ECCLESIASTICAL CORRUPTION IN THE MIDDLE AGES Religion and faith dominated virtually every aspect of life during the middle Ages. However, the Church's influence suffered greatly during the later part of this age of faith. Many historians hold that the Medieval Church was a landmark of corruption. This view is often used to explain the decline and fall of the Church and the success of Martin Luther's reformation. It depicts the Church as being ruled by …showed first 75 words of 1862 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1862 total…Chamberlain, E. R. The Bad Popes. New York: The Dial Press, 1969. McBrian, Richard. "Popes Must Be Servants Rather Than Celebrities," The National Catholic Reporter (January 1995), 13. Nicholson, Helen. "Saints or Sinners? The Knights Templar in Medieval Europe," History Today. (December 1994), 30-37. Van Liere, Frans. "Was the Medieval Church Corrupt?" Misconceptions About the Middle Ages. Eds. Stephen J. Harris and Bryon L. Grigsby. London: Routledge, 2003. Vodola, Elisabeth. Excommunication in the Middle Ages. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.