Old catholic church specially is known for being very wealthy. Much of it comes from donations and much of it comes from people who wanted to buy a place in Heaven. In the end, Monasteries ended up with a lot of riches. They were also the target of raids conducted by vikings because of it.
I am not sure which situation you are referring to, but the role of a senator tends to be larger than that of a representative, which might be why it takes longer to elect a senator.
The southern region (the Balkans) was influenced by the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. The north was influenced by Western Europe, and the east was most influenced by Russia.
