The Church owned a great deal of wealth and land. This view, established by the Church and supported by the aristocracy, would change significantly during the High Middle Ages (1000-1300), even though whatever progress was made would not last. The peasantry, though nominally orthodox Catholic, continued to observe folk practices and, as scholar Patrick J. Geary notes, "knowledge of Christian belief did not mean that individuals used this knowledge in ways that coincided with officially sanctioned practice" (202). Churches were used for many purposes, not just being the center of religion. In 1095, Alexius sent envoys to Pope Urban II asking for mercenary troops from the West to help confront the Turkish threat. Catholics started to regard the church with skepticism and suspicion. In the fuedal system, churches and militaries ruled. Although the church was created for the purpose of religious guidance, the corrupt leaders and followers of the. For many years, medieval scholarship insisted on a dichotomy of two Christianities in the Middle Ages an elite culture dominated by the clergy, city-dwellers, and the written word, and a popular culture of the oral tradition of the rural masses, infused with pagan belief and practice. Unfortunately though, the church is often regarded as the capital of corruption, evil, and worldliness. Thus, the Mormon Church negatively affects its own members because of its unfair treatment of women, discrimination of homosexuals, and re-writing of church history; ultimately the Mormon church needs to accept its faults and create a more accepting and inclusive religion. Unquestionably, the most prevalent causes of the Reformation were indulgences, the changing values of the Renaissance, and, above all, corruption within the church. Even today, some Muslims derisively refer to the Wests involvement in the Middle East as a crusade.. WATCH: The Crusades: Crescent and the Cross on HISTORY Vault. Various Kings, Queens, and other leaders looked to the Catholic church for power and protection in exchange for alliances. Please support World History Encyclopedia. A so-called Childrens Crusade took place in 1212 when thousands of young children vowed to march to Jerusalem.
