The fall of the Roman Empire signifies the beginning of a new era; the medieval, or Middle Ages. The fall of the empire left people ununited because there was no longer a centralized ruler or an established government. As a result, the Catholic Church became the only solid organization (Stearns 210). As the empire began to be rebuilt, the rulers were aware that getting power through the church would increase their authority and thus although they appeared to be in charge, the ultimate rule laid within the unified power of the church.
Due to the dismay caused by the fall of the empire, the peoples of society needed a place that could provide them with hope and reassurance, thus the people placed a lot of trust and faith into the Catholic Church, building an organization that has more power than wealth, community The kings saw how invested in the church their common people were and decided the most
…show more content…
To compose an army, Pope Urban not only acted based on the importance of the king but also because he knew he could use his relationship with religion to dictate people (lecture). Pope Urban told the people that if they fought, they would be saved from all their sins. This statement pushed people to do participate in the war because if they didn’t, the Pope was essentially declaring they would not get into Heaven. (lecture). Unfortunately, because few people were trained for combat and instead went to fight for salvation, the first crusade did not go particularly as planned. However, after the Pope helped to recruit people, the King could take those who are trained for battle into the next Crusades. Overall, the Crusades illustrate a time where the King had to rely on the Pope, specifically the Catholic Church, to be able to fulfill a political action,