic church become the main religion in Europe.


 Now that the church had that power, it used it to try to stop warfare. First they encouraged the knights to stop fighting, but they ignored them. Then they said that they should not fight anyone who was not part of the war. When again they ignored them, they set a decree that said they were not to fight on Friday's or Sundays of every week. Eventually in the 1100s the fighting started to subside. The Catholic church also used its power for good by making monasteries. Monasteries were basically refuges from war for people in the area. 



2.  Discuss the impact the four different crusades had on Europe, the Church, and Jerusalem.

Well for the first crusade the pope helped unite the people against the Turks to get Jerusalem (their holy city) back.


But once inside the city, the knights killed everyone they could for personal gain. After they conquered it they divided it up into four different parts, and it was ruled in peace for the next 150 years.


But in 1144 the Turks took control of the holy city again. A French monk called for a second crusade, but it ended in failure and they were unable to drive away the Turks. Then when another Muslim army attacked they called for a third crusade. This crusade was special because King Richard of England fought in the war.


But even with him they couldn't win. But they did reach an agreement. Now the holy city was holy for both people. So they agreed that the Muslims could have the city but they would have to allow safe passage through the city. The Muslims agreed and it was settled.


I think the impact that the Catholic church had was that it got a lot more power, also it was much more widely known.