The relationship between the Catholic Church and medieval society

The relationship between the Catholic church and medieval society was one of respect and support
as well as inculturation and authority, where the medieval society widely respected and supported
the church while the church gave the people a way of life and gained the authority to institute
reforms that promised a better life. A lot of people in the medieval society had immense admiration
for the monks and clerics since they represented the utmost democratic entity that allowed lay
man’s participation (p. 202). This is because the clergy and the people elected the pope during the
Middle Ages, hypothetically giving an opportunity to any man to rise to that position. When the
people felt hopeless and found their lives cruel, “the church promised a better life to come to the
great mass of ordinary people” (p.202). The monks played a huge role in giving the church respect
and popular support from the medieval society since laypeople mimicked their religious sacrifices
and ideals as well as admired their cultural achievements. At a time when a majority of people had
few alternatives, monasteries offered the intently religious population a crucial alternative culture
(p.202).

Having been influenced by the Cluny reformers, the catholic church leadership took up reform
initiatives, including the ‘Peace of God’ that covered various church decrees. The decrees had the
input of both the clergy and nobles and sought to alleviate medieval society’s prevalent warfare by
way of threatening to excommunicate all individuals who “harmed members of such vulnerable
groups as women, peasants, merchants, and the clergy.” (P. 203). These decrees were followed by a
church order, the Truce of God, that required that in all holy seasons and parts of the every weak,
all men were to cease from warfare and violence (P. 203). It is evident that as people in the medieval
society gave the Catholic church support and accorded it respect, the church not only gave them a
way of life but also gained the authority to influence reform programs for the people’s benefit.