How Important to Medieval Society Were the Religious Orders Essay

How Important to Medieval Society Were the Religious Orders - Essay Example However, the most striking feature of middle age is that people were organized in different religious groups known as religious orders. Some of the religious orders of this period include the crusades, Knights Templar, Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and Cistercians. This paper seeks to explore the importance of religious orders to the medieval society. The lives of people during the middle ages revolved around religion, especially the Catholic Church, which was the dominant church during the time. Accordingly, the Catholic Church was the only church in Europe. Therefore, all the laws and important roles in the government were left at the hands of the church leaders like bishops and archbishops. Research also indicates that the Pope had immense powers during this time to the extent that he could excommunicate a king for misdeed. As earlier stated, religion had a great influence on every aspects of human live during this period. However, people organized themselves around religious groups known as religious orders, which played an important role economically, socially, culturally and politically . The religious orders had profound impacts on the economy of Western Europe in the medieval era. Research indicates that the society of Western Europe in the medieval times were largely agrarian with a population consisting of tillers of land, which was the basis of wealth creation and political power. The manor was the basic unit of such a society. The manor in this case refers. to the agricultural land reserved to a lord. The manor mainly consisted of peasants whose main duty was to till the land for the lord’s benefit. However, since religion dictated how everything was to be done, lands where crops are grown were being cultivated in accordance with the three-land system5. The religious orders, especially the Benedictine played a leading role in ensuring that the society become food sufficient and economically stable. This is particularly evident with the Benedictine in the 12th century France, where the need to feed, clothe and house the monks increased the need to have a s table economy with enough food surplus, decent shelter and clothing. In this regard, the Benedictine monk ensured people ploughed land and engaged in productive activities to ensure that society has enough food.