AsenRG
#FuckWotC #PlayNonDnDGames
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Look at Wikipedia, as it gives overviews at the right level for RPGs.
Basically, you have to remember that the Church was independent of Royalty and the State, something that kings tried to stop. That is why you get many foreigners as Abbots, Abbesses, and Bishops, all across Europe, the Church moved people around to get the best people in the right places. Also, Kings and Queens often appointed their favourites into those positions, causing trouble between the Church and State.
Abbots and Abbesses had the same rank as Bishops and controlled their own Abbeys with little real interference. There were a lot of cases where Abbots and Abbesses behaved differently to how the Church or State wanted them to.
Church Law and State Law were different. Many offenses, committed by the Clergy and by normal people, were tried using Church Law, and this caused some tensions.
Monasteries, Nunneries, Priories and Abbeys were incredibly rich, as people used to donate land to them upon death, to reduce their time in Purgatory. The image of the fat friar or bishop from Robin Hood was there for a very good reason. Many of the high-ups were related to Royalty or the Nobility, and they often had not lost their expensive tastes. Each Order had its own Rule, which set out how its members should behave.
Priests of the time were not required to be celibate. Some had wives, others had concubines. King John raised a lot of money by kidnapping these women and basically holding them to ransom.
There were a lot of heresies and movements that were not exactly heresies but came very close. The Crusades sometimes targeted heretical Christians, for example in the South of France, or when the Franks took over Constantinople. Many common people followed Folk Magic Traditions that were descended from ancient pagan traditions. In the Baltic States, paganism was alive and well.
The Schism split the Church into Catholic and Orthodox, making each a heresy of the other, although in the East there were other Churches. Things changed over the years. The teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin brought about Protestantism, which was a heresy that rocked the Church. You could have places that followed a Protestant Church Law and nearby places that had a Catholic Church Law.
Thanks for the mention.
The Merrie England series looks at the time of Henry II, Richard, John and the start of Henry III, so only covers a slice of the Medieval period.
And then you also have Orthodox Christianity.
The Church was NOT separate from the state, is the first thing you should remember. In the West, there was Papocaesarism, i.e. the pope was "over" the kings. In the East, the kings, tsars and emperors were considering themselves above the church, possibly with the exception of "when it comes to the Sacraments" (importantly including marriage)...and possibly not even then.
The priests aren't required to be celibate to this day. However, they cannot re-marry, nor can they think of divorce...while yes, divorce was obtainable under certain (very strict and limited) conditions. As an aside, this gave birth (ahem) to a lot of ribald tales that start with "the priest, having married a younger woman, to avoid the risk of outliving his spouse..." and you can imagine the rest. I have a whole book on the erotic parts of Bulgarian folklore, yes, why are you asking?
The situation regarding paganism was much like the one in Scandinavia and the Baltic. In most Orthodox countries the church showed an amazing amount of tolerance towards the earlier religions. In fact, it was noted that the local priest might be the first to join in some pagan endeavours, including dancing, wrestling and partying on some days that one would easily recognize from earlier religions (though they were given the names of saints, so it was kinda alright).