Name: How the Medieval Church Frightened People Into Obedience
Uploaded: 2021-05-21T02:48:17.000Z
Duration: 11 min 32 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

of the population that is almost inconceivable today.

This power came from a combination of factors,

including persuasion, corruption, and coercion,

but most of all, straight up fear mockery.

invested in the business of scaring the faithful

at how the medieval Catholic church frightened

But before we get started, be sure to subscribe to the Weird

History Channel, and let us know what religious history

These days when people hear the term, hell mouth,

they're most likely to think of the television series Buffy

the Vampire Slayer, if they think of anything at all.

Indeed, modern visitors to medieval churches

the frightening sculpted images appearing over the entry way

But for the populists of the medieval era, who

the image of the hell mouth was nothing short of terrifying.

would see on their way into the sanctuary,

Obey the church, or this will happen to you.

after death, where people can expiate their sins

Luckily, there were several ways a person

could ensure their wait wouldn't be overly long.

For example, they could donate money and goods to the church,

attend services regularly, or even purchase

a certificate that could get them an early release.

But for those who absolutely positively had

to be sure they would skip purgatory entirely,

there was only one surefire way, donate one of their children

In ancient times, religions may have demanded human sacrifice

to appease their gods, but the medieval church

had a more pragmatic use for these children.

The clergy, of course, is supposed to be celibate.

to be recruited from the general population.

While these new recruits didn't have to be children,

But in an era where poverty was common and many already

had too many mouths to feed, there was no real choice.

would mean eating better, staying cleaner, and receiving

saving money and resources that could be spent

However, while being raised by the church

meant having a full belly, a warm place to sleep,

and an education, there was also predictably a much darker side

victimized by church leaders in a number of inappropriate ways.

Accounts of those who found themselves trapped

in a miserable abusive existence within the church

The most modern observers, seeing a statue weep

would be greeted by immediate skepticism.

One might suppose the statue had been cracked and taken

and some devious person placed a water hose inside the statue

Seeing a statue weep blood might make one

suspect something rusty was leaking onto it.

Yet, even today, we hear reports of people witnessing

statues they believe are crying real tears

Often, they believe these tiers are sent by Christ

So you can imagine how easily the overwhelmingly

superstitious and religious population of medieval days

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How the Medieval Church Frightened People Into Obedience

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