The Medieval Church
The enormous power of the medieval Church: monasteries and the daily life of monks and nuns; building great cathedrals; pilgrimage as a religious journey; the Church's influence over everyday life
What a learner can do afterwards
- Explain why the Church was so powerful in medieval times (owned land, controlled education, people feared God's punishment)
- Describe what daily life was like for a monk or nun
- Explain what a pilgrimage was and give one reason people went on them
The lesson
In medieval times, the Church was not just a place for praying. It was one of the most powerful forces in the land. The Church owned huge amounts of farmland, ran almost every school, and people believed that breaking its rules could bring punishment from God. Even kings listened to the Church.
Some people left ordinary life completely to serve the Church. Monks lived together in a monastery. Nuns lived together in a convent. They prayed many times a day, grew their own food, and copied books by hand, since there were no printers yet.
Building a great cathedral could take over a hundred years. Whole towns worked together, generation after generation, cutting stone and raising towers, because the Church was rich and powerful enough to pay for it.
If you hear about someone traveling far to visit a holy place, that journey is called a pilgrimage. People often went on pilgrimages to pray for health, give thanks, or ask for forgiveness.
The Church shaped medieval life every day, through its land and schools, its monks and nuns, its great cathedrals, and journeys called pilgrimages.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.