medieval church
Stone nave, spire
A medieval church is a Christian house of worship built during the Middle Ages, roughly the 5th through 15th centuries.
These stone structures—from modest parish churches to grand cathedrals—often feature Romanesque or Gothic architecture: pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, and stained glass windows.
The term may also refer to the Catholic Church as an institution during this period, encompassing its vast political power, monastic orders, and influence over European society: The medieval church controlled education and record-keeping.
- Hildegard of BingenMedieval polymath and abbess
- parishLocal church community
- cathedralBishop's principal church
- canon lawReligious institutional regulations
- CharlemagneEarly medieval Western unifier
mass · liturgy · monasticism · relics · St. Benedict · inquisition · Augustine of Hippo · scriptorium · book of hours · Thomas Aquinas · nave · flying buttress · feudalism · simony · stained glass · pilgrimage · heresy · excommunication
- medievalknights, castles, cathedral, kings, queens
- church historyapostles, Protestant Reformation, Christian history, baptism, Reformation
- religious historyChristian history, Jewish history, early Christianity, Protestant Reformation, Great Schism
- historical institutionsguild, papacy, caliphate, shogunate, sultanate
- ReformationMartin Luther, John Calvin, 95 Theses, Protestant Reformation, Luther
- 12th CenturyThird Crusade, Richard the Lionheart, Saladin, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II
medieval churchstorefront church
Worship space in commercial building
medieval churchmosque
Islamic house of worship
synagogue · Buddhist temple · Hindu temple · Shinto shrine · Greek temple