Could the Middle Ages Be Considered an Age of Faith?

The Middle Ages can be called an Age of Faith. Religion dominated all aspects of life from architecture, literature, art and music making this the Age of Faith. Everything citizens did revolved around their religion and Christianity became the dominant religion during this time. The Pope, head of the Christian religion, had total control and final say in both the church and in political matters. Many people would listen to the Pope before they would listen to the Emperor because the Pope had a connection with God. The Pope was even able to control how the Emperor ruled and how much power he would exert over the people. The Pope was able to convince people to fight the Holy Crusade Wars with promises that God would forgive them of their sins. The Middle Ages was the Age of Faith.

There is a letter from Pope Gelasius I to Emperor Anastasius (494) evidencing the dominance of the church and faith. Pope Gelasius explains to the Emperor that while there are two powers, sacred authority and royalty, the obvious dominant one is the sacred authority. He explains that this is because priests must judge over the kings of men and therefore they, the clergy are more powerful. This is why the people of the Middle Ages listened to the church leaders more than the political rulers; faith was the most dominant force during these times. The Pope, the priests, and the bishops were connected to God.

Another example why the Middle Ages were the Age of Faith is through a review of the speech by Pope Urban II that called for the first holy crusade. Pope Urban's speech implores Christ's heralds to carry aid to the Christians in the holy land and destroy the infidels from the land of our friends. He claimed that he spoke from God and that Christ commanded this action. It was the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus that was asking for the Pope's help against the Muslims knowing that the citizens' faith in the religious leaders would advance his cause. Again the Middle Ages were an Age of Faith as there were many Crusades fought in the name of Christiandom.