Course work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Course work - Essay Example Also education was meant for them as they would be required to read the Bible and scriptures. The role of the village clergy was to oversee the spiritual life of his people on the medieval manor. It was the village priest who represented the Church for the medieval men and women. (Kreis, 2006) The church had the backing of the people as they were considered the spiritual people who god had chosen for the spreading of his teachings. This put a great responsibility on the Church as they held much influence over the people. But they held all control over education as it was not open for all. Therefore most of the inventions of the time, such as the printing press, were developed by the priesthood. The concept of proper land management was also introduced by them improving the quality and efficiency of the land production. But around the 12th century the people began to notice an increased change in the lifestyles of the priests. They were moving towards a worldlier lifestyle living their lives like the aristocracy. This negative feeling built up and led eventually to the Protestant Reformation. Other notable movements were those of the Franciscans, Waldensians, Poor Clares and Dominicans. (Sherman & Salisbury, 2006) These events were considered important as they showed that people wanted the church to reform itself and to be more religious in nature then it was. The people wanted to prevent the Church from deterioration and were willing to bring about change in the system. Aside from the worldly nature of the Church the main reason for dissent among the people was the Church's desire for more money. They began offering indulgences which did not suit the people as they saw the rich buying their way to paradise rather than leading a good pure life for it. The church's own attitude towards the people became more aloof as they concentrated their attention on the wealthy and were found to be serving under nobles and other feudal lords due to their education. The church would preach in Latin and since not many people knew the language they had to rely on the church for communing with god whereas they themselves couldn't. The inquisition was the straw that broke the camels back as the church now began prosecuting the people. This led to much dissatisfaction and when Martin Luther introduced the Protestant Reformation where he stressed on the actions of the people gaining them access to paradise rather then them buying it, people embraced it in multitudes. (D olan & Hubert, 1980) 2. Review the Crusades. Why did the crusaders go to the Holy Land, and what did they accomplish The crusades were initiated by an emotional speech done by Pope Urban II in 1095 which began the 200 hundred year lasting crusades. He moved the nobility to take back the Holy lands, to redeem themselves in the eyes of god by clearing themselves of their sins, and for the common people to become the soldiers of god. This speech was so potent that by the end of it the people were willing to lay down their lives for the Church and to go forth into battle against the heathens who had control over the Holy Lands. (Schreck, 2003) The crusades religious reasons were to reclaim the land from the Muslim invaders, secondly to repair the rift between the Roman and Orthodox Christianity since the Schism of 1054. The