During the European Middle Ages, the Catholic Church really dominated European civilization. It’s almost impossible to imagine the scope of the Church’s power in the Middle Ages, but let’s try.
First off, the Catholic Church was the caretaker of the most important thing that Christians had, their souls, which, unlike our temporal [secular] bodies, were eternal. And then there was the parish priest, who played a pivotal role throughout every person’s life, baptizing them, marrying them, hearing their confessions, [and] providing last rites.
The church also provided all of the social services: It distributed alms [money or food given as a donation] to the poor, and ran orphanages, and provided what education was available. Most Europeans would in their lives meet exactly one person who could read the Bible, which was only available in Latin - their parish priest.
And, the church owned over 1/3 of all the land in Europe, which helped make it the most powerful economic and political force on the continent.
And the Pope claimed authority over all the kings of Europe, as the successor to the Roman Emperor. So this was a very powerful institution...
A) Give two pieces of evidence that supports the claim: The Catholic Church was very powerful in Medieval Europe.
B) Explain why the evidence you chose supports the claim.