The correcte answer is: "The Catholic Church unified different kingdoms of Europe under the umbrella of the Church."
The Church in the Middle Ages was a very powerful institution since it was a deeply religious age. That is why the Catholic Church had a great influence on society and, although there were other creeds, in the 11th century Europe was largely Christian.
Beyond the borders that separated the European kingdoms a new concept of union was born: Christianity.
A thousand years ago almost all of Western Europe began to be called Christianity, because all its kingdoms accepted the authority of the Pope and all its inhabitants professed Christianity. All Christian territories were considered a single empire and their most important figures were the Pope and the emperor. The Church was then very powerful; the bishops and abbots had large tracts of land; the clergy, who were almost the only cultured people, were in charge of educating the young, helping the poor and being the chief advisors of the kings.
