"PILLARS OF THE EARTH, THE" (KEN FOLLETT).   Term Paper ID:24715 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Reviews historical novel exploring power of Church of England & king in Middle Ages.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Reviews historical novel exploring power of Church of England & king in Middle Ages. Paper Introduction: This research will discuss The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett, especially the power of the Church of England. The research will give an overview of the church's extensive economic holdings and will focus on the King's power, but show how it was shared with church leaders, who had the weapon of religious authority. The discussion will also include how the characters in the book were affected by the church's influence. The research will show the types of overall influence which the church had on society and politics and how the church helped England avoid anarchy after the heir to King Henry's throne died in 1120. Follett's book opens in England with a man's hanging (11). The death is cursed by a girl (15-16), who is later introduced as Ellen (the beautiful outlaw who lives in the forest (36)) and Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The church acted like a localgovernment, except that in many instances it accepted payment, like taxes,in goods where the farmers had no money. Aprior was responsible for leading the monks at masses, including onholidays and for most of the month of December during Christmas. While thestate had political and economic power, the church often had more powerbecause it combined its political and religious authority to garner greateconomic power (recall what happened when Philip's church got the WeepingMadonna), which the sovereign had no choice but to acknowledge. The discussion will also include how thecharacters in the book were affected by the church's influence. Thus, although a secular monarchruled England, he ruled only with the help of the church. Philip used his religious authority and attempted toinfluence his monks to obey the rules of the church, much as a city councilmember or police chief might. Kingsbridge was animportant priory because it came with a church, castle, and littleinterference in the way the monastery was run from the bishop, who was theabbott more as a technicality than as a matter of function (98). Hamleigh accused the earlof plotting against the king, and so the earl's castle was taken. Theresearch will show the types of overall influence which the church had onsociety and politics and how the church helped England avoid anarchy afterthe heir to King Henry's throne died in 112 . Ultimately, the archbishop reported to the Kingof England, but, as the book demonstrates, a power struggle was ongoingbetween the bishops and those members of the church who were eager toincrease their power and the power of the church through its holdings ofland, leases, castles, buildings, and natural resources (i.e., the right toharvest timber or rocks needed to build a church from quarries (325-33 )),which were owned by the King. In this respect, the church, indirectly, had justas much power as the sovereign. Philip wielded the threat of religiousdoctrines and the wrath of the Lord on his monks and learned how toincrease the attendance at his church. Apparently King Stephen supported the church, and,therefore, Hamleigh (a long-time political ally of Waleran) would defendStephen. Philiplearns, when he has to make a deal with Waleran to become prior, thatpeople only rise to high ranks within the church by trading politicalfavors. Ultimately, the king could repossesslands and give them to the lords or earls who were in current favor (874),but even the king needed to be careful not to upset the church. A good cathedral would wieldinfluence over a thousand people, including local gentry (155). The church hadmore influence over the common people and their daily lives and thoughtsand could influence how money changed hands in local towns. So the power of the monarchy appears absolute and supreme,but this changes. This represented a majorshift in power because a local prior could renege on an "in-kind" lease andforce a farmer to pay with money instead of crops, or be evicted.Moreover, the church owned local mills and could make money from both theleasing of the land and the milling of the crops. Earl Bartholomew of Shiring's castle was overtaken by Lord WilliamHamleigh--who had conspired with Waleran (2 9). The deathis cursed by a girl (15-16), who is later introduced as Ellen (thebeautiful outlaw who lives in the forest (36)) and becomes Tom Builder'slover. This research will discuss The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett,especially the power of the Church of England. Had Hamleigh not defended King Stephen, then Stephen might havebeen overthrown by the Earl Bartholomew's men, and Empress Maud would havetaken over rule from the dethroned king. He becomes prior by agreeing to make Waleran bishop (153). Other farms were run by poor monks who couldnot even afford to pay in-kind (24 ). Follett's book opens in England with a man's hanging (11). Philip's plans pay off. The church wielded power as an unofficial educationalinstitution (and, as the story later reveals, even as an ad hoc designatorof local police officers)., The influence of church leaders is shown through the character ofPhilip, an orphan who rises a position of power within the church.Philip's parents were killed by King Henry's army. WhenPhilip accepted the priory, he acquired power and control of as much of thevillage life as a politician or modern mayor would have. The church had financial problems, as illustrated by the microcosm ofPhilip's experience in his priory. After Tom meets Ellen, he finds that, because Ellen was raised in aconvent, she learned to read, write and draw and is far more educated thanhis own children, who, as offspring of a craftsperson, have a betterposition in society than an "outlaw." Many of the working people inEngland could not read and therefore found organizing or writing laws whichmight benefit them difficult. Onceagain, Tom found himself out of work, this time because of an overthrow ofan earl. The economy was so bad that the only place Tom could hope to findwork was through a wealthy aristocrat or other royal descendent, or througha church looking to build a cathedral or make repairs. Priorsalso had influence over the towns because most of the people spent a lot oftime in church and were expected to tithe a portion of their earnings, andthey depended on priors for land allocations in exchange for a share ofwhatever crop was grown on the land. Becausethe statue was thought to cry, more people came to see the figure, incomeincreased, and building commenced on a bigger church. New York: Penguin, 1989. Monasteries acted asunofficial orphanages. The role the church played, through its priors, was substantial. Sometimes, if a family had many sons, say five, theyoungest would be given to the church, along with a farm, church, or even awhole village as payment for raising him to become a monk or priest. In contrast, church figures, such as monks,priests and nuns, were educated, just like the members of the royal familyand the aristocracy. Later, the king would appoint Hamleigh theEarl of Shiring, and Earl Bartholomew's two children were left pennilessnow that their father, the former earl, was jailed (378-379). The Kingof England vested considerable power in his underlords: they could hirepeople to build expensive houses and just as easily send Tom's family (Tomhad two young children and a pregnant wife at that point) wandering to lookfor work and food. Lord William's character had little mercy for Tom andhis family (Tom had to trick the Lord into paying him a couple of weeks'severance pay). Lord Hamleigh's motives for battle were revealed later to Philip bymonk Cuthbert. This is critical because it evidences the struggle for power thattakes place throughout the novel, Waleran constantly vying for power asPrior Philip, a more ethical and moral leader, attempts to spread theinfluence of the church. This is symbolic because it shows that the sovereign'spower was not absolute; in fact, when the King tried to stop the growinginfluence of the church, he was punished. Philip decided to increase churchincome by hiring a purser, who would attempt to collect extra income fromthe more successful monks, many of whom had small positions in the church.In addition, Philip decided to lease the farms which were the greatestdistance from the church for cash only (241). After acquiring the Weeping Madonna,Philip's church had captured the imagination of local townspeople. While Philip knew that the real estateholdings of the prior were vast and that the acreage which it controlled,at least in practice, was substantial, the prior was still cash-poor.Because some of the farms were let out on long leases with low rents, manyof the farmers paid in-kind. Philip later becomes prior of Kingsbridge. This was one way in which the powerof the church grew; it routinely increased its numbers of religiousfollowers and land holdings. Popular churches attracted a large following whichhelped the local economy and thus could indirectly usurp the influence ofthe lords in other parts of England. Philip reveals a plot to Waleran, wherein theEarl of Shiring and Robert of Glouster conspired to overthrow Stephen ofBlois (who would otherwise claim the throne of England with the blessing ofthe church) (119). One of the first characters introduced is Tom, discouraged becauseLord William had the power to fire him as mason simply because LordWilliam's bride backed out of her marriage to Lord William (27). As Cuthbert explained it, EmpressMaud was not in favor of the church increasing its power in England, andshe would have taken back important land holdings, reconveying them to thecrown, thereby decreasing the political power of the church (22 -221).This shows a delicate balance of power between the ruling aristocracy andthe royalty, and, without the backing of the church, a royal leader waslikely to be overthrown. Philip also had thepower to determine what kind of farming (whether raising sheep or crops)the land lessees would be able to engage in and, to some extent, coulddetermine who would have gainful work and who would not. The church was organized much like the hierarchy of a modern army.Monks were ruled by priors, who were overseen by abbotts, who answered tobishops and an archbishop. At the end, Philip whips King Henry for conspiring to kill ArchbishopThomas (982-983). The Pillars of the Earth. Work CitedFollett, Ken. The church stillhad internal problems, and some monks in a nearby area were rumored to bethieves (99). The effect was thatyoung men were leaving the area ruled by Lord William and moving intoPhilip's region to work, and this took a lot of business (and money) awayfrom Shiring (744-745). By theend, three people, including Bigod Waleran, conspired to have the man hungbecause he was the sole survivor of the shipwreck where King Henry's heirdied, and, had he lived, he might have provided clues about tbe plot tokill the heir. When Prior Philip advises the archdeacon that Prior James isseriously ill (118), Philip begins to suspect the motives of ArchdeaconWaleran. The research will give anoverview of the church's extensive economic holdings and will focus on theKing's power, but show how it was shared with church leaders, who had theweapon of religious authority. InPhilip's case, his father had left a small hill farm which the monasteryacquired when it "adopted" him (95). Priest Waleran has become an influential leader, one who canterminate diocesan leases at will, thereby rendering poor farmers gypsieswithout legal leases to the land they till (117). The hanging was caused by church leaders and English royalty, whoworked together to control land holdings and precious resources. Thus, while the King ofEngland initially had the power to grant land leases, many leaders of thechurch had the power to end them or to recommend to the king that certainreligious leaders be reallocated title to desirable land or resources.Philip is new to the church's hierarchy and does not know that Waleran wasone of three people to be involved in the death of King Henry's heir andthat Waleran also knows about the plan to overthrow the king. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.