The Political Economy of the Medieval Church

Abstract

The exact starting and ending dates of the Middle Ages may be difficult to specify, but historians are virtually unanimous that the period, however demarcated, represented the high tide of Christianity in Western Europe. Medieval Europe provides an interesting case study, not only of religion and politics, but of the overlap between them, which was far greater in medieval society than it is today. The medieval Roman Catholic Church, as an economic and political entity, attempted to accomplish its otherworldly goals in this world by acquiring power and influence. Most large corporations need access to capital markets to grow and prosper. The medieval Church was no exception, but it was constrained by its own admonitions against “laying up earthly treasure” and “serving Mammon instead of God.” This article discusses the political economy of the medieval Church, focusing on its response to the Crusades and also considering purgatory, indulgences, and the Protestant Reformation, as well as marriage as a sacrament.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 4 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.