Question

Which events contributed to people questioning their faith?

Answer 1

The Middle Ages in Europe was a significant period for various reasons, but perhaps its more famous trait is the fact that Christianity played such a huge role in the lives of citizens. However, even during this period of great faith, there were moments when people doubted the Church because of social and economic concerns. Some examples are:

• The decline of the feudal system : As the feudal system declined because of epidemics and a rising middle class, new ways of governing and organizing society started to take hold. People's lives were severely altered, along with their whole social order. This led citizens to wonder where their place in the world was and what the guiding force in society was, suffering a crisis in their beliefs.

• The Great Famine of 1315–1316 and the Black Death of 1347–1351 : Great tragedies often test our faith, and the case was the same for medieval people. Moreover, epidemiology was very underdeveloped at the time, which meant that people did not know how diseases were transmitted or what to do to prevent them. Therefore, they would often be assumed to be a punishment from God, further strengthening that link between tragedy and faith.

• Having more than one pope,  which divided people's loyalties : Due to the Western Schism of 1378 to 1417, there was a period in the history of the Catholic Church where three different popes existed, each having excommunicated another one. This fiasco damaged the reputation of the Church and divided support, leading to another crisis in faith.