The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH emerged from the chaos as The GUARDIAN OF WESTERN CULTURE.

The Church was based in the cities and directed by the pope from Rome. It's network of clergy made the Church the only institution capable of extending its influence over many diverse regions.

With the assistance of the church, the Carolingians brought a REVIVAL OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE.

 Particularly during the long reign of Charlemagne, CHURCH AND STATE BECAME ALLIES as Christian bishops and clergy played important roles in the organization of the Carolingian Empire, both in the countryside and in the towns.

What emerged from the chaos was FEUDALISM, which would offer at least a minimum of:

	Security
	Political organization
	Law enforcement.

 Under feudalism, the landed nobility acted as:

	Police force
	Judiciary
	Army

Fighters or nobles

 Workers or serfs. 

Outlines of NEW KINGDOMS -- Germany, England, France, and Spain -- began to emerge under the direction of strong monarchs.

Europe went on the offensive, ejecting the Muslims from the southern part of the Continent, breaking Muslim control of the Mediterranean, and launching CRUSADES to capture Jerusalem from the infidel.

The "closed" economy of the feudal countryside gave way before:

	The REVIVAL OF TRADE and communications
	The GROWTH of towns
	The increased use of MONEY as a medium of exchange
	The rise of a new class in society -- the middle class.

Rulers called upon this class to be servants and administrators.

 This group formed a loyal bureaucracy and an advisory corp that allowed rulers to challenge both the nobility and the church successfully.

 The alliance between rulers and towns was an important factor in the rise of Europe's new secular monarchies and the creation of Europe's major nation states.

Parliaments and POPULAR ASSEMBLIES also formed to represent the growing power of the privileged classes (the nobility, the clergy, and property-owning towns-people).

Western CAPITALISM was at this time beginning to develop.

The new wealth created by trade and conquest made possible the creation of UNIVERSITIES, which multiplied to twenty in Catholic Europe by 1300. 

The Middle Ages has sometimes been characterized as the AGE OF FAITH.

	To an extent greater than in classical or modern times, the attention of men living in those days was directed toward a RELIGIOUS GOAL -- the salvation of the soul -- and the Church was the intermediary.
	All men were born, lived, and died under the Church's protection.

In the thirteenth century, when popes such as Innocent III bent proud monarchs to their will, the church reached the zenith of its influence as a kind of INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENT as well as the focus of medieval society, arts, and scholarship

	The Church was the chief PATRON OF THE ARTS.
	Its monasteries were repositories for ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS.

At the end of the INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY in the twelfth century, a clear distinction was drawn between the spheres of ecclesiastical and secular authority.

After 1300, monarchs progressively LIMITED THE CHURCH'S INFLUENCE over their political and economic affairs, restricting the Church to the important but less threatening spiritual and cultural sphere of influence.

	In an increasingly materialistic age, the rise of the DOMINICAN AND FRANCISCAN FRIARS signaled a new SPIRITUAL REVIVAL among the clergy that also attracted large numbers of pious laity.
	Until the Reformation, church reformers rallied under the banner of apostolic poverty.