The Roman Catholic Church was the single, largest unifying structure in medieval Europe. It touched everyone's life, no matter what their rank or class or where they lived. With the exception of a small number of Jews, everyone in Europe was a Christian during the Middle Ages from the richest king down to the lowest serf.
From the moment of its baptism a few days after birth, a child entered into a life of service to God and God's Church. As a child grew, it would be taught basic prayers, would go to church every week barring illness, and would learn of its responsibilities to the Church. Every person was required to live by the Church's laws and to pay heavy taxes to support the Church. In return for this, they were shown the way to everlasting life and happiness after lives that were often short and hard.
In addition to collecting taxes, the Church also accepted gifts of all kinds from individuals who wanted special favors or wanted to be certain of a place in heaven. These gifts included land, flocks, crops, and even serfs. This allowed the Church to become very powerful, and it often used this power to influence kings to do as it wanted.
The Pope
The head of the Church was called the Pope. As God's representative on Earth, the Pope had a great amount of power to influence kings and their advisors. If someone went against the Church, the Pope had the power to excommunicate them. This meant that the person could not attend any church services or receive the sacraments and would go straight to hell when they died. At a time when everyone believed in heaven and hell and all belonged to the Church, this was an awful punishment. Under the Pope, were his bishops who ruled the lower classes of priest in the same manner that an earl would rule his vassals.
The Parish Church
The parish church was the center of every town. It was generally
the largest building in town and had stained glass windows and statues that
told stories from the Bible to the villagers who, for the most part, could not
read. This building and the religion it stood for were involved in every aspect
of the lives of the people. A newborn infant would be baptized here and enter
into a union with God. A couple would exchange their wedding vows before God in
this church. When a person died, the final prayers would be said there and the
body would be buried in ground that had been consecrated by the Church. If
crops failed or someone fell ill, people would come to the church to pray to
God for help. Every Sunday, every villager went to church to a service in Latin
(which they didn't understand) and a sermon (which they did understand). On
Holy Days, when the Church forbade them to work, the people came to give praise
to God for the good things in their lives. The parish church was overseen by a
parish priest, whose duties were to teach the Christian gospel to his
parishioners, and help them to live their lives by God's laws.
Pilgrimages
Pilgrimages were journeys made to places that held special religious significance. Usually, this was a shrine where a saint was buried or a visit to the Holy Land itself. Making a pilgrimage was long and often dangerous. Almost everyone traveled on foot and bandits and pirates lay in wait for the unarmed pilgrims. However, people went on these journeys anyways because they felt that prayers made at a saint's tomb were especially powerful. If a loved one fell ill, a relative might promise to make a pilgrimage if the person got better, or someone might go to show that they were sorry for their sins.
Because religion was so important during the Middle
Ages, many people devoted their whole lives to being closer to God and doing
the Church's work. Sometimes, parents promised their children to this religious
life in order to fulfill a promise to God and to ensure their children were
never homeless or without food. These people became monks (if they were men) or
nuns (if they were women) and lived apart from the rest of the people in
special communities called monasteries and nunneries. Monks and nuns promised
to always remain single, to be obedient to their superiors and to live a life
of prayer. They ate simple food, dressed in simple clothes (called habits) and
spent their days in silence, praying or working. They also attended many church
services. There were seven main church services each day, the first at dawn and
the last in the middle of the night.
References:
Macdonald, Fiona. Everyday Life: The Middle Ages. Silver Burdett Company. Macdonald Educational. 1984.
Oakes, Catherine. Exploring the Past: The Middle Ages. The Hamlyn Publishing Group. Orlando. 1989.
Sobol, Donald J. The First Book of Medieval Man. Franklin, Inc. New York. 1959.
Images
Monks courtesy of Luther Burbank Middle School