medieval clergy
Middle Ages priests
Medieval clergy were the religious officials of the Christian church during the Middle Ages, roughly 500–1500 CE.
The term encompasses a hierarchy from parish priests to popes, including monks, nuns, bishops, and abbots.
The clergy held enormous social and political power, controlling education, record-keeping, and moral authority: The medieval clergy were often the only literate members of their communities.
- monkCloistered religious devotee
- monastic lifeReligious community living
- abbotMonastery's chief cleric
- bishopDiocesan clergy head
- friarMendicant order member
abbey · priest · parish priest · holy orders · cloister · religious vows · scriptorium · monastery · canon law · mitre · cardinal · tonsure · simony · scholasticism · church fathers · book of hours · parish · mendicant
medieval clergymedieval nobility
Feudal ruling class
feudal lords · serfs · knights · commoners · landed aristocracy
medieval clergylaypeople
Those outside a profession
heretics · pagans · infidels · parishioners · congregants