| dc.description.abstract | Clearly, the church of the Middle Ages was a multi-faceted institution which was powerful both as a religious and as an economic organization. The church was often the greatest landholder in a region, so notably its role exceeded a religious one. The church was likewise diverse in its structure. Although parish churches, cathedrals, convents, and monasteries are grouped under the whole institution of the medieval church, they at times pursued divergent goals, harboring different economic motives and policies and administrative organization. For one interested in answering the question of why the medieval economy began to exhibit market characteristics, analyzing the actions of individual farmers or parish churches provides limited and inconsistent information. In its response to and possible role in the changing English economy, the church as a financially active and somewhat representative feudal institution can instead be studied through the monasteries. | en |
