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10
Medieval Europe
Power of the Roman Catholic Church
§ Clergy are people given authority by the Church.
§ The Pope was the leader of the Church, and his
offices was called the Papacy.
§ Men who filled important positions in the
Church had strong social and political ties to
Europe’s nobility.
§ Local princes were often bishops.
§ Many nobles and religious leaders went to
school together. As a result nobles and Church
leaders supported each other.
§ Church officials helped European leaders run
their kingdoms by keeping records of births and
deaths.
§ The wealth of the Pope was greater than any
individual European monarch.
WATCH CNN Explain Papal Succession
Clergy in the Roman Catholic Church
q Pope
The pope was the spiritual and political leader of the Church.
q Cardinals and Bishops
Cardinals helped the pope run the Church. The bishops ran
the dioceses, areas with several churches.
q Priests
Priest ran individual churches and administered the
sacraments (communion, matrimony, and baptism) to most
Catholics.
q Monks and Nuns
Monks and nuns lived in isolated communities. They learned
to read/write Latin, grew their own food, and copied and
translated religious text.
WATCH CNN Inside the Conclave
Conflict Between Monarchs and the Papacy