The religious hierarchy in the medieval times

Medieval age’s religious hierarchy became so influential. Jesus Christ had been considered as the God and the hierarchy or religion which followed the preaching of Christ began from the Church. Moreover, in medieval times the Church gained more importance. The Church and the clergy men were considered more important. The king had the power to appoint members of the Church starting form clergy to, Priests, and Bishops. Priests did not have enough influence over the religious matters and Bishops and Archbishops from rich families had powerful role to play in the religious hierarchy of the medieval times.

The priests

During the middle ages Priests need to provide protection and care for the religious community. They were supposed to conduct prayers in the Parishes. As far as social circle is concerned, Priests were very much respected and considered as the prime person to solemnize marriages and baptisms. To make arrangements for religious events and cremation formalities have also been conducted by the Priests.

In majority of the places by Christianity the religious hierarchy began with Bishop, who will be followed by Arch Bishop, then Arch Deacon, Abbot, Prior, Dean and finally Monks. In other words the religious hierarchy began with the higher level to lower level. They are

• King- the ruling power
• Nobles- who executed the Kings instructions
• Clergy and peasants- though they are lower in class they had a supreme influence over the above members

Among them the Bishops maintained a powerful position whose duty was to manipulate the orders given by the king. In European countries the role played by the Bishops was considered more significant because, every King had one Bishop to work under him and give him suggestions over the Church affairs. A Bishop also had many challenging roles to play in the religious hierarchy of the medieval times such as

• pay attention to the predicaments of clergymen and priests
• impose taxes on peasants
• solving marital issues
• implement rules to be followed in the Church
• manage the arms and forces to assist the King during war times
• monitor the whole business of the church
• Administer the nuns and monks during their execution of Church related duties.

Roman Catholic Church was considered as the most influential religious place which also unified all the other communities of Christianity. The power of the Church can also be identified with its growing economy. With the influence of Roman Catholic rule the Church hierarchy began from

• Pope – Though he comes first in the lead role of religious hierarchy, he was advised by Cardinals
• Cardinals- They will be in Charge of the Archbishops
• Arch Bishop- Controlled the bishops
• Bishops-who looked after the religious matters of the town
• Priest-performing mass
• Monk- lived in the monasteries and rules by abbots
• Nun- Looked after the educational services.